Conrad Edison and the Infernal Design (Overworld Arcanum Book 4) by Corwin John

Author:Corwin, John [Corwin, John]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Raven House
Published: 2017-08-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

"What's wrong, Conrad?" Asha gripped my hand. "You're white as a sheet."

"No!" I jerked my hand free. "Not real!" I bolted down the stairs from the platform and sped out of the dining room, tears burning in my eyes.

"Conrad!" Ambria shouted from behind. "Wait!"

I didn't want to stop. Didn't want to face the creature Victus created in his infernal labs. I looked back and saw Asha talking with Max and Ambria. Fear and loathing jerked me to a halt. I can't let her near my friends. A lucid thought penetrated the haze of terror fogging my brain. I can't let Asha know that I know she's an infernus. This is why Victus wanted me dead. This is why Garkin tried to kill me. Victus plans to use these demon golems to conquer the Overworld.

I had to get my friends away from that creature without her knowing why. I took deep calming breaths and tried to maintain a grip on rational thoughts. Asha might be an infernus, but in all the time I'd known her, she hadn't tried to harm me. Victus must have known how deeply it would affect me having a teacher who so closely resembled my mother.

Asha had certainly thrown me off balance and caused me emotional turmoil all because she looked like Delectra. With the truth revealed, I could finally see past the illusion and know this creature for what she really was—an impostor.

I gathered my wits and walked back to the others.

Wide with concern, Asha's eyes looked so real—so human—I could hardly believe she was a copy of my dead mother.

"Conrad, are you okay?" She reached out to touch me, but seemed to remember my earlier response and lowered her hand.

"Where were you running?" Max said.

"I was upset." My thoughts scrambled for a solid excuse. "A wyrm—" I stopped talking, suddenly realizing that if I told Asha about our knowledge of the wyrm, she would tell Victus.

"Did you actually see one?" Ambria said.

I changed the subject. "Grint and Quiff kept interrogating me. I wanted to get out of there."

Asha's nose wrinkled. "I do not like that pair one bit. Minister Quiff asked me all sorts of personal questions about my history and threatened to hold a formal review if I didn't answer her thoroughly."

"What sorts of questions?" Ambria asked.

"Where I was from, my parents' names, and so forth." She shrugged. "It was unexpected and bizarre, especially since all of that should be on file in the human resources office."

Except you don't have a real history. Victus must have created her shortly after his resurrection. Of course, if that was the case, why hadn't she killed me? Asha had the opportunity any number of times. Then again, so had Delectra while disguised as Esma.

I wondered if perhaps Asha as a clone of Delectra had the same emotional conflicts as my mother. Perhaps she was here to kill me, but maternal instinct had transferred from the soul fragment used by my mother.

Another loose puzzle piece clicked with the larger picture.

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