Winterveil Read Online Free PDF Page B

stories,” said the innkeeper. “There’s a right time to tell ’em, and this isn’t it.”
    Kate and the Blackwatch officer kept quiet as everyone gradually agreed that the noise was nothing to worry about and they all settled cautiously back to their business. The innkeeper walked around to unbolt the door and, despite his assurances, opened it just wide enough to take a wary look outside. His hand was shaking, and his fingers rested on the bolt as he hesitated, in two minds over whether to lock it or not. The view of the street reassured him, but just before the door swung shut Kate was sure she saw something he had missed: someone standing out there in the dark.
    â€œNothing to worry about, miss,” said the innkeeper, returning to his counter. “You’re safe as houses here.”
    Kate was not ready to take his word on that. She carried her book to the window and slid a lit candle to one side so she could look out. The moment she was close enough to see through the dimpled glass, something moved behind it. A crow was sitting on the windowsill. It perched there for a few seconds, its black eyes turned her way, and then took flight, swooping over to land on the shoulder of someone waiting in the rain.
    A man was out there, standing on the other side of the muddy road. His eyes shone white in the moonlight as he stepped out of the shadows. The black feather was still in Kate’s hand, and she turned it between her fingers, remembering something small, yet significant. “Silas,” she whispered.
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    Silas watched Kate carefully. Everything depended upon keeping her attention. He knew how strong her link with the veil had become. If he could use that link and remind her, just for a moment, of the memories she had lost, he could see how deeply Dalliah’s influence had spread.
    The crow settled on a wall behind him, its work done, while Edgar kept watch over one of Dalliah’s guards a short distance away. Silas did not know if what he was attempting would work, but he had to find out what he was dealing with. If her mind could be saved, that was reason enough to spare her life. If not, he could end Dalliah’s plan there and then with the edge of his blade.
    The world around Silas slipped into shades of gray. The candle on the inn’s windowsill dulled to a faint blue flame, and Kate’s eyes shimmered as she let the veil take hold. Silas had looked into Kate’s memories before, but this was very different. This time she was the one who had to see the truth. He did not have to share her thoughts; he had to let her see into his.
    The inn’s sign creaked gently in the wind, each swing becoming slower and slower until all movement stopped. The inn walls dissolved into gray, and he could see the souls of the people within it as soft blurs of light filtering through the shadowy barrier of stone. Kate’s soul shone the brightest of them all. Silas’s blood chilled until it flowed like icy water through his veins. Then he sensed her. Kate’s spirit was so tightly attuned to the veil that its brightness intensified when viewed through it, like sunlight through a magnifying glass. Dalliah had recognized that strength within her. All Silas had to do was remind Kate of what she already possessed.
    Kate’s consciousness blossomed in his mind like a glowing ember rising into a gentle flame. Instinct carried her through his memories. Half-remembered pieces of his past crystallized into sharp focus for brief moments before dissipating again as she searched for any sign of her old life, anything that would tell her who she was and why Silas was there.
    Kate saw everything that Silas knew: every terrifying event he had caused in the past and every moment of the time they had spent together in Fume, she as his prisoner, he as her captor. She sensed the strength of purpose that had carried him into her life and relived the moment when he had turned against