Free Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas Page B

watch as the white sails of the slaves’ ships unfurled, glowing golden in the sunrise.
    The wind filled their sails and set them cruising, flying swiftly from the mouth of the bay and into the ocean beyond it. By the time the pirates fixed their ships, the slaves would be too far away to catch.
    She murmured a prayer for them to find a safe harbor, her words carrying on the wings of the wind, and wished them well.
    A block of stone crashed near her. Celaena’s heart gave a lurch. Sam.
    He couldn’t be dead. Not from that dagger, or those dozen pirates, or from the catapult. No, Sam couldn’t be so stupid that he’d get himself killed. She’d … she’d … Well, she’d kill him if he was dead.
    Drawing her sword despite the ache in her arm, she made to rush into the half-wrecked tower, but a dagger pressed against her neck halted her in her tracks.
    “I don’t think so,” Rolfe whispered in her ear.

CHAPTER
10
    “You make a move, and I’ll spill your throat on the ground,” Rolfe hissed, his free hand ripping Celaena’s dagger from its sheath and tossing it into the brush. Then he took her sword, too.
    “Why not just kill me right now?”
    Rolfe’s breathy laugh tickled her ear. “Because I want to take a long, long while to enjoy killing you.”
    She stared at the half-ruined tower, at the dust still swirling from the catapult’s destruction. How could Sam have survived that?
    “Do you know how much your attempt at playing hero cost me?” Rolfe pushed his blade into her neck, and her skin split open with a stinging burst. “Two hundred slaves, plus two ships, plus the seven ships you disabled in the harbor, plus countless lives.”
    She snorted. “Don’t forget the ale from last night.”
    Rolfe shifted his blade, digging in and making Celaena wince despite herself. “I’ll take that from your flesh, too, don’t worry.”
    “How’d you find me?” She needed time. Needed something to work with. If she moved the wrong way, she’d find herself with a cut throat.
    “I knew you’d follow Sam. If you were so set on freeing the slaves, then you certainly wouldn’t leave your companion to die alone. Though I think you arrived a bit too late for that.”
    In the dense jungle, the cries of birds and beasts slowly returned. But the watchtower remained silent, interrupted only by the hiss of crumbling stone.
    “You’re going to return with me,” Rolfe said. “And after I’m done with you, I’ll contact your master to come pick up the pieces.”
    Rolfe took a step, pivoting them toward the town, but Celaena had been waiting.
    Throwing her back into his chest, she hooked her foot behind his. Rolfe stumbled, tripping over her leg, and she wedged her hand between her neck and his dagger just as he remembered to act on his promise to slit her throat.
    Blood from her palm splattered down her tunic, but she shoved the pain aside and butted her elbow into his stomach. Rolfe’s breath whooshed out of him, and he doubled over, only to meet her knee slamming into his face. A faint crack sounded as her kneecap connected with his nose. When she hurled Rolfe to the dirt, blood was on her pant leg—his blood.
    She grabbed his fallen dagger as the Pirate Lord reached for his sword. He scrambled to his knees, lunging for her, but she stomped her foot down upon his sword, sending it crashing to the ground. Rolfe raised his head just in time for her to knock him onto his back. Crouching over him, she held his dagger to his neck.
    “Well, that didn’t go the way you expected, did it?” she asked, listening for a moment to ensure no pirates were about to come crashing down the road. But the animals still hooted and screeched, the insectsstill hummed. They were alone. Most of the pirates were probably brawling in the town.
    Her hand throbbed, blood pouring out as she grasped the collar of his tunic to lift his head closer to hers.
    “So,” she said, her smirk widening at the blood dripping from his nose.