Conrad Edison and The Living Curse (Overworld Arcanum Book 1)

by John Corwin

  Ambria cried out the words from a scroll. A sheet of ice slammed into the wolf and froze him into place. Brickle's eyes blazed. The ice cracked. It wouldn't hold him for long. I used the slight pause to regain my wits and kicked my feet against the floor to push myself backward. The ice shattered. I threw up my arm as shards pelted me. Unbearable weight crashed onto my chest. I felt hot, rancid breath on my face. I looked up at the jaws of death.

  This is it. I'm going to die.

  Ambria chanted again. The wolf vanished in a flash, replaced by a large fish with sharp teeth. Mustering all my willpower, I gripped the slimy thing and tossed it toward the diagram. This time, it landed just inside the circle.

  Ambria grabbed another scroll and recited the words. "Daema xhe ceanas incorpiro!"

  A loud boom echoed in the small room. Green flames leapt from the lines in the diagram and a black blob seemed to tear itself from the earth just as the fish morphed back into the wolf. The blob sprouted a dozen or more legs, resembling a huge spider. A horrific screaming face pressed against the inside of the abdomen as if trying to escape.

  The wolf backed away, the fury in its eyes morphing to absolute terror. Hackles raised and growling, it tried to escape, but the circle confined it. The black creature spun to face the wolf. With an ear-piercing screech, it lunged. Brickle's claws raked the creature. His jaws clamped onto one of the legs, tearing it loose. Dark ichor spurted from the wound. The two monsters burst into a frenzied melee. Blood sprayed and the wolf yelped pitifully.

  Somewhere in the mix, Brickle transformed into humanoid form but with a wolf's head. "What have you done!" he shouted. His snarls turned to yelps and half-human screams. "Help! Help!"

  With a hair-raising chitter, the monster's abdomen opened like a giant mouth while its legs thrust the screaming Brickle into the maw. The mouth snapped shut. I heard muffled cries pleading for help. The sides of the blob bulged, its prey punching, kicking, and flailing desperately. The movements abruptly stilled.

  A moment later, the monster belched. A jumble of bones fell from its mouth and onto the floor. It turned to face us. This time the humanoid face seemed to be smiling.

  "Zo jakini." It screeched with laughter.

  Ambria screamed and screamed and screamed. The scroll fell from her limp hands as she backed away from the horror, her throat sounding raw with agony and terror.

  I heard retching and looked behind me. Max heaved and threw up on the floor. The scraping of nails on the floor drew my attention back to the monster. It screeched a chitinous leg across the floor while the face inside the abdomen leered at me. The flames in the diagram flickered. The air around the circle shimmered as if the prison was losing power.

  With a smile, the creature spoke again. "Xhe jakini."

  I knew with certainty it planned to eat us next once it escaped. I raced for the scroll and picked it up. There were more symbols written at the bottom of it. I quickly read the pronunciation instructions and recited them. "Daema xhe ceanas deincorpiro!" The monster shrieked. Flames danced in the diagram and thick black tar bubbled within the lines. The liquid spun like a vortex and drew the screeching monster down into the earth.

  With a brilliant flash, the tar and the monster vanished. All that remained were the smoking lines in the diagram and an awful stench like rotten eggs—that, and a pile of lonely bones.

  Almost as an afterthought, the silver net dropped onto Brickle's remains with a loud rattle.

  I dropped the scroll and gaped at the awful sight.

  Ambria gripped me in a desperate hug. "Conrad," she sobbed. "What have we done?"

  Max, pale-faced, sweat dripping down his forehead, shambled to my side as if he could hardly move. "I know what the green scrolls do now."

  My throat felt so tight I could hardly breathe, but I managed to croak a word. "What?"

  "They summon demons."

  "Demons." The word escaped my throat in a harsh whisper. A flood of images rushed through my mind's eye. I saw people screaming as monsters of pure nightmare devoured them or sucked a smoky substance from their bodies. I saw a woman with a cruel smile on her face as she chanted these creatures into being. I heard one word over and over again—Daema.

  "I don't know how to break the trance." Max sounded as if he were down a long tunnel far from me.

