by John Corwin
"How could you let him apologize for something your brothers did?" Ambria hissed.
"Wigston probably would've attacked me anyway." Max shrugged. "Besides, I'm starving."
Ambria's shoulders stiffened and her face turned pink. "Conrad, I can't believe you're going along with this."
I looked away. "Sorry, but I'm really hungry too."
She let out an exasperated groan. "Fine. You two idiots go ahead and eat. I'm going back to the house."
Before we could protest, she stormed away and down the stairs. I looked over the balcony and watched her fly away on the broom. I also noted the large feather cushion was gone along with Wigston Hodges.
"Girls are so hard to please," Max said.
"Yeah." I didn't know enough about girls to construct an educated opinion. Close as Ambria and I had grown over the past couple of days, I still hardly knew her. It was difficult to believe we'd only spoken a few times before escaping from the orphanage. "She's been through a lot. I think she's having a hard time adjusting."
Max watched as two servers finished cleaning the floor and set the table and chairs upright. "I suppose anyone who was raised like a nom would have that sort of problem if they moved to a place where magic is normal."
"Or a place where a giant killer werewolf is eaten by a black spider demon."
He shivered and turned to me. "This morning has definitely been pretty crazy."
I lifted an eyebrow. "Crazy? It's been absolutely insane, Max."
"Oh, yeah. I guess since you've never seen lycans or demons, it would've been pretty shocking."
Max was excellent at understatement, or else he'd seen so many bizarre things that they didn't bother him as much as they should. Fresh food arrived. Max and I sat down and dug in. Despite the incredible amount of pancakes on my plate, I managed to eat most of them along with all the bacon.
Max polished off his French toast and started on an omelet. I sat back and tried to clear my mind of the day's events. It was impossible.
The more I thought about Brickle, the more worried I became. How long would the Goodleighs wait before coming to investigate his disappearance? What would we do when they came?
Max dropped his fork and burped. "You look scared, Conrad."
"I'm worried about what comes next when the Goodleighs search for Brickle."
"We'll handle them the same way."
I flicked my eyes his way. "With a demon?"
Max shrugged. "If we have to. At least that way they won't bother you anymore."
It also meant we could free the rest of the orphans. My heart grew heavy as lead and I felt sick to my stomach. I was responsible for two deaths in two days. Ambria hadn't said a word about it, but I'd killed the older brother she'd never known. We're murderers. A lump grew in my throat.
A server came by the table. "We're very sorry for the disruption earlier." She put down the bill and a brown bag. "We hope you'll enjoy these complimentary fairy cakes." She offered us an uneasy smile and left.
"Brilliant," Max said. He showed me the bill. The balance was scratched out with the word Complimentary. "We got to eat free!"
I smiled. "Spectacular."
"I guess it's like a belated birthday gift." Max chuckled. "Happy birthday, Conrad."
"Happy birthday, Conrad!" Mum puts a cake in front of me.
I'm so scared for her, I can hardly breathe. I know with certainty, she'll die soon, just like the others. But it's my birthday and she's still alive.
Cora ruffles my hair. "Blow out the candles, son."
I take in a deep breath and release it, snuffing all the candles.
"Yay!" She claps her hands. "Did you make a wish?"
"Yes." I wished for her to be my mother forever.
She hands me a fork. "Let's eat."
I grab her hand and hold it to my chest. "I love you, Mum."
She sits next to me, tears welling in her eyes. "You've never told me that before."
I can't tell her it's because I know she'll go away like everyone else. But no matter how I try not to love her, I can't help myself. She is the only person in this world who's cared for me.
"I love you too, son." She hugs me and kisses the top of my head.
Max and I walked downstairs and got our brooms. My guilty conscience seemed to grow heavier with every step. I wanted to punish the Goodleighs for what they'd done to us and other children, but I didn't want to kill them, especially not with a demon. I'm not a murderer. The other deaths were accidents. That rationalization seemed to lighten my conscience a fraction.
