First Kill by Jennifer Fallon Read Free Book Online Page A

dark-haired and fond of hanging out around the taverns of Calavandra where she makes her living as a working court’esa”. If Jondalup, the God of Luck, was on his side, she would not be hard to find and, given her occupation, not that hard to kill, either.
    It was that which made Kiam cautious. An assassin’s first kill was meant to be a test of their wits, their skill and perhaps their ethics. Being sent to the Trinity Isles to kill a whore nobody would likely miss was suspiciously simple and left Kiam with an uncomfortable feeling in his gut.
    It couldn’t be that easy. It was never that easy.
    “First time?”
    Kiam started a little at the unexpected question. The trading ship’s first mate was standing behind him. He hadn’t noticed the man coming up behind him, so busy was he, watching the stevedores and admiring the scenery.
    You are going to be dead by the end of the week, you idiot, he told himself crossly, if you don’t start acting more like an assassin and less like a tourist .
    “First time visiting Calavandra?” Of course the First Mate meant that. He doesn’t know who you are or why you’re here.
    “As a matter of fact, it is.”
    “It was a good crossing, yes?”
    It had been uneventful, at least. “I suppose.”
    “You tell your sister that when you get back home, won’t you? You tell her we do good work. Reliable, like.”
    “My sister ?”
    “Luciena Mariner.”
    For a brief moment, Kiam didn’t know what to say. His passage had been arranged on this vessel by the Guild. It had been booked under the false name he was using—Peryn Drake. And yet this man had recognized him as a member of the extended Wolfblade clan.
    Luciena Mariner was the owner of this ship and probably half the vessels currently docked in Calavandra at the moment. She was also the stepdaughter of one Marla Wolfblade, who happened to be the sister of the High Prince of Hythria, the mother of the Hythrun heir, Damin Wolfblade, and who was, until quite recently, married to Kiam’s father, Galon Miar, making her his stepmother, too.
    Few people knew that, however. Kiam was twelve when Marla married his father, and while he and his sisters had been welcomed into the Wolfblade family without reservation, his apprenticeship to the Assassins’ Guild meant his time at the palace had been limited. And while it was no secret one of Marla’s stepsons was an apprentice assassin, Kiam didn’t think he’d attended so many public functions as a member of the royal family that his face was well known.
    Which meant this was a test. One of many the Guild had in store for him.
    “Don’t I wish I was related to Luciena Mariner,” he said with a rueful smile. “I’d be travelling in much grander style than this old bucket, reliable and all that she is.”
    “Are you sure?” the mate insisted. “You look a lot like one of her brothers.”
    “I think I’d remember something that important if I was. How long until we can disembark?”
    “Dunno,” the mate said with a shrug. “Depends on the customs men. Maybe an hour or two.”
    “Then I shall spend my time imagining spending the fortune I’d have if truly was related to someone as obscenely wealthy as Luciena Mariner.”
    The mate opened his mouth to respond but it quickly turned into a bellow of anger when he spied the crew tasked with tying up the ship apparently not performing the undertaking to his satisfaction. As he stormed off, yelling at the sailors in the bow, Kiam turned back to study the wharf.
    First test passed, he decided. The mate had obviously been tipped off about his true identity and the Guild wanted to know if he would give it up if he were recognized. What else they have got in store for me? he wondered.
    He had a couple of hours, he guessed, before he found out.
    *   *   *
    Where he might find Sofya the Siren was disturbingly easy to discover. Kiam merely asked the innkeeper where he took a room if the man had ever heard of her.
    “Everyone has