by John Corwin
Conrad Edison
and
The Anchored World
Overworld Arcanum
Book Two
John Corwin
Copyright © 2015 by John Corwin.
Digital eBook Edition.
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The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
LICENSE NOTES
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people unless expressly permitted by the author. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to a digital ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
To my wonderful support group:
Alana Rock
Karen Stansbury
My amazing editors:
Annetta Ribken
Jennifer Wingard
My awesome cover artist:
Regina Wamba
Thanks so much for all your help and input!
Books by John Corwin:
The Overworld Chronicles:
Sweet Blood of Mine
Dark Light of Mine
Fallen Angel of Mine
Dread Nemesis of Mine
Twisted Sister of Mine
Dearest Mother of Mine
Infernal Father of Mine
Sinister Seraphim of Mine
Wicked War of Mine
Dire Destiny of Ours
Overworld Continuum:
Aetherial Annihilation
Overworld Underground:
Possessed By You
Demonicus
Overworld Arcanum:
Conrad Edison and the Living Curse
Conrad Edison and the Anchored World
The Martian Saga
Episode 1: Feeding Day
Episode 2: The New Constable
Stand Alone Novels:
No Darker Fate
The Next Thing I Knew
Outsourced
Seventh
For the latest on new releases, free ebooks, and more, join John Corwin's Newsletter at www.johncorwin.net!
ENTER THE GLIMMER QUEEN
When Conrad meets a strange girl while practicing for the Arcane University entrance exam, she takes him through a crack in the world and into a mysterious realm called the Glimmer. Conrad's parents are seeking help from the Glimmer Queen so they can once again rule the Overworld.
The Glimmer holds secrets so ancient, they predate even the First Seraphim War, and a great power that could grant Conrad's parents immortality.
If Conrad can't find a way to convince the Glimmer Queen from helping his parents, evil will once again rule the Overworld.
Chapter 1
Trudging down the street with my head down, I didn't see the hooded man until it was too late.
"What's a young lad like you doing on these dangerous streets so late at night?" he asked, a leering grin on his face.
I sidestepped to go around him. "Excuse me, sir. I'm meeting friends for dinner."
"Well, ain't that lovely." He gripped my shirt and jerked me into the mouth of an alley. A blade flashed and he leaned close, rancid breath washing over my face. "Your parents send their love."
Ice gripped my chest. I struggled weakly, like a mouse caught in a cat's claw. "My parents?"
He bared his teeth. "They want the rest of their souls back, boy." My assailant gripped my throat, pinning me against the brick wall. The knife stabbed toward my chest.
With a startled yelp, the man flew backward and smacked into the opposite wall. A spatter of red appeared where his head hit it. Desmond, my vampire housemate appeared, a concerned look on his face.
He looked me up and down. "Are you okay, Conrad?"
I ran a hand along my chest to feel for puncture wounds. "Yes, thank you."
His sister Sonia appeared, face twisted in annoyance. "Desmond, what in the—" She looked at the unconscious man and back to me. "What's going on here?"
"That man was apparently trying to kill Conrad." He tilted his head slightly and gazed at me with glowing red eyes. "Why would someone want to do that?"
"Um, apparently my parents sent him." They'd only risen from the dead a month ago and seemed quite eager to finish what they'd failed to do.
"Your parents?" Sonia licked her lips and looked at the man. "You must be quite the disappointment." Fangs flashed beneath her plump lips. "Perhaps no one will miss a murderer." She knelt next to the man, her short sparkly dress rising up her thighs, but reeled back with a hiss before she sank fangs into his neck. "He stinks like a demon."
"I noticed," Desmond replied in a matter-of-fact tone. The silent arch of an eyebrow raised an unasked question.
Only my closest friends, Ambria and Max knew the full extent of what my parents had done to me and I was hesitant to tell the vampires the truth. They might not like me much if they knew.
"Why are we wasting time here?" Sonia said. "I don't even know why you bothered saving the puny boy." She stalked closer to me. "I've heard the blood of the young is tasty."
Desmond sighed. "Well, it's a lucky thing we left the house right after you, Conrad." He stepped out of the alley and beckoned me to follow. "Where were you headed?"
"To the Copper Goose to meet Ambria and Max for dinner," I said. I looked at the unconscious man and trembled. "I don't suppose you're heading that way too?"
He chuckled. "We're headed to a club nearby. You're welcome to walk with us."
"He's so slow," Sonia complained. She jabbed a finger at the unconscious man. "If it'll make you feel any better, I can break his neck. Then you won't have to be a frightened little boy."
