Conrad Edison and the Anchored World (Overworld Arcanum Book 2) by John Corwin

Author:John Corwin [Corwin, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-11-15T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

My heart pounded in my chest. The anchor stone fragment should have kept Cora alive forever, but like Galfandor explained, it didn't make her impervious to death. My curse had overpowered its effect and killed her.

Ambria touched my arm. "You look a bit pale, Conrad."

I swallowed hard and looked at Mirjana. "The anchor stone fragments give immortality, don't they?"

"Yes," she replied. "Keeping a piece of it nearby will grant you long life."

Her confirmation filled my heart with such pain I could hardly bear it. Cora had lived for centuries in Eden and should have lived centuries more. My presence had killed her!

"Conrad, what's wrong?" Ambria cried.

I killed Cora.

I blinked away the tears and saw a look of concern on Mirjana's face.

"What is wrong, child?"

"My parents possessed me with a demon so they could preserve their souls and fake their deaths." I wiped at my blurry vision. "My foster mother, Cora, she was from the Glimmer. She had a piece of the anchor stone to keep her immortal, but my living curse gave her cancer and killed her."

Mirjana brushed my cheek with the back of her hand. "I am sorry for your loss."

It hurt to breathe. Pain inflated my chest until it felt ready to burst.

A lovely voice filled the air with song. It was like no music I'd ever heard, but it warmed deep into my bones, melting the icy sorrow, loosening the tightness in my chest. The tears dried, leaving a clear view of Mirjana softly singing.

She stopped and smiled.

"Was that a magic song?" I asked.

"It was a song of hope and love." Her hand squeezed mine. "No matter the terrible things life brings, one can always find something else to hope for, and someone else to love."

I thought of her recent loss and steely resolve filled me. "I'll go look for Klave. I'll let you know if he's…okay."

Her dark eyes flashed. "It would be a gift, child."

I nodded, suddenly unable to push words past the knot of gratitude in my throat. Her song had helped more than she could know.

The Siren motioned me closer, so I leaned in. Her hand gently touched my throat. "I will give you the gift of the sea. It will only last a few hours, so do not linger too long in the depths."

I didn't imagine it would take long at all to explore the small pond, but nodded. "Okay."

Once again, she sang, this time a different song with eerie tones and discordant melodies that seemed impossible for one throat to make. Obviously, the Sirens had the ultimate gift of song.

Percival walked to the other side of her bed and watched with awe. When she finished singing, he stared at me. "Do you feel any different?"

I felt my throat. "No. Do I have gills?"

Musical laughter tinkled from Mirjana. Suddenly she yawned. "I must sleep, child. Find my love and bring me his body if you are able."

I squeezed her hand. "I will."

Percival ushered us away from the slumbering Siren, then knelt and examined my throat, pressing his fingers under my chin as if checking for swollen tonsils.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.