  "Water certainly didn't work," Ambria replied.

  The basement blurred into focus. My eyes felt incredibly dry though my hair felt wet. I squeezed shut my eyelids and held them like that for a few seconds.

  "Conrad, are you okay?" I felt Ambria's hand touch my forehead. "You just stood there for nearly fifteen minutes. We thought you'd gone into shock."

  "I almost went into shock," Max said. "I've never summoned a demon."

  "I'm the one who summoned it." Ambria's voice cracked. "Does that mean I'm cursed?"

  "Of course not." Max sounded exasperated. "I know my parents have summoned demons plenty of times and they're not cursed."

  I cracked open my eyelids and blinked a few times. "I think my parents used demons to kill people."

  "How would you know?" Max asked.

  Blinking out the dryness in my eyes, I shook my head. "When I was in the trance, I saw all these visions of them doing just that."

  "How could you see visions of things when you weren't even alive?"

  My gaze flicked to the pile of bones and I quickly looked away. "I don't know. Maybe I saw it when I was younger. I've seen a lot of strange stuff lately." I told them about the frightening nightmare with the shadowy creature in my bedroom and how it seemed to know the Goodleighs had arrived at our doorstep. I told them how I seemed to know things someone my age shouldn't know, like the scientific classifications of animals. "It also explains how I was able to fly that broom so well without any practice."

  Ambria looked at me as if I might be crazy.

  Max, however, pursed his lips and nodded matter-of-factly. "It sounds like someone put a spell on you." He put a hand over his stomach. "Let's talk about it over food. I'm starving."

  "Are you serious?" Ambria put a hand over her mouth. "I completely lost my appetite. The thought of eating makes me queasy."

  "I'm a growing lad," Max said. "I need to eat, demons or not."

  I wasn't all that hungry, but couldn't stand to be in this place a moment longer. "Let me get changed."

  Ambria grabbed my shirt and looked at the torn fabric. She lifted it, revealing thin red lines where the wolf's claws had grazed me. "Brickle was a werewolf, wasn't he?"

  Max nodded. "We call them lycans."

  "Did he infect Conrad? Will he turn into a werewolf at the next full moon?"

  He burst into laughter. "I don't know where you got that idea. Being a lycan isn't contagious. You're either born that way, or you have to convince an alpha wolf to turn you."

  "So he's not going to howl at the moon?" Ambria looked a little disappointed.

  "No, but he might start lifting his leg to pee."

  Max guffawed. Ambria belatedly giggled. I wanted to laugh, but I felt so grim and sad after the visions of people who might have been my parents killing people with demons. They'd been awful people. Now I'd helped kill someone with a demon. That made me just as bad as my parents.

  After Ambria and I cleaned and changed clothes, we went to Chicken Little for a late breakfast and sat on the second floor near the door to the balcony. By then, I'd somewhat recovered my appetite. Even Ambria ordered biscuits and tea. As we ate, she told Max about the startling discovery of her parents.

  He stopped in the middle of chewing a mouthful of pancakes. "You're the long-lost daughter of Cyphanis Rax?"

  She gave him a disapproving look. "Don't talk with your mouth full, Max. It's impolite."

  He took a gulp of orange juice and repeated his question.

  "Yes, silly. I'm Ambria Rax."

  Max grimaced and looked around at the crowded restaurant. A man and woman at a nearby table regarded us with strange looks.

  "Keep your v
oice down," Max hissed. "You really don't want everyone knowing you're related to Cyphanis."

  Ambria's forehead pinched with worry. "Oh, I suppose you're right." She dropped her biscuit and buried her face in her hands. "Why did our parents have to be such gruesome people?"

  I rubbed a hand on her back, hoping it might comfort her. Instead, she started sobbing softly.

  A man in worn gray robes walked up to our table. "Maxwell Tiberius." He said the name like an accusation.

  Max looked up at him. "Who are you?"

  "Wigston Hodges." The man scratched his scruffy beard and gave a mirthless laugh. "Figures you wouldn't recognize me, boy. When Cyphanis was in charge and forced some of us to leave Queens Gate, your father stole my family heirlooms."

