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

soap."
    Blue nodded. "It's more than just the lavender smell I sense, but it's hard to explain to someone with an ordinary nose."
    The other girl sniffed. "Well, I think my nose is just fine."
    I heard rustling behind me and saw Max digging through one of the bins. "Nothing but bottles and this." He held up a crude doll with pins protruding from it. "An old voodoo doll."
    "What an awful thing," Ambria said. She took it and examined it. "Do these actually work?"
    Max nodded. "Sure, if you know what you're doing." His lips curled up. "I'd sure like to make a voodoo doll of Baxter and stick him with needles." He removed one from the doll and jammed in its backside. "How'd you like that, Baxter?"
    I peered into the other rubbish container. "This one is almost empty." I shook my head. "No test."
    "Told you," Blue said with a smirk. She lifted her nose and sniffed. "He went this way."
    We followed our lycan friend down the hallway and through several turns before stopping near an arched doorway.
    "This is where I found him before we went through our final test," Ambria said. "When he saw me, he gave me an awfully guilty look."
    "Were you with him the rest of the time?" I asked.
    She shook her head. "No, I gave him a dirty look and went into this door and up some stairs. A few minutes later I walked out of a door in another hallway and he came out of a room across from me."
    "Odd," I said. "It's almost like the building made sure you two ended up taking the last test together."
    "Kind of like you and Harris?" Ambria said.
    I looked at our surroundings with increased suspicion. "What if this building is alive?"
    Blue laughed, but Max nodded seriously. "I've heard some haunted houses are alive."
    Ambria tentatively patted a wall. "Nice university."
    I snorted. "Making friends?"
    She sniffed. "Well, it certainly doesn't hurt. I don't want this building forcing me to see Baxter all the time."
    Blue's nose twitched. She stalked down the hall to another arched doorway and peered inside. "There's a bin in here." She lifted the lid and poked around for a moment. "Aha!" She lifted a crumpled test with Max's name on it.
    "My test!" Max took it and smoothed it out against the wall. His smile faded. "What if Professor Grace doesn't accept it?"
    "He'll have to," I said. "Blue can be our witness."
    Ambria clenched her fists. "That no-good little rat. Maybe we can get him expelled."
    Max rolled up the test. "I'll just be happy to get a passing grade."
    We returned to the main hall and found Gideon Grace still handing out envelopes. He looked down his nose at Max. "What are you doing here, boy? You failed."
    Max held up his test. "No, I didn't. Baxter took an extra test and filled it out with wrong answers, then replaced mine with it."
    Gideon snorted. "A likely story."
    "We can prove it," I said. "Show us the failing test and compare it with Max's handwriting."
    "Baxter Troy is a good lad, unlike Maxwell Tiberius," Grace said. "He would never do such a lowly thing."
    "Then let us prove it," I said.
    "Who do you think you are, talking to a professor that way?" Grace looked down his nose at me. "Despite your high mark, I could have you expelled before classes even begin."
    "What's going on here?" Professor Trask stepped beside Grace. Her eyes flared when she saw me. "Ah, Mr. Edwards. Congratulations on your high mark. Quite an achievement, indeed."
    "Young Tiberius claims another student switched his test with a fake," Grace scoffed.
    "It's true, Professor Trask." Max held up his test. "Baxter Troy replaced this one with a fake and threw the real one away."
    "A serious accusation," Trask said. She took Max's test and looked it over. "Come with me."
    "This boy is desperate," Grace said. "The Tiberius family is well known for lying and scheming to get what they want."
    "Yes, well, a simple handwriting examination should clear this right up," Trask said. She headed down the hallway.
    Max hurried after her, and we followed. The professor took us inside