The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas Read Free Book Online Page A

plans had changed, she needed his help.
    â€œI might do something as foolish as freeing the slaves,” she said.
    Sam went so still that he might have been turned into a statue. “I knew you were thinking up something—but
freeing
them …”
    â€œI’m going to do it with or without you.” She’d only intended to ruin the deal, but from the moment she’d walked into that warehouse tonight, she’d known she couldn’t leave them there.
    â€œRolfe will kill you,” Sam said. “Or Arobynn will, if Rolfe doesn’t first.”
    â€œI have to try,” she said.
    â€œWhy?” Sam stepped close enough that she needed to tilt her head back to see his face. “We’re assassins. We
kill
people. We destroy lives every day.”
    â€œWe have a choice,” she breathed. “Maybe not when we were children—when it was Arobynn or death—but now … Now you and I have a
choice
in the things we do. Those slaves were just
taken
. They were fighting for their freedom, or just lived too close to a battlefield, or some mercenaries passed through their town and
took
them. They’re innocent people.”
    â€œAnd we weren’t?”
    Something icy pierced her heart at the glimmer of memory. “We kill corrupt officials and adulterous spouses; we make it quick and clean. These are entire families being ripped apart. Every one of these people used to be somebody.”
    Sam’s eyes glowed. “I’m not disagreeing with you. I don’t like the idea of this at all. Not just the slaves, but Arobynn’s involvement in it. And those children …” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “But we’re just two people—surrounded by Rolfe’s pirates.”
    She gave him a crooked grin. “Then it’s good that we’re the best. And,” she added, “it’s good that I’ve been asking him so many questions about his plans for the next two days.”
    Sam blinked. “You realize this is the most reckless thing you’ve ever done, right?”
    â€œReckless, but maybe the most meaningful, too.”
    Sam stared at her long enough for heat to flood her cheek, as if he could see right inside of her—see everything. The fact that he didn’t turn away from whatever he saw made her blood thrum in her veins. “I suppose if we’re going to die, it should be for a noble cause,” he said.
    She snorted, using it as an excuse to step away from him. “We’re not going to die. At least, not if we follow my plan.”
    He groaned. “You already have a plan?”
    She grinned at him, then told him everything. When she finished, he only scratched his head. “Well,” he admitted, sitting on the sand, “I suppose that’d work. We’d have to time it right, but …”
    â€œBut it could work.” She sat beside him.
    â€œWhen Arobynn finds out …”
    â€œLeave Arobynn to me. I’ll figure out how to deal with him.”
    â€œWe could always just …
not
return to Rifthold,” Sam suggested.
    â€œWhat, run away?”
    Sam shrugged. Though he kept his eyes on the waves, she could have sworn she saw a blush darken his cheeks. “He might very well kill us.”
    â€œIf we ran away, he’d hunt us for the rest of our lives. Even if we took different names, he’d find us.” As if she could leave her entire life behind! “He’s invested too much money in us—and we’ve yet to pay him back entirely. He’d see it as a bad investment.”
    Sam’s gaze drifted northward, as if he could see the sprawling capital city and its towering glass castle. “I think there’s more at work here than this trade agreement.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    Sam traced circles in the sand between them. “I mean, why send the two of us here in the first place? His excuse for sending us was a lie.