Conrad Edison and the Anchored World (Overworld Arcanum Book 2) (2 page)

"Conrad, why are you looking at me so strangely?" Ambria said.

I pulled back my hand and grabbed my teacup. "Oh, I was just thinking about the, um, exam."

She threw up her hands. "Oh, this awful exam is going to drive us mental!" She clenched her fists. "Let's have a study session first thing tomorrow morning, okay?"

Max sighed. "You realize it's unhealthy to study too much, don't you?"

Ambria narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you dare make up excuses, Maxwell Tiberius." She waggled her index finger at him. "First thing tomorrow, okay?"

"I'm so sick of studying, though."

Her eyes widened. "I can't believe you'd say that. Do you know how many normal people would give anything to trade places with us and learn magic?"

Max looked confused. "You mean noms?"

She nodded. "Yes, Max, noms. They'd do anything to leave their boring magicless lives to come study magic."

"I agree," I said. "Complaining that you have to study too much to learn magic is like complaining that your life is too amazing."

Max squinted, as if trying to see what we were talking about. "Well, I suppose I've never lived like a nom, but I guess it would be pretty awful not to have magic." He put some silver tinsel money on the table and stood up. "But I'll never give up my divine right to complain about whatever I want."

Ambria grunted and pushed back her chair. "In that case, I'll never give up my right to tell you how foolish you are."

I chuckled and paid for mine and Ambria's meals.

Outside, Max and Ambria took their brooms from the broom rack on the cobblestone sidewalk.

"I suppose we'll have to walk home," Ambria said.

"Even without assassins roaming Queens Gate, you've got plenty of ruthless vampires prowling the streets, Conrad." Max tutted and shook his head.

"Very foolish, Conrad." Ambria squared her shoulders and looked down the dimly lit street. "Well, I suppose we should go. We'll see you tomorrow, Max."

Max climbed on his broom and hesitated. "Maybe I should walk with you guys just in case."

Ambria arched an eyebrow. "Perhaps you are capable of thinking of something besides your stomach." She smiled.

Max shrugged. "Sometimes I surprise even myself."

We crossed the street when we reached the alley where the man had tried to kill me.

"It looks empty," Ambria whispered.

"It's dark as pitch in there," Max said. "How could you know?"

"Let's just go," I said.

"Do you think that demon knows where you live?" Ambria said.

I thought back to the flash of recognition when I'd looked up at the attacker. "No. I think he was walking around looking for me."

Max groaned. "Well, he certainly wasn't far from the house."

When we turned to go, a dog loped around the corner and raced toward us, a limp evident in its step.

"It's hurt," Ambria said.

Four pale teenagers smartly dressed in jeans and neatly pressed oxfords appeared behind the dog. Laughing and pointing, they flashed toward us.

Max jerked to a stop. "Vampires!"

Ambria knelt and inspected the hurt dog. "They want to hurt him. We can't let that happen."

Max groaned and pulled out his wand. "We don't have the power to stop one vampire, much less four of them."

Her eyes flashed. "I don't care. I won't abandon this poor animal." She produced her wand and looked at me.

I showed her my wand at the ready.

"What a succulent meal we've discovered." A tall vampire with fabulously styled brown hair and fair, delicate skin stepped forward. "Looks like we don't have to use those filthy club feeders tonight, boys."

The shortest vampire punched a fist into his palm and grinned. "Yeah, Edward."

Ambria stuck out her chin. "Why are you chasing a poor dog?"

"Ooh," another vampire said. "We've got a brave one here."

"Look at her cute little wand," jeered the fourth.

"Yeah, we've all got cute little wands and we know how to use them," Max said, holding his at the ready.

Edward bared his teeth in a grin and looked at me. "I found the frightened one."

The image of a screaming vampire flashed through my mind and I instantly knew it wasn't one of my own memories. It was something one of my parents had witnessed.

"Take care of the brave ones, and let's have fun with the scared boy," Edward said.

Two vampires blurred forward and grabbed Ambria and Max. The dog growled and slammed against the third vampire, knocking him to the ground. Edward stalked toward me, a leer on his face.

