One of three heirs, Aoife has prepared her whole life to step into her mother's seat on the Council and to help maintain the peace. Soon she will be matched to a pirate lord and begin her life of service in a loveless union-a fate she reluctantly accepts.
But when her awkward tongue gets her in trouble-and her sister exiled-she learns the truth about the Council and the legacy she's to inherit.
Guilt-ridden over her mistake and convinced her people are better without her, she runs, seeking passage on one of the pirate ships.
A pirate with a ruthless reputation, Declan has avoided his island home for years, refusing to pay the price the Council requires of his kind. When a bit of bad luck forces him to return, he discovers his chance to be free of the Council and his past for good-a legendary dagger with the power to grant victory to any who wield it. With thirty days to deliver the weapon to the rebels, he can't afford any delays-or distractions.
So when an obnoxious heir demands passage off the island, the answer is an easy no. But he soon learns he can't control her any more than he can control the seas, and she stows away on his ship. Against his better judgment and the demands of his crew, Declan allows her to stay, but just until the next port.
Unfortunately for him, she could be the key to retrieving the dagger.
Now this desperate pirate and stubborn heir must set aside their hatred to find the freedom they both desire... but they might just lose their hearts in the process, discovering a love neither wanted.
Will love save them in the end or will it prove more dangerous than anything else on these seas?