Chapter 16
Duncan and Ishmael watched from the shadows half a block away as Olivia Dumont descended the front steps of the Craven Street house. She handed a coin to Xander the link boy, who had so relentlessly dogged them the past few days that they had agreed to Sinner John’s suggestion that they put the boy on a shilling-a-week retainer as “an extra pair of eyes and for such grimy tasks as ye may choose,” in the porter’s words. During their time at the inn they had begun to grasp that Sinner John had great affection for the flock of link boys he watched over, giving them scraps of food and shelter in the stable on foul nights.
Sinner John seemed especially fond of Xander, and had said a blessing over their clasped hands when Xander had spat on his palm and extended it for Duncan to rec
