"Mel Odom - Forgotten Realms - Threat from the Sea Trilogy 03 - The Sea Devils" - читать интересную книгу автора (Odom Mel)

prowl through another's secrets, steal kisses from another man's woman . .. there's nothing more sweet."
Shamed and furious, Jherek turned away. He heard the thin scratches of metal and tried to ignore
them. The subtle arts Talif practiced went against everything Jherek believed in. Yet here he was,
depending and hoping on the man's skills that he might set a greater wrong right.
The young sailor glanced out a window at the city.
Torches gleamed brightly along the wharf. From the tavern room, Jherek saw ships at anchor, men
scurrying about aboard them, carrying crates and other prizes they'd no doubt taken from some luckless
merchanter. His father, he knew, would have been perfectly at home here.
Farther into the interior of the city, fewer torches gleamed. The houses were ramshackle affairs for
the most part, places cast together by seafaring men for families formed more by desperation than any
emotion.
The men who worked the night were down by the harbor and the others lay abed or in the dozens
of taverns throughout the city. Shadowy figures crossed the narrow, twisting streets below, some of them
in groups but most of them alone. Thin wails of bawdy pirate chanteys drifted over the rooftops. The only
thing that seemed normal to Jherek was the salt smell that lingered in the air.
"I'm done, pup. Do you want to join me?" Talif's whisper barely carried to Jherek's ears.
"Aye."
 The young sailor drew his cutlass, the razor edge sliding free of the sash he used to bind it to his
waist. He filled his other hand with the wickedly curved boat hook.
Pausing, Jherek nudged up the thin glass protecting the oil lamp's wick and flame. He blew it out,
then replaced the glass cover. That end of the room darkened immediately.
"You have more skills at this kind of skullduggery than you'd think, pup," Talif said as he eased the
door open. "Maybe you're not so honest as I thought, or you'd like to believe."
Jherek didn't argue, but he felt a sick lurching inside his stomach. Pirate's get and thief-he didn't
really deserve any other label. Except maybe fool.
Talif led the way into the room, and Jherek covered his back. The young sailor heard the hoarse
rasp of deep breathing as he gently closed the door.
Reaching back, Talif pressed a finger against Jherek's chest. "Wait," the man hissed.
Jherek breathed shallowly, taking in the sour odor of unwashed flesh and old rotgut whiskey. The
stench of pipe-weed clung to the room, salted with the flavor of cheap perfume.
"Not alone," Talif whispered. "I smell a woman."
For a moment, Jherek considered leaving the room. Catching the man they were after, even with
everything Azla had ferreted out, had been difficult and risky enough. Endangering an innocent wasn't
something he was prepared to do.
Talif's finger left his chest and the man glided silently across the room, a swiftly moving shadow.
Jherek moved immediately. His own vision quickly adjusted to the dark. The room was spacious
but held only a couple trunks, an armoire that listed badly to one side, and a four-poster bed shrouded in
mosquito netting.
"Alive," Jherek warned.
Reluctantly, Talif nodded. He moved to the left of the bed, while Jherek moved to the right.
Jherek put the hook back in his sash, then reached for the sleeping figure, brushing aside the
mosquito netting with the blade of the cutlass. He clamped his hand on a face that he suddenly realized
was too small, too smooth, and without whiskers.
At the other end of his arm, the young woman he'd grabbed by mistake opened her eyes wide in
fear. She tried to sit up in bed. Jherek was so surprised by the turn of events that he didn't resist,
watching in horror and embarrassment as the sheets fell away from her bare breasts.
The other form in the bed lurched up, a wickedly curved scimitar sliding free of the space between
the feather-filled mattress and the carved headboard. Jorn Frennik was a large man, broad shouldered
and beefy from a dozen years and more of living the savage life of a pirate.
Like the woman, he was naked, but he wore his calf-high boots. Bed covers flew as the pirate