I should have been frightened out of my mind. I barely knew any spells and I certainly wasn't strong enough to fight a night stalker. My arm extended of its own accord, my wand flicked, and in a strained voice I said, "
Torsious!
"

Edward twisted through the air and crashed against a building hard enough to crack the bricks. I turned to the other assailants and aimed my wand at the short one's arm. "
Torsious!
" His arm twisted violently and broke with a loud crack. Once again my arm flicked out and once again a vampire's body bent in unnatural ways, sending him to the ground. The fourth vampire screamed and tried to run, but my spell caught his leg and yanked it from the socket.

Filthy creatures
, my mother's voice said in my mind. It wasn't really Delectra speaking, but the soul fragment still stuck inside me. I'd taken to calling it Della, and named Victus's fragment Vic.

I realized Ambria and Max were staring wide-eyed at me.

"How did you do that?" Max asked.

I motioned forward. "Don't just stand around. Run!"

Having been chased by all sorts of supernatural horrors, we excelled at running. We made it back to the brownstone at the corner of Dowling and Bucket Streets, the dog close on our heels despite its awful limp.

Panting, Max stopped outside the house and dropped his broom on the ground. "Can't we enjoy a nice quiet evening for once?"

Ambria sat on the steps and leaned against the balustrade. "Conrad, never, ever, ever, leave home without your broom again."

The dog curled up on the steps next to Ambria and looked up at her with big blue eyes.

Max jerked upright. "Hang on, that's not a dog."

"Looks like a Husky," I said.

"It's a wolf." He shook his head. "Okay, who are you?"

The dog stared at him imploringly for a long moment then went behind a shrub. A moment later, a young girl rose, her head peeking around the foliage. "Hello."

"Amazing!" Ambria said.

"Why did she go behind the bush?" I asked.

"Because lycans don't usually wear clothes in wolf form," Max said.

Ambria put her hands to her cheeks. "Oh, how embarrassing."

"I'd be grateful if you could spare something," the girl said.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"I'm Blue," she replied.

Max wrinkled his forehead. "That's a color, not a name."

"It's a lovely name," Ambria said. "Wait right there, I'll be back with clothes."

Blue looked wonderingly at me. "You must be an awfully strong Arcane to beat an entire group of vampires like that."

"What were you doing wandering the streets alone at night?" Max asked before I could say anything.

She looked down. "I'm looking for a pack."

Max looked confused. "A lycan pack? What about your family?"

Ambria appeared with a bundle in her hand. "Leave her alone, Max." She went behind the bush and a moment later, the two girls stepped into view.

Blue stood a head taller than Ambria and had long wavy hair. "Thank you for saving me."

"Any time," Ambria replied. "I'm Ambria. The blond boy who eats too much is Max, and this is Conrad."

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"Do you have any place to stay?" Ambria asked her.

Blue looked down and shook her head. "Not right now."

"Aren't lycans born into packs?" Max said.

"I didn't like my pack so I ran away." Blue turned her gaze on him. "You can't choose family, and I don't like mine. I know it's hard to understand."

Max burst into laughter. "Actually, we all completely understand that feeling, don't we, Conrad?"

I managed a smile. "Yes, I suppose so."

"Well, it's official then," Ambria said. "Blue is our newest housemate."

Chapter 2

Someone stomping up the stairs jerked me awake so early the next morning, the sun wasn't up yet.

"Who brought a dog in this house?" Sonia shouted loudly enough to wake the dead.

I walked into the upstairs hallway and jumped back as the furious vampire stormed my way.

"Where is it?" Sonia said in a low hiss.

Ambria stepped into the hallway and leveled a glare at the woman. "If you really must know, I invited a werewolf to stay with us."

Sonia's eyes flared angrily. "You invited a lycan to stay in my house?"

Blue appeared behind Ambria, eyes wide.

The vampire jabbed a finger toward her. "You"—she pointed a thumb over her shoulder—"out!"

Ambria shook her head. "Absolutely not. We saved her from vampires last night and we're not about to put her back in the streets."

"She has nowhere to go," I said.

"Vampires? Hah!" Sonia looked from me to Ambria. "You couldn't rescue her from mice."

