Shadowcry by Jenna Burtenshaw Read Free Book Online Page B

You owe me far more than your worthless life. So, for the last time, what have you done with the girl?”
    Kalen’s face twisted into a look as smug as any man could get with a blade so close to his neck. “Losin’ yer touch, eh, friend?” he said. “Time was you’d have had that little banshee locked up and halfway to Fume by now, an’ I’d’ve been left dead and cold. Food for the rats, just for slowin’ you down. Better get a move on. The council won’t thank ya for keepin’ ’em waitin’.”
    â€œThis one’s not for the council,” said Silas, sheathing his sword, but keeping a firm grip on Kalen’s throat.
    â€œThen I’d finish ’er off quick. Dangerous, she is. Better off dead than breathin’. Wouldn’t take much, I reckon.”
    â€œThis blood,” said Silas, noticing the stains across Kalen’s robes. “Is it hers?”
    â€œMaybe. Maybe not. My nose took a good bashin’ along the way. She’s got company with ’er, see. Da’ru’s boy. He did this to me.”
    â€œDa’ru’s boy?” Silas looked surprised. “Edgar Rill is here? In this town?”
    â€œHa! Didn’t know that, did ya?”
    Kate looked back at the curtain where Edgar was wrapped up with only his shabby boots poking out into the room. If he could hear the two men’s conversation he wasn’t showing any sign of it. Maybe Kalen had seen him in town somewhere, but how could a collector know his name?
    â€œI’ll be sure to thank him for what he’s done to you when I find him,” said Silas. “It’s just a shame he did not finish what he started.”
    Kalen’s face hardened. “Hey, now. You and me. We’re friends, Silas. Soldiers. Let’s not forget that.”
    â€œI owe you nothing,” said Silas. “You know what is at stake. That girl could be the key to everything and you have let her go. Do you at least have the book?”
    â€œHave it? I’ve been ’ere all this time lookin’ for the cursed thing. I’ve been listenin’ from the cellars, sneakin’ into houses at night. If anyone was hidin’ it, I would know. It’s gone, Silas. Gone to who knows where.”
    Silas tightened his grip, and the old man whimpered. “If you had not lost it in the first place, all of this would already be over,” Silas said. “I would be free of this useless life and you might still have full use of your pathetic little mind.”
    â€œI tried!” squeaked Kalen. “It’s not here, I tell ya.”
    â€œThen you have not tried hard enough,” said Silas. “How do I know you have not just been hiding here, doing nothing, cowering away like the filth that you are?”
    â€œYou don’t.” Kalen grinned dangerously. “But at least I’m not some errand boy, trapped under a woman’s heel!”
    Kalen’s laugh turned into a hacking cough, and Silas glared at him in fury. “The Skilled are our only link to Wintercraft ,” he said. “That girl is the only one they have not yet hidden from us, and you are wasting my time. You should have stayed in your tunnels, friend , where rodents like you belong.”
    The glass-covered floor crackled beneath Kate’s boots as she listened from her hiding place. She tried to remain still, but her heel pressed gently against a large shard that she had not seen, and the sharp pop of crushed glass carried into the alley. Kalen’s eyes flashed to the broken window. Silas saw him look and turned toward the shop, giving the old man the chance he needed. Kalen swiped his dagger up toward Silas’s throat, but Silas’s hand moved lightning fast, grabbing the blade so hard that his palm dripped blood. “Too slow,” he said, turning the blade inward toward the old man’s chest. “Haven’t you learned anything, Kalen?