The Assassin's Tale Read Online Free PDF

legal interests lately.”
    Mara shrugged. “You can do that without me. Go and leave the Red Family behind. If you disappear, we’ll never find you again.”
    Jager looked at her without blinking. “Maybe I don’t want to go alone.”
    Mara’s heart sped up. 
    He stepped closer to her. 
    “I’m supposed to kill you,” said Mara. 
    “You don’t have to kill me any more than I have to be a thief,” said Jager. 
    “Why would you want me to come with you?” said Mara, her throat going dry. 
    “What do you think?” said Jager, one hand coming up to stroke the side of her face. 
    An electric jolt went through Mara at his touch, and she shivered. 
    “Jager,” whispered Mara. “I think…you should probably kiss me now…”
    His hand slid along her cheek as he leaned forward, brushing the hair near her ear.
    Her ear.
    She flinched in alarm, jerking away, and her hair came loose, exposing her ear.
    “Mara,” said Jager, blinking. “What? Is…”
    Then he saw her pointed ear. 
    Mara bit her lip, surprised at how upset she was. 
    Jager blinked several times, his hand still lingering near her face. 
    “That…was not what I expected to see,” said Jager. 
    “I suppose not,” said Mara, her body tensed. “I told you the truth. My mother was a slave. My father…was the Traveler.”
    “A traveler?” said Jager.
    “No. The Traveler of Nightmane Forest,” said Mara.
    His eyes widened at that. “Then you are…”
    “Half human,” said Mara, “and half dark elf.”
    Jager did not look away from her. “But…I thought that dark elven half-breeds…”
    “Transform,” said Mara. “I would have. But the Matriarch…”
    In that moment she realized that she would tell him everything.
    “The Matriarch is a dark elven sorceress,” said Mara, “and she rules the Red Family from the shadows. She found me, and gave me this bracelet. It suppresses the transformation. Without it, I will become a monster. That is why I kill for the Red Family. Because without that bracelet, I will become something terrible.”
    She waited for him to answer, for him to attack her, to demand that she leave.
    “Or you could come with me,” said Jager. 
    Mara blinked. “But the Matriarch…”
    “If she thinks that you are dead,” said Jager, “if we disappear together…you can take the bracelet and go. You can be free of the Red Family and do as you like.”
    “How?” said Mara.
    “I will think of a plan,” said Jager. He grinned. “I am rather good at plans.” 
    “And…you want me to go with you,” said Mara.
    “Of course,” said Jager. 
    “Even…knowing that I am half dark elven,” said Mara. “Even knowing that I might…transform one day and kill you.” 
    “We all have to die one day,” said Jager. “And we are both outcasts, are we not? The halfling who forsook his family’s tradition and the half-breed assassin.”
    “This could be a trick, you know,” said Mara. Somehow she found herself holding his hands. “You could be luring me away to kill me.”
    “This is true,” said Jager, stepping closer. “You could be trying to trick me. Luring me to a quiet place to kill me. Seducing me with your beauty.” 
    “You think my beauty is seductive?” said Mara. 
    “Perhaps this will persuade you,” said Jager.
    He drew her close and kissed her. Mara went rigid at first, and then melted into it, her hands running through his curly hair. It went on and on, a pleasing warmth spreading through her.
    At last they broke apart.
    “Well?” said Jager, his voice a little hoarse. “Have I persuaded you?”
    “Not yet,” said Mara. “But I would like you to keep trying.”
    “As you wish,” said Jager. He took her hand and led her inside.
     
    ###
     
    Later, sometime after midnight, Mara stretched, the sheets of Jager’s bed smooth against her skin. Considering how much of her life she had spent sleeping on the ground, she could appreciate the luxury. Mara stretched and sat up, the