"Conrad broke their arms and threw them around like rag dolls," Blue said. "He's the strongest Arcane I've ever seen."

Sonia's eyebrows rose. "That puny boy whipped a gang of vampires?"

Desmond appeared behind Sonia and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go to sleep and sort this out in the evening."

Sonia's lips peeled back. "I refuse to live in the same house as a dog."

Ambria shook her head sadly. "Do you really hate dogs so much?"

"I'm not a dog," Blue said. "I'm a lycan."

"You're a mongrel," Sonia shot back.

"Well, you're a mean vampire!" Ambria shouted. "Why are you so angry all the time?"

Desmond gripped his sister's arm. "That's enough, Sonia. We're going to bed."

Sonia tried to jerk her arm free, but Desmond was too strong. She stabbed a finger at Ambria. "This isn't over, you little brat."

"I'm sorry," Desmond said. "Your friend can stay as long as she likes."

His sister hissed and turned away, finally freeing her arm, then stomped downstairs without another word.

Ambria wiped her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Desmond."

He nodded. "We still need to discuss this. Having too many people coming and going from this house might alert the neighbors." He glanced downstairs. "Just remember, we're squatters. If someone alerted the authorities, they could kick us out."

"I don't know who they'd tell," Ambria said. "I certainly haven't seen any police patrolling the streets."

Desmond chuckled. "You may be right." He turned and walked downstairs.

"Why would nom police be in Queens Gate?" Blue asked.

"Well, I meant Templars, or whoever they use in the Overworld." Ambria slumped against the wall and put a hand to her chest. "Sonia frightens me."

I nodded. "Me too."

I returned to my room and tried to go back to sleep, but only tossed and turned for the next hour. I finally got up at eight, showered, and ate breakfast. The rubbish bag in the kitchen looked dangerously close to bursting, so I decided to take it outside.

After dropping the bag at the curb, I retrieved my
Elementary Magic
textbook from upstairs and sat on the front porch to study in the fresh, cool morning air.

The boy next door came outside, a large dartboard under one arm. He and his family had just moved in a week ago, but this was the first time I'd seen any of them since that day.

He looked at me and I waved back. Deciding it might be nice to meet him, I set down the book and walked over to the stone wall separating our yard from his.

"Hello," I said in the cheeriest voice I could manage.

He set down the dartboard and walked over, a serious look on his face. "I can't be your friend."

Considering that this was the first time I'd spoken with him, his statement came as something of a surprise. I took a step back. "Excuse me?"

He leaned on the low wall. "Nothing personal, but I won't have time for new friends." He puffed out his chest. "I have to train to defeat a terrible evil."

"Impressive." I didn't know how playing darts would prepare him, unless he planned to prick the enemy to death.

He held out a hand. I hesitantly shook it and wondered if I should be offended that he didn't want to be my friend.

"I'm Harris Ashmore," he said. "Perhaps you've heard of me."

I had, in fact, never heard of such a person. "My name is Conrad Ed—Edwards."

"I'm something of a big deal," Harris assured me. "There's a foreseeance about me and everything."

Della filled in the blank.
Foreseeance—prophecy
, she said. I fell back upon the word I'd used earlier with a slight and insincere embellishment. "Very impressive."

"I suppose you could call it fate." Harris hopped into a sitting position atop the wall. "I was orphaned at a young age. My parents were brutally murdered so I live with my aunt and uncle."

It sounded as though he'd rehearsed this story. "I'm sorry to hear that." I wondered what he would think if I told him how my parents had killed themselves and used a demon to bind their souls to mine so they could be resurrected by a demonologist years later.

"Most people are sheep." Harris pointed toward a distant green pasture dotted with the white wooly animals. "They keep their heads down and follow the flock wherever it goes."

I'd once had a man mind-control a flock of sheep and a brood of chickens in an attempt to kill me. "I suppose a lot of people just want to live their lives in peace."

He snorted. "No, they're just stupid." Harris thumped an ant off the wall. "My parents fought the status quo. They didn't let powerful people push them around. They were brave."

At this point, I simply wanted to go back to my textbook, but didn't want to be rude. "You must be proud."