  "Oh." Max tilted his head slightly. "Now I remember you. You blamed my father for a lot of stuff, but you never proved anything."

  The man snarled and leaned forward. "He was one of Rax's toads, you little rat. Everyone knows he and his cronies robbed me and others blind because we didn't support him."

  Max made a face. "Your breath stinks, and you look drunk. Why don't you leave me alone?"

  The man raised his fist into the air and shouted, "Your father left me destitute!"

  Ambria had stopped crying and stared at the man. I noticed most of the other patrons watching the spectacle. Some of them gave Max unkind looks and grumbled. Not a one of them offered to help.

  "There's the old coot!" someone shouted from across the room. Two older boys with white-blond hair dashed across the room. It took me only a second to realize they were identical twins. Their eyes settled on Max.

  One spoke. "Well, little brother, it looks like old man Wigston was about to throw you over the balcony."

  Max made a face. "No he wasn't."

  "I can and I will!" Wigston shouted. He swung a clumsy fist at the first twin and missed by a wide margin.

  The second boy laughed and booted Wigston in the backside. The older man plowed into our table. Food flew everywhere. Ambria shrieked. I jumped back and tripped over my chair.

  "Get him Rhys!" shouted the second boy.

  The first boy took out a wand, waved it in a pattern, and said, "Impellatus!"

  Wigston doubled over with a loud "Oof!" He stumbled out of the door and flipped backward over the balcony railing.

  "Constrictus," said the second boy, flicking the wand at Wigston. The iron railing wrapped around the old man's foot a split instant before he plunged to the hard cobblestones below.

  The boys chortled and performed an elaborate handshake.

  Max stood and gave them a horrified look. "What have you done?"

  "Saved your hide, you little mouse." Rhys pinched Max hard on the cheek. "You're lucky Devon and I saw that piece of garbage skulking around here."

  "Help!" Wigston called as he vainly tried to pull himself up. "Please, someone."

  The people on the second floor looked toward the balcony, but not a one of them made a move to aid the old man.

  Rhys and Devon crossed their arms and smirked at the other patrons.

  "Nobody wants to help the little old man?" Rhys said in a condescending tone.

  "You people are just awful," Devon added. "I'm glad I don't need your help."

  "Cowards." Rhys turned to Max and shoved him hard into the wall. "So this is what you've been up to." He looked at Ambria and me. "I guess you found some little friends."

  Max strained against the older boy's grip, but couldn't move. "Yeah, so what?"

  Devon put on a hurt face. "We feel like you're avoiding us, little brother. Your brothers and sisters miss you."

  "Well, I don't miss you." Max's face turned red as he struggled.

  Rhys released him and turned to me, hand extended. "I'm Rhys. Pleased to meet you."

  I wasn't sure how to respond, but shook his hand anyway, flinching in anticipation of the older boy squeezing my hand too hard or doing something equally mean. "I'm Conrad."

  He shook it politely and turned to Ambria. "Pleased to meet you, milady." He took her hand and kissed the top. "Please do let us know if our little brother causes you any trouble."

  Devon followed Rhys's example, remaining every bit as polite. "Max is very troubled," he said. "Whatever you do, don't believe a word from his lying mouth."

  The entire time this went on, Wigston pleaded for help until his voice grew hoarse. The two boys ignored him while the other patrons returned to their meals.

  "Well, we must be going," Rhys said. "We're racing today."

  Max's angry expression softened. "Really? Where?"

  "Why should you care?" Rhys gave us a cool look. "You have new friends, Max. Go play dolls with them."

  Max frowned but said nothing more. His brothers smirked. Though they both looked like copies of each other, I noticed Rhys had a freckle on his right cheek while Devon had one on his left. A vision flashed through my head and for a brief instant, I saw little twin toddlers looking up at me while a lovely woman with long, blonde hair smiled down at them. The image faded just as Rhys and Devon entered the stairwell and left.

  "I don't like your brothers," Ambria said. "Not one little bit."

  "At least they're not as bad as my sisters." Max shuddered. "Well, I guess we'll have to order more food."