Max stuck his broom in a corner of the foyer next to Ambria's. I took my broom and the bag of fairy cakes up to my room since I wasn't hungry enough to eat them right away and then came back downstairs. We heard noises from the basement and went downstairs to find Ambria cleaning up the basement, though she stayed well away from Brickle's bones.
"Pick those up," she said in a terse voice the minute we arrived.
For some reason, the bones didn't disgust me. I'd helped Brickle butcher animals on the farm many times. Ironically, it had prepared me for something so awful as this. I moved the chain net, found a box of plastic bags on one of the shelves, and put the bones inside it. I left the bags on the curb where we'd put the other trash the day before. As Max promised, the other rubbish was gone.
Back in the basement, I saw Max holding up the wands and peering at the wall with the symbols.
"Can I hold your arcphone?" he asked.
I took it out and handed it to him. "Do you have one?"
"I used to, but my brothers took it." He handed me the wands. "Hold them up."
I did so. Max positioned the phone between the wands. "Phone, scan the wall and translate."
The phone traced the wall with a wide beam of light. "The inscription reads, 'My enemies will feed the sins of the past.'"
Max frowned. "How do we open the door?"
"Unknown."
He gave me back the phone and took the wands. Standing a foot from the wall, he held the wands to either side of the hidden door and moved them up and down. "I think that little arrow symbol might open it."
Ambria stormed down the stairs. "What are you two doing? I need help cleaning upstairs."
"We're solving a mystery," Max said. "Aren't you the least bit curious about what's behind this wall?"
She crossed her arms and looked at the symbols. "A little, I suppose."
"Why don't you keep looking at it?" I told Max. "I need to speak with Ambria."
He raised an eyebrow. "Sure."
I walked over to Ambria. "Can we go upstairs?"
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
I nodded. "Yes."
Her eyes grew worried. "It's the Goodleighs, right? They'll come find out what happened to Brickle."
"That's part of it." I motioned toward the stairs. "But there's more."
Ambria jogged up the stairs ahead of me.
Once we reached the top, I found it very difficult to speak. "I—I have to apologize."
"For what?" She looked genuinely confused.
"Ambria, I killed Levi—your brother and we never talked about it once we found out who your parents were."
Her face fell. "You didn't know he was my brother and neither did I. He was a stranger to me."
"Does that matter?" I squeezed shut my eyes. "I killed him."
She gripped my hand painfully tight. "Of course it matters, Conrad. You didn't mean to kill him, but he certainly wanted you dead." She kissed my cheek. "It was self-defense."
I looked down. "It still feels like murder."
"Conrad, look at me."
I forced my gaze to meet hers.
"I don't blame you for what happened, just as I hope you don't blame me for what happened to Brickle."
"None of us knew that scroll summoned a demon."
"You saved my life. You saved Max from Brickle." She smiled. "You are a good person, Conrad."
I hear Mum crying through her closed bedroom
door and go inside.
"Why are you crying?" I ask.
"I can't tell you, Conrad." Cora wipes her face with a tissue and manages a smile. "Why are you still awake, sweetie?"
"Please tell me why you're sad." I squeeze her hand. "Please!" I want to make her feel better.
"I'm a bad person, son." She looks away. "I'm awful."
I think back to the night with Bill and, despite my dull wits, realize how he ended up at the bottom of the stairs. "Did you push Bill?"
Her eyes widen and fill with more tears. Like a dam bursting, she collapses on the bed and sobs. I lie next to her, wishing I could do something to make her feel better.
"You're a good person, Mum."
Cora stops crying and looks up at me. "How can you say that?"
"Good people sometimes have to do bad things." I smile.
She smiles back. "You're the best son a mother could wish for."
"You're a good person too, Ambria."
Her cheeks turned pink. "I'm very glad you feel that way, Conrad." Her lips flattened, though her eyes still smiled. "Now, let's get ready for the Goodleighs. This time, I want to be better prepared."
