Read Online Shadowcry by Jenna Burtenshaw - Free Book Online Page B

warming skin and she stared as her hands slowly regained their color, still shivering with cold.
    â€œSomeone’s coming,” she said, as soon as she was able to say the words. “She said my name. What . . . What happened?”
    â€œYou used the veil to see through the spirit of another,” said Silas. For a moment, he sounded surprised, but his cold eyes gave nothing away. “She is the hunter and you are her prey. Given the right conditions, the veil can link two Skilled minds if they are focused enough upon each other, but it normally takes a tremendous strength of will to make such a connection possible. What did you do?”
    â€œNothing!” said Kate, tugging on her wrist cuff in frustration.
    â€œFor her to know your name, she must have been aware of the link between you,” said Silas. “When two minds join within the veil, it is possible for them to share memories. You must not let it happen again. I am surprised the Skilled did not find you long before I did. Your potential is even greater than I expected. How long have you been one of them?”
    â€œI’m not one of them.”
    â€œWho taught you the ways of Wintercraft ?”
    â€œWinter-what?”
    â€œWhere is the book being kept? Did you read from it yourself?”
    â€œWhat book? I don’t know anything about any of this!” Kate was tired, confused, and angry. Her head still hurt from whatever had just happened, but already logic was starting to take over. There was no way she could have actually seen that woman in the carriage. The woman couldn’t have been real. Kate’s imagination could have created her by piecing together what had already happened that day with what Silas had told her. And as for the frost on her hands . . . there wasn’t even a trace of it left now. Perhaps it had never been there at all.
    â€œDa’ru will arrive soon,” said Silas. “She must not find out that you are up here. Do you understand?”
    Da’ru? Kate remembered the name. Kalen had called Edgar “Da’ru’s boy,” but she was sure she had also heard it somewhere else before. “Why is she looking for me?” she asked.
    â€œThe Skilled are a dying breed,” said Silas. “She has her plans for you. I have mine. You are going to help me find the book— Wintercraft —and with it you will help me do something that most people believe to be impossible. That is all you need to know for now.”
    â€œThis is wrong,” said Kate. “I don’t know anything about the Skilled.”
    â€œFew people are able to choose their own fates,” Silas said coolly. “Even fewer learn to accept the path that they are given.” He returned to the window and looked down to the street.
    â€œShe is here,” he said, as the rattle of carriage wheels carried up from below. “Stay quiet and do nothing. If you are found here with me, there will be consequences for both of us. You will not leave this room.”
    Silas stepped out onto the landing and closed the door. Kate waited until his footsteps were far enough away before sneaking over to the door, letting her chain snake silently across the floor behind her. The metal handle clicked dully in her hand. Locked. She bent down to look through the keyhole and saw something dark sitting in the lock. The key was still there.
    Kate crossed the room as quietly as she could and creaked open some of the desk drawers, hunting through them for something long and thin to push the key out. The few ink pens she found were too wide to fit in the lock. All that was left were a few loose sheets of paper. They would have to do.
    Kate grabbed two pieces, tore one of them in half and rolled it tightly into a narrow strip that was thin enough to reach the key but strong enough not to bend against it. She returned to the door, knelt down, and pushed the second piece of paper under it to catch the key when it