Nightshade City Read Online Free Page B

hugging and kissing her. Lieutenant Carn stepped in front of her, pushing them back. Clover felt sick. Her eyes drifted down a desolate corridor, oblivious to the noise exploding around her. She finally looked up. Carn was staring at her. They exchanged glances, but he quickly turned back to the crowd.
    Bending down, Billycan got as close to her ear as physically possible, his paw still clutching her shoulder. The blood rushed to Clover’s head as the cold from his mouth hit her ear. His voice purred with satisfaction, a smug whisper. “Clover, my dear, Billycan is speaking to you now. Listen to me and listen well. You will be summoned in the customary fortnight. Billycan must insist you keep yourself safe at home. There is no need for you to be outside your quarters. The Catacombs can be such a very lethal place. Billycan would hate to have something gruesome happen to such a pretty, unblemished face. I suggest you stay here and tend to your grandfather like a good littlegirl, but don’t get too close—no, no. Billycan can’t risk you catching that nasty plague. Then what would be the point of even keeping you alive? In that case, it would be much more merciful to simply end your life. As you said yourself, the living must do just that—live.” Clover didn’t need to respond. His threats were clear.
    Billycan pulled up to a standing position, blanching his voice to suit the crowd. “Now, run along, dear—scamper back inside.” He patted her head, feigning affection, before finally releasing her. “The High Minister would not want his precious Chosen One running about the Catacombs catching cold, now, would he? All right, then, good rats of the Catacombs, all is said and done. Billycan wants everyone back to their business. Miss Clover needs her dinner.”
    He waved the remaining rats away with a spindly arm. The rats headed back down their corridors, gossiping about the news. Billycan brusquely thrust Clover inside her quarters and shut the door behind her. Famished, he reached into a wheelbarrow and swiped a large chunk of dried pork, his favorite, promptly shredding it with his teeth.
    Public spectacles made his normal hunger pangs intensify. He rarely took food from the weekly Stipend collection, but his emotions overwhelmed him, especially his annoyance with Killdeer. He thought the Belancort girl untrustworthy, a foolish choice for a mate. “The daughter of Barcus Belancort, filthy Trilok Loyalist,” he mumbled as he chewed. “He may be dead, but his treacherous blood still runs through her veins.” He growled angrily as he choked down the scrap of hog. “Lieutenant Carn, go with the others and finish the Stipend route.”
    Carn did not move; instead he looked intently at Clover’s door. “What are you staring at?” demanded Billycan. He jabbed Carn in the spine with his billy club. “Forever dawdling. On with your duties, boy!”
    “Yes, Commander,” said Carn. He trotted down the corridor, caught up with the others, and vanished into the dark.
    Alone, Billycan stood outside Clover’s door. What an odd young person, he thought. It was obvious to him that Clover wanted nothing to do with her new title and station. He leaned on the wall across from her chambers and stared at the whitewashed number 73 splashed across the rotting wood. This one must be watched closely.
    Strolling back down the corridor to Killdeer’s den, he used a tarnished nail to scrape out a stray morsel of pig that had the audacity to get stuck between two of his yellowed teeth.
    “How could you give your blessing? How could you, Uncle?” muttered Clover. She looked at her uncle dismally.
    Juniper Belancort leaped off the ground and shook himself furiously, freeing his body from the sweaty black shroud. He walked towards the front door, stretching his muscles, which were sore from sitting so still. He listened intently. He heard nothing.
    Juniper’s looks were far from conventional. His coat matched that of Oshi wine, a rich