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Chapters (122)
  1. Title Page
  2. Dedication
  3. Map
  4. Prologue
  5. Part I - A Thief’s Ransom
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Chapter Thirty
  36. Part II - An Unquiet Crown
  37. Interlude
  38. Chapter Thirty-One
  39. Chapter Thirty-Two
  40. Chapter Thirty-Three
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Chapter Forty-Two
  50. Chapter Forty-Three
  51. Chapter Forty-Four
  52. Chapter Forty-Five
  53. Chapter Forty-Six
  54. Chapter Forty-Seven
  55. Chapter Forty-Eight
  56. Chapter Forty-Nine
  57. Chapter Fifty
  58. Part III - The Crew
  59. Interlude
  60. Chapter Fifty-One
  61. Chapter Fifty-Two
  62. Chapter Fifty-Three
  63. Chapter Fifty-Four
  64. Chapter Fifty-Five
  65. Chapter Fifty-Six
  66. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  67. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  68. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  69. Chapter Sixty
  70. Chapter Sixty-One
  71. Chapter Sixty-Two
  72. Chapter Sixty-Three
  73. Chapter Sixty-Four
  74. Chapter Sixty-Five
  75. Chapter Sixty-Six
  76. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  77. Chapter Sixty-Eight
  78. Chapter Sixty-Nine
  79. Chapter Seventy
  80. Part IV - The Job
  81. Interlude
  82. Chapter Seventy-One
  83. Chapter Seventy-Two
  84. Chapter Seventy-Three
  85. Chapter Seventy-Four
  86. Chapter Seventy-Five
  87. Chapter Seventy-Six
  88. Chapter Seventy-Seven
  89. Chapter Seventy-Eight
  90. Chapter Seventy-Nine
  91. Chapter Eighty
  92. Chapter Eighty-One
  93. Chapter Eighty-Two
  94. Chapter Eighty-Three
  95. Chapter Eighty-Four
  96. Chapter Eighty-Five
  97. Chapter Eighty-Six
  98. Chapter Eighty-Seven
  99. Chapter Eighty-Eight
  100. Chapter Eighty-Nine
  101. Chapter Ninety
  102. Chapter Ninety-One
  103. Chapter Ninety-Two
  104. Chapter Ninety-Three
  105. Chapter Ninety-Four
  106. Chapter Ninety-Five
  107. Chapter Ninety-Six
  108. Chapter Ninety-Seven
  109. Chapter Ninety-Eight
  110. Chapter Ninety-Nine
  111. Chapter One Hundred
  112. Acknowledgments
  113. Excerpts from A Thief in the Night and Honor Among Thieves
  114. A Thief in the Night - Prologue
  115. A Thief in the Night - Chapter One
  116. Honor Among Thieves - Prologue
  117. Honor Among Thieves - Chapter One
  118. About the Author
  119. Books by David Chandler
  120. Copyright
  121. About the Publisher
  122. Cover

The grass was blown back by a flash of light more bright than the sun at midday. Hazoth and Cythera were suddenly standing over him. He looked up into her eyes but didn’t like what he saw there.

She might have spoken—but just then, behind Croy, the villa fell in on itself with a mammoth crash.

Chapter Ninety-Three

Chapter Ninety-Three

“Croy! Croy!” Malden called, racing around the side of the house where the debris was not so thick. He jumped onto a fallen rafter beam and leapt into a drift of plaster dust that billowed up around him like a cloud. He managed to sidestep a pile of broken glass but still came down hard on a plank of wood that shifted under him and sent him sprawling forward.

Behind him the demon’s skull heads bit at the air. It was almost upon him.

“Croy! Kill it!” he screamed as he came around to the front of the house, where the rose window had fallen in a million shards of colored glass.

He took in the scene in an instant, though he liked little of it. Bikker looked dead, which was a good thing, and Croy was still holding his sword. The knight was sitting down in the grass, however, with his knees up to his chest, and he looked as pale as a sheet. Had the two fools killed each other?

Cythera and Hazoth were there, too. Both of them were staring at the pile of rubble that had been their home. They seemed too paralyzed by surprise to react.

“Demon!” Malden shouted, his feet slapping against the grass. “Croy!”

He raced up to the knight and then jumped over Croy’s head. The demon was right behind him, snatching at his heels with one clawed foot.

Ghostcutter was pointed at the sky, suddenly. Croy did not rise, or call out a threat, or even shift from where he sat, but his sword pointed upward. The demon couldn’t see it, having no eyes, and as the blade bit into its belly, at first it seemed not even to notice.

Then the cold iron blade pierced it through, and the point came out through the demon’s back. It fell on Croy hard enough to crush any man, and scratched at the ground with every one of its mismatched legs, but it couldn’t seem to get free.

Cythera shouted for Croy, but the knight was completely covered by the demon’s body. If he heard her, he could make no reply.

“Malden, he was already gravely wounded—if we don’t get him out of there soon he’ll smother,” she said, beseeching the thief.

Malden started to shrug. What could he do? His bodkin was useless against the thing. He was no Ancient Blade to fight a demon. But then—