I shook my head. "No, please don't kill him. The man isn't evil—it's the demon controlling him."
Sonia huffed. "You're so stupid. Demons can't possess people unless they allow it. That means the owner of the body is a real git."
I certainly hadn't allowed my parents to let a demon inside me, or given them permission to stow their souls in my body while they played dead, but that hadn't stopped them.
"Sonia, let the boy alone." Desmond gripped her arm and pulled her away from the man. "Let's go."
We resumed walking down the street, Sonia whining and giving me dirty looks.
"It's bad enough having children living in our house," she said. "Now we have to babysit them as well."
Desmond gave me a friendly smile. "What are you hiding, Conrad?"
I looked away. "I'd rather not say."
"Why you don't want to tell me?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I don't think you'd like me much if you knew."
"We already don't like you," Sonia said.
"Not true," her brother said. "I think Conrad's a good housemate."
"Because we don't have to see him and his little girlfriend all day," she shot back.
My face warmed. "Ambria isn't my girlfriend."
Sonia burst into laughter. "Aw, how cute." She traced a fingernail down my arm, sending chills up my spine. "How old are you? Ten?"
"Twelve," I said weakly and stepped out of her reach.
"Goodness," she said in a mocking voice. "And you don't even have a girlfriend."
Desmond blew out a breath. "Sonia, please."
She sniffed and stuck her nose in the air. "Why do you always ruin my fun?"
A massive copper goose came into view as we rounded the corner and entered a square. Finally, we're here. "Thank you for saving me, Desmond."
"No problem." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Be more careful from now on, okay?"
I nodded. "Definitely."
Sonia gripped her brother's arm and dragged him away. "Let's go, let's go! I'm starving."
A shudder ran through my shoulders at the thought of what she wanted to eat. I walked inside the restaurant and spotted my friends at a table near the back.
"Where have you been?" Ambria Rax stood up and planted her fists on her hips. "You should have been here ages ago."
"I was about to eat without you," Max said.
Ambria rolled her eyes. "Max thinks more about food than anything else."
I took a seat and shrugged. "Sorry, I decided to walk."
Ambria sniffed. "How silly. Your broom would've been much faster."
"Well, I wouldn't have been so long if a man hadn't tried to kill me."
That drew startled glances from the pair.
"What?" Ambria's voice rose to a squeak.
Max leaned forward. "Are you joking?"
I shook my head and told them what happened.
"Goodness, Conrad, you really have to be more careful." Ambria patted my hand.
Max groaned. "Just great. Now we have to watch for assassins all the time."
"Sorry," I said. "It's just, without the curse, I feel so much better now. I like walking and running. Before, it was hard just to walk short distances."
"I understand," Ambria said. "But from now on, we should take our brooms whenever possible."
"Agreed," I said.
"Agreed," Max said. He rubbed his belly. "Can we order now? I'm starving."
We ordered and our food arrived a short time later. I consumed my brisket in short order despite my attempts to savor every bite. Since Dr. Rufus Cumberbatch had lifted the living curse from me and released my parents' souls back to their bodies, life had been so much better. But remnants of my parents' souls still remained attached to my own. If Ambria and Max hadn't rescued me that day, my own mother would have slit my throat to release those remnants.
Ambria patted the corners of her mouth. "That was wonderful, don't you think?"
Max grunted and continued to eat.
"You know you can't ask Max that until he's had his third helping," I said with a grin.
She laughed, but it quickly died away.
"Something wrong?" I asked.
"Besides your parents trying to murder you?" Ambria twisted her teacup nervously on the table. "Actually, I can't stop thinking about the entrance exam."
Max grunted and said something unintelligible with his full mouth.
I'd given the entrance exam quite a bit of thought, but for some reason, I wasn't nervous about it. "Do you feel we've studied enough?"
She nodded. "I think so, but I just want to get it over with."
Max swallowed. "It's just anxiety, Ambria. You'll get over it." He eyed his clean plate. "I wonder what they have for dessert."
Ambria sniffed. "Perhaps you should give up magic and become a chef."
He considered it for a moment. "Probably not a good idea." He patted his stomach. "I've got to watch my weight if I'm going to become a world-class broom racer."
"Max Tiberius, you're absolutely hopeless." Ambria touched my hand. "Please don't tell me you want to be a broom racer too."
Her touch sent a tingle up my fingers, not unlike when Sonia had touched my arm.
"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 m
ind 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."