Read Online Shadowcry by Jenna Burtenshaw - Free Book Online

master kept it locked to its post until the carriage rolled by, oblivious of both the bird and the boy hiding in the house. Only when it had passed safely out of sight could the crow settle again and return obediently to its silent watch.
    Across town, the carriage Kate was in was traveling fast. The windows were blacked out with thick cloth, so she could catch only tiny glimpses of the streets that raced by, but she saw enough to know that they were heading toward the Western Quarter—Morvane’s oldest and most dangerous district. She tugged secretly at her wrist cuff, trying to force it up over her thumb joint, but it would not budge.
    A broken hatch at the front of the carriage looked out on the driver’s back, and biting wind surged through it, blasting snow into Kate’s face and forcing her to huddle deeper into her coat. Silas did not move. He had not spoken since they had boarded the carriage. The snow churned around him, sending flakes drifting across his face, but while the flakes melted instantly against the warmth of Kate’s skin, they clung to Silas’s face far longer before melting away. When they landed upon his eyeballs they clustered together in tiny drifts along his eyelids. He did not even blink.
    By the time the high archway marking the change of quarter came into sight, Kate’s cheeks were so cold she could not feel them anymore. The carriage’s wheels bounced and jolted so hard along uneven roads that she had to hold her seat to stop herself from falling off, and without even glancing at his window, Silas gave an order to the driver. “Here.”
    The carriage came to a gentle stop in front of a rough-looking boardinghouse. Silas unlatched his door and pulled Kate out into the open, where the chill of the snow made her ears burn. The boardinghouse was easily the tallest building in the quarter, with three floors of square windows reaching up to a cracked circular window tucked beneath the distant eaves. Silas did not bother to knock. He wrenched at the door handle and pushed Kate inside.
    The door led into a long corridor that was dark except for a single candle glowing at the end. A shadow moved in front of the light and a small man hurried up to meet them. He was old and plainly dressed, but Kate could not miss the gleam of a gold and ruby ring on his right hand. A ring like that could only belong to a man with powerful friends, so it did not surprise her when he greeted Silas by name.
    â€œMr. Dane,” he said, bowing deeply. “A pleasure, sir, as always.”
    â€œHas she arrived?” asked Silas.
    â€œNo, sir.”
    â€œThen I will come down the moment she does. As far as you are concerned, this girl is not here. She does not exist. Do you understand?”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    The boardinghouse owner smiled creepily at Kate as Silas took her up the worn stairs to the upper floors. They climbed two doglegged flights and then a third that led right up to the attic floor. A door, to which Silas already had the key, stood upon a landing at the very top, and the room beyond was small and neat, with a narrow bed, an unlit fire, and a wooden desk inside. Silas locked the door behind them and went at once to the circular window, swinging it open so he could lean out over the street.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” asked Kate. “Who are you meeting here?”
    â€œSomeone who has been looking for your family for a long time,” said Silas, crossing the room and locking one end of Kate’s silver chain to the desk. “As far as she knows, there is only one Winters rumored to live in this town. I will tell her that your uncle is useless, just like the rest. If you stay quiet, there is a chance this day may not end badly for you.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?” asked Kate.
    â€œYour parents never mentioned they had a child when the wardens took them,” said Silas. “They were wise enough to know when to keep quiet and