Frostfire Read Online Free PDF

come back home,” I said.
    “So you guys still have crappy hospitals and schools?” Linus asked.
    “They’re not the best,” I admitted. “But that’s not all of it.”
    “What’s the rest?”
    I sighed but didn’t answer right away. The truth was, the main reason we still practiced
     changelings was money.
    The Kanin lived in small compounds, as far removed from human civilization as we could
     manage. To maintain our lifestyle, to live closer to the land and avoid the scramble
     of the humans’ lives with their daily commutes and their credit card debt, their pandering
     politicians and their wars, we refused to live among them.
    We could be self-sustaining without living with the humans, but truth be told, we
     did love our luxuries. The only reason we ever came in contact with humans was because
     we wanted their trinkets. Kanin, like all trolls, have an almost insatiable lust for
     jewels.
    Even Linus, who otherwise seemed to be an average teenage boy, had on a large class
     ring with a gaudy ruby, a silver thumb ring, a leather bracelet, and a chain bracelet.
     The only human man I’d ever seen adorn himself with as much jewelry and accessories
     as a troll was Johnny Depp, and based on his looks, I’d grown to suspect that he might
     actually be Trylle.
    That’s where changelings came in. We’d place the Kanin babies with some of the wealthiest
     families we could find. Not quite royalty or celebrity status, but enough to be sure
     they’d leave hefty trust funds for their children.
    When they were old enough to be collected, trackers like myself would go retrieve
     them. We’d earn their trust, explain to them who they were, then get them to access
     and drain their bank accounts. They’d return to the Kanin community, infusing our
     society with a much-needed surge in funds.
    So in the end, what it all came down to was tradition and greed, and when I looked
     over at the hopeful expression on Linus’s face, I just didn’t have it in me to tell
     him. Our world still had so much beauty and greatness, and I wanted Linus to see that
     before showing him its darkest flaw.
    “Your parents will explain it to you when you get back,” I said instead.
    Linus fell silent after that, but I didn’t even bother trying to sleep. When the train
     pulled into the station, I slipped my heavy winter boots back on. I hated wearing
     them, but it was better than losing my toes to frostbite. I bundled up in my jacket
     and hat, then instructed Linus to do the same.
    I grabbed my oversized backpack and slung it over my shoulders. One good thing about
     being a tracker was that I’d been trained to pack concisely. On a trip I expected
     to last three or four weeks, I managed to get everything I needed into one bag.
    As soon as we stepped off the train and the icy wind hit us, Linus gasped.
    “How is it so cold here?” Linus pulled a scarf up over his face. “It’s April. Shouldn’t
     it be all spring and flowers?”
    “Flowers don’t come for another couple months,” I told him as I led him away from
     the train platform to where I had left the silver Land Rover LR4 parked.
    Fortunately, it hadn’t snowed since I’d been gone. Sometimes when I came back, the
     SUV was buried underneath snow. I tossed my bag in the back, then hopped in the driver’s
     seat. Linus got in quickly, shivering as I started the SUV.
    “I don’t know how much I’ll enjoy living here,” Linus said between chattering teeth.
    “You get used to it.” I pointed to the digital temperature monitor in the dash. “It’s
     just below freezing today. That’s actually pretty warm for this time of year.”
    Once the vehicle had warmed up enough, I put it in drive and pulled out on the road,
     heading south along the Hudson Bay. It was almost an hour to Doldastam from the train
     station, but Linus didn’t say much. He was too focused on watching the scenery. Everything
     was still covered in snow, and most of it was unsullied, so it