  "More food?" Ambria put her hands on her hips. "You're not getting another bite until you rescue that poor man from the balcony."

  "I don't know how," Max said in a whining voice.

  I looked at poor Wigston and wondered if anyone else would free him. I certainly didn't know how to unbend the metal railing wrapped around his ankle. I realized with a start that the man's boot was slowly slipping off his foot. If we didn't do something, he'd fall headfirst to the street.

  "Stop bickering," I said to Ambria and Max as they argued about Wigston. "He's going to fall."

  "What?" Max rushed to the balcony. "I don't know if I can hold him up."

  "Maybe we both can." I looked down and saw Wigston's robe hanging over the man's face like an upside down dress, flashing striped boxer shorts and a pale gray-haired torso. While it looked rather comical, I knew now wasn't the time to laugh.

  "Get away from that man," said an imperious voice.

  I turned and saw a thin man with long, black hair glaring at us. He wore black robes and a dour look on his face.

  "But he's about to fall," I protested.

  The man took out a wand and waved it in a tight, concise pattern. Without saying a word, he flicked his wand. The metal railing straightened and Wigston fell with a loud scream.

  Chapter 19

  Ambria cried out and rushed to the railing. Max and I looked over just as Wigston thudded into the center of a huge cushion sitting below. Feathers flew in all direction and the man lay motionless. A moment later, he groaned and sat up.

  I turned back to the man in black. "Where did that cushion come from?"

  "I conjured it," the man said, lip rising in a sneer. He turned his cold, gray eyes to Max. "Your brothers think they can do whatever they wish, boy." He leaned closer to Max. "Maybe you do too."

  "No, sir," Max said in a quiet voice.

  The man straightened. "One day your parents won't be around to protect you." A smile curled his lips. "What a wonderful day that will be." He turned and left.

  Ambria slumped against the railing and wiped tears from her eyes. "I think I'm done for the day." She pressed a hand to her chest. "My heart can't take more excitement, Conrad."

  I sat down next to her and nodded. "I know what you mean." I looked up at Max. "Who was that fellow?"

  Max found a plate of biscuits that had miraculously survived the incident and began buttering one. "That's Professor Gideon Grace." He tore into the bread and sighed as if it were the best food he'd had all day. "He doesn't like my family one bit."

  Ambria gave him a hard look. "I thought your last name was Brimble."

  Max hardly paused as he ate. "Nah. I just told you that because I didn't want you to know
my real last name is Tiberius."

  "And why not?" Her voice rose sharply.

  He looked wistful. "You never heard of my family because you were raised like noms, but I didn't know that." Max swallowed. "I was afraid you might not be my friends if you knew my real last name."

  Ambria sniffed. "Now that I know you're a big liar, maybe I won't be your friend anymore."

  He looked down. "I didn't want to lie, but I was afraid you wouldn't give me a chance."

  She threw up her hands. "Will you stop eating that stupid biscuit so we can leave?"

  Max looked up, hope in his eyes. "Does that mean you're still my friend?"

  Ambria rolled her eyes. "Yes. But you'd better not lie to us again."

  I certainly understood why Max had lied to us. Wigston had attacked him just because of something his father might have done long ago. Professor Grace's disdain for Max had only underscored how difficult life was on my new friend.

  "I'm still your friend too, Max." I stood up.

  A man in dark blue robes hesitantly approached the table. Wringing his hands, he surveyed at the mess. "Mr. Tiberius, I'm so sorry about what happened. On behalf of Chicken Little, please accept my sincerest apologies. I'll make sure to ban Wigston from the restaurant from now on."

  Max puffed up a little. "That man attacked me and my friends. Look what he did to our breakfast."

  "I'll have a new meal prepared at once," the man said. "Let me get the servers to fix your table as well."

  I almost protested, but my stomach rumbled. I hadn't really had a chance to eat before the interruption. I saw Ambria's face clouding with anger and grabbed her arm to ward off an explosion. She looked at me, eyebrows pinched together.

  "That will be satisfactory," Max said.

  The man bowed and left.