Thieves' Quarry (The Thieftaker Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page A

blood in his mouth vanish. Uncle Reg appeared beside him and power thrummed like a plucked string on a lute, making the air in the tavern come alive for the span of a heartbeat. No one standing near Ethan appeared to notice—only someone who conjured would. But the bespectacled man stiffened noticeably.
    Ethan felt his blood run cold. The man had sensed his conjuring, and already was turning to look for its source. Biting down on his cheek a second time, he whispered a second spell. Abi! Go away! A second pulse made the tavern floor hum. The old ghost shot Ethan a filthy look, and vanished. An instant later the bespectacled man swiveled in his chair, his gaze passing over Ethan.
    “What is it?” the big man asked, his voice now reaching Ethan’s ears. “Did you hear—?”
    But the stranger raised a hand, silencing him as he continued to search the tavern.
    Ethan waited until the man had turned to look elsewhere, and made his way back to the table, his eyes fixed on Diver, the hand holding his ale steady. His mind was reeling, though. Whatever else this man was, he was also a speller, or at least someone who had been born to conjuring. Ethan hoped that he wasn’t skilled enough with the craft to know what kind of spell Ethan had cast.
    “It is nothing,” he heard the man say at last, his voice low, the words tinged with a barely discernible accent that Ethan couldn’t place at first.
    “You was tellin’ me about the ship,” the big man said.
    The bespectacled man didn’t respond right away. Ethan assumed that he was still searching the tavern. If Ethan had sensed someone else casting spells near him, that’s what he would have done. He regained the table and sat opposite Diver, though he kept his attention on the conversation now echoing in his head.
    “Yes, the ship,” the man said. Forced to guess, Ethan would have said he came from somewhere on the Iberian Peninsula; Portugal perhaps. “It arrived with the others. I do not know yet when it will dock—it does not matter really. What matters is that he does not find his way into the city.”
    “Which wharf do you think they’ll dock at?”
    “I do not believe that will matter either,” the man said. “We are to keep him out of the city. The rest is of less importance, but it has been made clear to me that he must not reach Boston.”
    “Made clear?” the big man repeated. “You mean by Seph—?”
    “Shh!” the bespectacled man said sharply. “Do not say anything more.”
    “Bu—”
    “Nothing more. It was made clear to me. You know by who. We need not speak of it further.”
    The big man grunted and said, “All right then. And how’re we supposed to keep him away?”
    “That is my concern. You have other responsibilities, which I have already explained to you. See to them, and we will not have any surprises, even if the rest does not go as it is supposed to.”
    “You all right?”
    Ethan looked over at Diver, who was eyeing him with concern. He held up a hand and shook his head.
    “How much we gettin’ for all of this anyways?” the big man asked.
    “Ethan—”
    “Quiet, Diver!” he whispered harshly. “I’m listening.”
    “… pounds, divided the usual way.”
    “Aye, well that way still ain’t right. You said last time it’d be changin’. Remember?”
    “Listening to what?” Diver asked, obviously wounded by Ethan’s tone.
    Ethan glared at him.
    “… will change. Perhaps this time. But first we have to complete the task. After that we can talk about a new division of payment.”
    The big man grunted again, sounding unhappy.
    The stranger and his friend fell into a brief silence. Then Ethan heard one of them put a tankard on the table. A chair scraped across the tavern’s wooden floor.
    “I am leaving now,” the bespectacled man said. “I would suggest you leave this place as well. I am not sure it is as safe as we assumed.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “Nothing,” the stranger said, his voice low.
    Ethan saw