"No more demons?"
She laughed. "The Goodleighs deserve to be eaten by a demon, but I'd rather not see something so horrible again."
"Me either." I walked into the hallway. The destruction left by Brickle stopped me dead in my tracks.
The wolf had scattered and shredded the stacked newspapers all down the hallway. Slats protruded from the plaster walls like broken ribs. White dust covered everything.
Ambria sighed. "It'll take us months to clean this mess."
It would likely be only a matter of days before the Goodleighs came to investigate Brickle's disappearance. There was no way we could restore the hallway in such a short period of time. Then again, why did we need to clean it at all? "We should leave it looking this way."
"Are you really so lazy?"
"Of course not." I kicked a stray bit of plaster. "The Goodleighs will think Brickle tore this place apart looking for us. If we clean it, they'll be suspicious."
Ambria pursed her lips, looking from me to the debris. Finally, she nodded. "I suppose you're right. How long do you think it will be before the Goodleighs come?"
"A few days."
"I got it!" Max shouted from downstairs. "I opened the door!"
Ambria and I exchanged a glance and rushed downstairs. Sure enough, Max stood in front of a dark hole in the wall. We ran over to join him.
"What's inside?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I don't have a light."
A rumbling noise echoed from somewhere down the tunnel. Ambria shivered and backed away from the opening. "We shouldn't go in there. There's no telling what's inside."
"Aw, you worry too much." Max dug through some items from the fallen shelf and held up a white marble. "A glowball." He flicked it into the air. The tiny ball blazed into light and floated over our heads. Max headed toward the dark passage with the glowball hovering over a few feet above and in front of him.
Despite the light source, Ambria didn't look convinced. "If you're stupid enough to go first, Max, then I'll wait right here."
He stuck out his tongue. "It's called being brave, not stupid."
"It's only called being brave if you don't get yourself killed." She backed away another step. "Well, go on." Ambria motioned toward the door. "Let's find out whether you're brave or stupid."
Max laughed. "Fine." He entered the door and vanished around a corner.
Just as I went to follow him, he began screaming horrifically.
Ambria cried out. "Oh, no! Max! Save him, Conrad!"
I ran toward the opening and nearly plowed into Max as he came back around the corner, laughing hysterically. "I really got you good."
Red-faced, Ambria marched over to him and slapped him on the chest. "Max, I will kill you myself if you do that again."
Still laughing, he held up his hands to defend himself. "I just couldn't resist."
"What's in there?" I asked.
"Just a tunnel." He shrugged. "I couldn't see very far inside."
"We should be preparing for the Goodleighs, not exploring dangerous tunnels," Ambria said.
"Why do you think it's dangerous?" Max asked.
She stared at him for a moment before answering. "The sign on the door telling us to beware the sins of the past makes it pretty obvious, wouldn't you say?"
"He probably stole a lot of money and stashed it there," Max said. "Stealing is a sin."
A part of me agreed with Ambria. The tunnel might lead somewhere dangerous and exploring it would take time we needed to set traps for the Goodleighs. On the other hand, why had Levi hidden this door? Perhaps he'd stored powerful magical weapons inside—weapons we could use against the Goodleighs. Admittedly, I was also very curious to take a look. "I think we should explore it."
"Really, Conrad?" Ambria gave me a disgusted look. She released a long sigh. "Fine, let's go." She retrieved a few scrolls from the floor. "I'll bring these just in case."
"Not a bad idea," Max said as he scooped up a few of his own.
I took a couple of offensive spells, several hexes and motioned to Max. "Lead the way."
He nodded and went back into the passage.
Stepping through the hole, a tall wide corridor to the right greeted me. The stone wall separating this passage and the basement was only a few inches thick. The path sloped down at a gentle angle. We followed the tunnel for several minutes before reaching a dead end.
"Well that's disappointing," Max said as he looked around. "So much for your dangerous tunnel theory."
