Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, #3)(126)

Evie wheezed into the inside of her elbow.

“You both are, actually, in different ways,” Winnie whispered. “You are closed off to feeling, and you hide yours behind smiles, Ms. Sage.”

“Thank you, Winnie!” Evie threw her a thumbs-up.

Winnie blinked. “You’re welcome.” Winnie didn’t seem to have a taste for sarcasm, and that was okay. Kingsley rolled his eyes, and somehow the girl caught the motion.

“And you.” Winnie turned fully on Alexander, suspicion in her gaze. “You are not all that you appear.”

No.

She’ll ruin everything.

“Well, clearly he is not all that he appears. He’s a human prince in a frog body. Any one of us could’ve said that.” Trystan straightened his shirt, staring upward, body tense.

“Repressed” was kind.

“Yeeeees,” Winnie responded, drawing the word out, but she was still giving Alexander suspicious sidelong glances. “That must be it.”

Alexander snapped his long tongue at her in rebuke, and she stumbled away, tripping over a log, and the wand stretched, light shooting from it. Suddenly, the glowing barrier opened, revealing lush green forest beyond. Winnie’s lips parted. “Oh. I actually did it.”

Evie began shoving everyone back into the carriage, and Alexander made sure to settle as far from Winnie as possible. There was only one more obstacle between them and the enchantress. And that was getting through the watchmen at Lily Pad Castle.

Home was Alexander’s echo the whole bumpy ride, until he heard a familiar voice call down to Arthur.

“Good morning, core healer!” a male voice yelled from outside the wagon. They all fell silent, listening intently.

“Good day to you, Sir Allen! I was hoping to be in to see the king and queen.” Arthur was smooth, no hitch in his delivery.

“No can do, milord. Between you and me, they are preparing for the…execution.”

“That is precisely why I need to meet with them, Sir Allen. You see…when executing one with magical origin, there can sometimes be a smell.”

“A smell?”

Winnie looked like an owl as she blinked. “No, there can’t—”

Four hands—well, three hands and one webbed foot—covered her mouth.

“Yes,” Arthur continued. “A horrid smell, one that lingers, and I’m afraid without my assistance, it might migrate into the walls, the furniture.”

“Dear gods. Is it truly that bad?”

“I’m afraid so,” Arthur said gravely.

“I’ll let them know you’re here, then. Sounds horrid.” The clanking of metal could be heard as the gate lifted, and Alexander couldn’t help himself. Peeking out of a small hole in the fabric, he looked at the place that had once been his home. The vines covering the golden gates, the small ponds sprouting water flowers, the children of the court laughing and playing. It was a utopia.

It was a lie.

“Mind if we check the wagon, milord?”

Oh well. There goes the whole thing. Alexander would slowly lose himself, hop away fully frog. Maybe at this point, it was a blessing. At least he got one more look at his home before he lost his mind completely.

“Of course! But while I have you, would one of you be willing to check my back wagon wheel? It got a little wobbly at the last fork in the road.”

“Anything for you, core healer!” Several knights stumbled over themselves to assist.

The back of the wagon lifted, and Arthur swung his arm for the entrance to the castle with large, silent, sweeping motions.

No one waited.

While the knights busied themselves at the back of the wagon, the stowaways all rushed out of the front, heading for the closest door, opening it, and bolting down a set of stairs, shutting them in the dark.

They were in the basement.

But they were home.

Prince Alexander Kingsley was finally home.





Chapter 77


Evie


“How are we going to find the enchantress if we can’t see?” Tatianna questioned before yelping. “What was that!”

“My foot,” Winnie whispered.

“Well, move your foot, you mind-reading imp,” Tatianna grumbled, stumbling now into Evie, who did her best not to be amused by the circumstances.

“Kids?” a voice called down, and a silhouette holding a torch appeared at the top of a long staircase.

“There are no kids down here, but there are fully grown bloody adults,” Trystan bit out.

Evie looked side to side. “Where?”

He lifted a brow, his gaze turning to a smolder that made her cheeks pink.

“The coast is clear. Come,” Arthur hissed, and the group hustled for the exit, spilling into the grand hallway. Arthur put a finger over his mouth, motioning for them to follow him down the corridor. Side by side, they moved along the ornate walls. Gilded mirrors reflected worn versions of the group who had started this journey only three short days ago. Evie took the tail end, until Trystan moved behind her, scanning the back to be sure no one followed, his arm in front of her in a protective gesture, as he’d done in the barn, as he’d—

No. Don’t think about being naked with the boss, Evie!

“What happened to your neck, Trystan?” Arthur asked, snapping her from her torrid thoughts and mortifying her with the question so much she almost melted into the floor.