"In the glow from her brake lights, he appeared downright evil, a tall, black-haired man with a face as handsome as a prince's, and as cruel as a blade." -Sola[1]
Assail is a vampire, former drug lord, and recovering cocaine addict in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. He's mated to the human Marisol and the two of them are the main characters in the sixteenth book, The Thief.
Biography[]
Assail moved to Caldwell from the Old Country fairly recently and he set out to become the biggest drug lord in town. Money was his primary motivation for a long time and he ended up becoming the wholesaler to the Lessening Society since his conscience wasn't bothered by the fact that he was providing lessers with a means of income through street dealing to fund their side of the war. Once that became too dangerous for him, he turned on the Society and passed information on their headquarters over to the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Both the Band of Bastards and the Black Dagger Brotherhood tried to get him to take sides in their war over the throne, but Assail refused to participate and steadfastly remained neutral. Although he did help Wrath escape the attempt on his life when he went to Assail's for a meeting, mostly so he couldn't be held culpable for treason since he was not involved in the plot.
During his campaign to become the prominent dealer in town, he arranged for the deaths of smaller dealers that were all ruled to be suicides by the police. During this power struggle, Benloise hired Sola Morte to spy on Assail, which was how they met. Assail threatened Benloise over it and Benloise cancelled the contract, but Sola, angry that Benloise wasn't going to pay her the full amount they'd originally agreed upon, took revenge by breaking into Benloise's sanctum. Assail shadowed her to Benloise's and they took turns tailing each other, sometimes revealing themselves to the other and sometimes not.
In retaliation, Benloise had her kidnapped with the intention of torturing and likely killing her. To get Sola back, Assail kidnapped and tortured Ricardo and his brother until Eduardo gave up her location. When they were done, Assail killed them both.[2] Using anything at hand that she could use, Sola killed her kidnappers and freed herself from the torture cabin by the time Assail showed up. Finding the aftermath and seeing how she rescued herself despite being concussed and wounded, he knew that he was hopelessly in love with her.[3]
After her ordeal, Sola decided to leave her old life, which meant leaving Assail because of his drug dealing. Without her, he fell even deeper into his drug addiction.
He claims to be approximately 400 years old by the end of The Thief.
Personality[]
Domineering, he considers himself an intellectual.[4] He's willing to live and let live as long as people stay in their own lane; when they don't, he relishes killing them.[5] When he was addicted to coke and Sola left Caldwell, he became increasingly erratic.
Physical Description[]
He has jet-black hair and eyes that are a unique colour somewhere between silver and violet and pale blue.[6]
Skills[]
- Drug dealing
- He speaks at least three languages, learning the Old Language first, an unspecified one, and then, presumably, English.[7]
Abilities[]
- Dematerializing
Relationships[]
Ehric and Evale[]
His cousins are his closest friends and business associates, although he doesn't react well when they express concern for him and his addiction.
Marisola "Sola Morte" Carvalho[]
He was attracted to her from the first and respected her for her skills and cunning. Her ingenuity and determination to survive at any cost ensured that his heart was lost to her.
Naasha[]
Even though he wasn't attracted to her, he paid her for blood and sex. Later, he continued to see her at Wrath's behest to gather intel on the movements of the glymera.
Yesenia Carvalho[]
He holds Sola's grandmother in high regard.
Trivia[]
- He drives a black Jaguar XKR with blacked-out side windows.[8]
- He smokes Cuban cigars.[9]
- He also owns a Range Rover, Spyker, black Mercedes, and a black GMC van without side windows.[10]
- He doesn't condone swearing as he thinks it's common and unnecessary.[11]