Journey Of Thieves (Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

treasure secret.”
    “Treasure?”
    “Perhaps I had better call it a family heirloom, for it was passed down from my mother, who discovered it entirely by accident.”
    Without further explanation, she flipped the box lid back on its hinge to reveal its mysterious contents.
    I half expected to find some sort of jewel twinkling up at me, but instead I was met with the sight of a plain, flat rock smaller than my palm resting atop a folded kerchief. The stone was flat and dark gray, like a piece of shale, but there was an iridescent sheen to the smooth surface, and it shimmered in the lamplight. The piece was meant to be worn as an ornament, and a silver chain snaked through a hole that had been punched in its center.
    “How very unusual,” I said, trying to look suitably impressed. It was a pretty enough ornament, for someone who couldn’t afford better, but hardly looked worthy of the term ‘treasure.’
    Myria fingered the item. “I see you do not know what you behold. This is no ordinary ornament but the scale of a dragon.”
    My blank expression must have disappointed her because she added. “As you have been instructed in the ways of magic by your priest friend, I am sure you understand that dragon teeth, claws, and scales are a few of the many objects which possess magical properties. Such objects are sometimes used to augment a magicker’s natural powers.”
    I understood nothing of the kind. It was exactly the sort of subject Hadrian would have avoided discussing with me. He detested any attempt to create or capture magic where it did not formerly exist. It sounded as though this dragon scale skirted dangerously close to that line.
    Myria continued, “A dragon’s scale is one of the most coveted augmenters among magickers. Even a magickless person could use it if he were skilled in the unnatural art of magery. But it is not the greed of mages that concerns me.”
    “The Drejians you spoke of?” I guessed.
    “Just so. It is risky to possess such an object now that Drejians have settled into these parts. If they learned of the augmenter, they might wish to possess it. That is why I am making it a gift to you. You may take it away when you leave, for I will rest easier to think of it being carried far from their reach.”
    I hesitated, wondering what Hadrian would say to my possessing an augmenter. I could not imagine he would approve. But if it was a favor to this woman…
    Unaware of my internal struggle, Myria lifted the dragon scale from its box and pressed it into my palm, closing my fingers around it.
    All my doubts evaporated instantly. Something unexpected flickered inside me at the cool touch of the augmenter, something I had not felt in far too long.
    Magic.

Chapter Three
    Instinctively, I grasped the magic as a drowning person might clutch at a rope, with the wild fear that it might be snatched away again at any moment. It was a strange sensation, filtering power through the augmenter instead of drawing it directly from the source. It felt muffled, less immediate. But compared to going without, it was good, like regaining a lost sense. One I hadn’t known I missed so badly until it was restored.
    Filled with magic, I was aware of Myria at my side in a way I hadn’t been previously. Before, I had seen and heard her. But now I could vaguely pick up her emotions. Her face was placid, but inside she was… hopeful. Sad. Pleased. A curious mixture of emotions.
    I felt the presence of other people too, Myria’s neighbors moving about in their cottages. I stretched my senses farther and found Terrac and Hadrian somewhere in the distance. I couldn’t read their minds, of course, or tell what they were doing. But their emotions were quiet, indicating they were safe and content.
    After spending the past weeks closed off from such knowledge, this was a sudden wealth of awareness.
    Myria had been watching me, noting my reactions. “You rely a great deal on empathy, don’t you?”
    I shrugged.