Gaspar glanced over at him. “I don’t have any reason not to follow them.”
“You have the same thing I do,” Gavin said, tapping his ear.
“Not on me.”
Gavin frowned. “There’s a reason she gave it to us.”
“There’s a reason she gave it to you. I didn’t say I wanted it.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And you’ve come in and disrupted everything I’ve been working for,” Gaspar said. “Threw off my other jobs, too.”
“I haven’t disrupted anything. You’ve chosen to work with me.”
Gaspar had taken all sorts of different jobs in the time that Gavin had spent in the Dragon, though rarely had the man taken one recently. It was almost as if he was avoiding them, possibly because of the El’aras attack on the tavern. There might also simply be a personal reason that was preventing him from taking on more jobs. Either way, it mattered very little to Gavin.
“I didn’t have much choice in the matter.”
“You had plenty of choice in the matter,” Gavin said. “The only reason you started to do anything is because you wanted to offer Jessica your protection.”
“Is that so different from you?”
“You know it’s not. It’s just that I don’t think you can make the claim that you’re doing anything I’m not doing.”
Gaspar frowned. “Come on. If you want to check out this place and see where she and this boy live, then we need to get moving.”
“Good. I was afraid you were going to run off and try to talk with the constables.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Gavin chuckled as they headed through the streets. Gaspar ignored him and followed some route he knew, though it brought them past large crowds of people. Every few streets, they encountered more constables. Each time they did, Gaspar paused, watching with a look in his eyes that suggested that whatever he was seeing troubled him.
For that matter, it troubled Gavin too. If what Gaspar suggested was right, then the constables were looking for sources of magic—something that involved danger to him and those who had enchantments like him.
“Come on,” Gaspar said when Gavin stopped again. “They aren’t here for you. Hell, I doubt they’re even here for your old friend. More likely than not, they’re just looking for signs of magic users. You think this is the first time the constables have come out in the city like this?”
“It is since I’ve been here.”
“Well, it isn’t anything new. And seeing as how I’ve been here longer than you, I guess I get to be the one to tell you when something is strange or not.”
“If you say so, old-timer,” Gavin said, grinning at him slightly.
Gaspar shot him a sharp glare before turning away.
They continued along the street. Gaspar guided them into an older section of the city. The buildings were more dilapidated, and not as much care had been put into maintaining them. The people here wore clothing that was tattered. Children ran wild in the street, rather than working jobs or apprenticing in some way.
Gavin was curious about where Gaspar was leading him, and as they neared the end of one street where it intersected with still another, he started to slow.
Gaspar paused at the crossroads, and he turned casually, motioning the other way. “Did you see it?”
Gavin scanned along the street, but he didn’t see anything conspicuous. Whatever it was had to be somewhat obvious, at least given Gaspar’s reaction. He continued to look, searching for whatever house it was that Gaspar was referring to, but he didn’t see anything there.
“I’m not sure what you’ve seen,” Gavin said.
Gaspar motioned, pointing at each of the five houses along the street. He stopped and nudged Gavin. “Look at that one there. What do you see?”
Gavin had been taught to observe with Tristan. With his training, he should be able to catch what Gaspar was trying to point out, but he didn’t see what had triggered the thief. The house was no different than the others. It was a bit run-down, the paint on the door and the window frames faded. Some of the homes had plants in pots sitting outside, but not the fifth one. Unlike the others, a board was angled along one of the windows.
“It’s boarded up,” he said.
“Very good. Look at you, picking up on something I teach the youngest kids I work with.”
“How many kids have you worked with?”
Gaspar snorted. “Everyone I worked with has been better than you.”
“Well, I’m not a thief.”
“You wouldn’t be a good one. Now come on. Let’s go take a look at this.”
Gaspar led them down an alley, and he pointed at each of the homes before pausing at what Gavin thought was the fifth one. He motioned for Gavin to back up. “These two are connected,” Gaspar said, gesturing toward two of the homes.
“How can you tell?”
“Look at them. Roofline stays the same. All the others here have some variation to them.”
Gaspar tested the door and grabbed his lockpick set. He worked quickly, and then he stepped inside. The darkness swallowed him. Gavin hesitated before following.
“You see anything?” Gaspar whispered.
“I can’t see much in the dark,” Gavin said.
“You keep saying things that don’t need to be said.”
He could make out Gaspar, but he was only a few steps away. Otherwise, Gavin couldn’t see much inside of the room. It was almost completely black. As he looked around, he searched for a lantern or anything he might use to illuminate the room.
He drew his El’aras dagger and was surprised that it was glowing softly.
“Where do you think the magic is coming from?” Gavin asked.
“With you here? Could be a lot of different places.” Gaspar watched him. “Including you.”
Gavin shook his head. “I know the El’aras were trying to convince me that I have some sort of magic, but even if I do”—and Gavin had a hard time believing that he did—“I’ve never seen the El’aras dagger light up when it’s just me.”
There had to be magic somewhere. Which meant they had to be careful. He held the El’aras dagger away from him, using
