Conrad Edison and the Anchored World (Overworld Arcanum Book 2) Read Free Page B

rocket dart into the bull’s-eye painted on a tree. "I wish I could be Harris's friend."
    Ambria huffed. "We're all the friends you need, Max." She grabbed me by the hand and took Max by the wrist. "Now, let's get back to studying."
    Max sighed as she dragged us toward the stairs. "Next up is spell casting. We can't exactly practice that in the house and all the gauntlet rooms at the university are full."
    "Then we'll go outside." Ambria opened the door to the closet beneath the staircase and picked up our wands off the cot inside.
    "I wonder why the family who used to live here left all this stuff behind." Max ducked inside the small space and grabbed an Elementary Enchantments textbook from a tall stack including Elementary Potions and Elementary Magic . He dropped onto the cot and looked inside the front cover. It read: Property of the Underlord .
    "Looks like their child had big ambitions," Ambria said.
    "You don't suppose he wanted to be like the Overlord, do you?" Max said, casting a curious glance at me.
    My stomach knotted. Why would any child want to be like my father? I took the textbook from Max and dropped it on the floor. "Let's go practice."
    "Touchy subject?" He stooped beneath the low sill and shut the door behind him.
    I couldn't help that every time I thought of my mother, I flashed back to her holding a gleaming knife at my throat while my father watched with a smirk. A deep burn grew a little hotter every time I flashed back to that recent memory. I feared my parents so much it made me weak in the knees and made me hate them all the more.
    I force my jaw to unclench. "I'd rather not think about them."
    "I completely understand." Ambria squeezed my hand and glared at Max. "Bringing up Conrad's parents is terribly mean, Max. You should be ashamed."
    "But the name Underlord was in that book," he protested. "Isn't it kind of strange?"
    "Can we just practice?" I groaned. I wasn't in the mood for another one of their arguments.
    Ambria huffed. "Shall we go outside and practice?"
    I jabbed a finger straight up. "I think we should go up the cliff and practice in Colossus Stadium."
    Ambria frowned. "Why can't we practice in the yard?"
    "Because the boy whose parents were murdered by Delectra and Victus is out there." I shook my head. "I want to get out of here."
    "Oh." She frowned and retrieved our flying brooms from the foyer. "Let's go."
    Blue stepped up to the railing at the top of the stairs and looked down at us. "What's going on?"
    "We're going to practice for the university entrance exam," Ambria said. "Want to come watch?"
    Blue shook her head. "I'm going back to sleep." She vanished from view and a door clicked shut.
    "What a sleepyhead," Max said. He grabbed his broom and we went into the back yard. Max's gaze wandered toward Harris's house, but the other boy was no longer playing darts. Now he sat on the back deck with a red-headed boy and a girl with curly brown hair.
    The ginger looked up and saw us. A grin split his face and he nudged his companions. "Hey look," he shouted. "It's Cryberius Tiberius."
    Max turned away and walked quickly to the street corner.
    "Where you going, Cryberius?" the boy called.
    Ambria growled and opened her mouth. I grabbed her arm and led her away before she engaged in a shouting match.
    "Why'd you do that?" she said. "That boy needs to watch his mouth."
    "Yes, but if you'll remember, we don't want to draw attention to us," I said. "We don't own the house we live in, and I don't want them knowing my last name."
    She pursed her lips as if she wanted to argue, but sighed instead.
    Max was already on his broom, a smile plastered on his face. "Ready?"
    "Are you okay, Max?" Ambria patted his arm.
    "I'm fine, geez." His broom rose higher. "Let's go."
    We hopped on our brooms and levitated next to him.
    Simply hovering on a broom made me feel immediately better. It made me feel free. "Race you to the top," I said to Max.
    "Oh, no you don't!" Max called after.
    I looked back and