"Maybe a rock will fall on your head," Ambria said.
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" He blew out a breath. "I can't believe there's nothing down here."
I might have believed my eyes, but the rumbling noise I'd heard earlier had grown steadily louder. "What do you suppose that is?" I asked.
"What is what?" Max asked.
"That noise."
Everyone went silent for a moment.
"It's just air," Ambria said.
"Or maybe noise from the city above," Max added.
I didn't know how far we were below the surface, but it didn't seem likely noise from the city would sound like that down here. I pressed my ear to the wall at the end of the tunnel and listened. A slight vibration in the stone tingled against my skin and the noise definitely seemed louder. My gaze settled on markings on the wall perpendicular to this one.
I motioned the glowball in that direction. As it drew closer, it revealed words burnt into the surface of the rock. There was also a small hole to the left. I almost tested it, but quickly changed my mind. For all I knew, something might live inside it.
Ambria peered at the words. "Yohan Picadoris, Clive Burwell, Anthony Wiener." She looked back at us. "It's a list of names."
I pointed out slashes in some of the names. "Some of them are crossed out."
"I recognize some of those names," Max said. "They were supposedly allied with the Overlord and then flip-flopped after he was dead. My father was friends with a few."
"Look at the wall between the wands," I told Max. "Maybe there's another hidden entrance. Maybe Levi kidnapped the crossed-out people and imprisoned them down here."
"You think so?" He took out the wands and looked around, but the wall looked just as blank as before. "Nope." Max turned toward the other walls, but found nothing there.
Ambria made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Let me hold the straight wand."
He gave it to her. She took it to the hole next to the names and pushed it in just as I had on the secret door to the basement. The wand flashed white and something metal clanked. The wall slid to the side with a loud grating noise. The rumble I'd noticed earlier turned into a much more distinct sound—one that I immediately recognized without layers of stone muffling it.
It was the sound of something breathing.
Chapter 20
Max stepped into the new area and motioned forward. The glowball rose higher and drifted inside a large open area. A giant silver bolt anchored an equally massive chain in the rock floor. The glowball drifted higher, growing brighter as it did until it penetrated the darkness beyond the chain.
A giant mound of shiny green skin reflected the light.
Ambria gasped. Max stumbled backwards. I felt rooted to the ground with fear.
The skin quivered as if it sensed the light. Two giant legs and arms unfolded from the mound. Back facing us, the creature rose, chain clinking. I wanted to turn and run as quickly as I could, but couldn't make my legs respond.
"What is that thing?" Ambria screamed.
The creature spun. Standing at least ten feet tall, it might have looked like a giant man with green skin except for its awful frog head. Bulbous parietal eyes blinked. The skin beneath the neck bulged like a balloon, quickly contracted, and a loud croak erupted from the mouth.
Beautiful. A sense of pride swelled my chest. Wait, why am I proud? I shook my head and the feeling vanished.
"It's a frog ogre—a frogre!" Max shouted, pronouncing the word with a long O.
I see large glass tanks all around me. Horrific half-formed creatures float within. Some are humanoid. I see elephant fetuses, and creatures that look half-human and half-beast. I turn and look at a lovely woman standing by my side. She smiles. "Soon, my love. Soon."
The vision flickered away, replaced by the chained monstrosity and a piercing pain in my head. The frogre croaked and lunged toward us. The chain snapped taut, keeping the creature at bay even as hands the size of my torso grasped for us.
Ambria fell backward though the frogre couldn't possibly reach her from twenty feet away. I helped her up.
"We're safe," I told her.
"What if the chain snaps?"
"That's silver laced with diamond fiber," Max said. "No way it can escape."
Eyes bugging, Ambria made a retching sound.
At first, I thought the sight of this awful hybrid made her sick to her stomach, but then I followed her gaze to items scattered on the floor behind the frogre. I saw a human skull. Beyond it were items of clothing and more bones.
Max gagged. "I think Levi fed humans to this thing."