Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, #3)(18)

But Becky didn’t look up from her paperwork. Her long fingers leafed through the pages of her notes one at a time, her glasses perched on the tip of her nose. Behind them, her light-brown eyes flicked to study Evie’s serious expression. “If we’re referring to the boss or anyone else who works in the office, just be sure you fill out a form first.”

Evie huffed, crossing her arms before shoving a freshly baked blueberry scone into her mouth. It was delicious, the sugared dough melting on her tongue. It mattered not that the scone was fluorescent pink where it should’ve been blue; it seemed the strangest creations that came from Edwin’s kitchen tasted the best. Plus, he’d come in on his day off just to make a large batch for everyone after the near miss with Lyssa and her mother’s starlight magic.

Lyssa had thankfully settled quickly after the terrifying encounter. Keeley would heal fully from her physical wounds—thank the gods and thanks to Tatianna, who had been working on the Malevolent Guard captain for the last few hours. Evie owed the captain every gratitude, but the pain in Trystan’s eyes when he’d realized the incident had begun because of his magic…that was something Evie was decidedly not grateful for.

Especially since she was almost certain her mother’s magic wasn’t reacting to Trystan’s magic at all. No, Nura Sage had been reacting to her. Her mother had glimpsed a side to her she’d never seen and rejected it in the most dramatic way possible.

Evie chewed her bright-pink scone with a vengeance, the memory of The Villain’s chastising rebuke only fueling her. “Are you giving me permission?”

Becky didn’t look up, but her lip curled slightly. A sure sign that Evie had barged through her friend’s defenses. “I certainly don’t have the pay grade to stop you.”

Evie folded her arms over her cinched bodice, leaning back in her chair and throwing a wink at Edwin—their office chef and dear friend enjoyed eavesdropping far more than most ogres of Evie’s acquaintance. “I thought you said you were paid best in the office, Becky.”

Rebecka Erring, or—if one knew her better—Rebecka Eriania Fortis, stiffened, her attention flickering to Edwin. “Next to Edwin, of course, and unfortunately, there aren’t work benefits in the world to bid me to stop you from striking someone. My new office included.” Becky shuddered, likely at the thought of losing a well-deserved space of her own, and adjusted her glasses farther up her nose.

Edwin Benington laughed as he stirred the cauldron brew with a large ladle and dropped a refill into both Evie’s and Becky’s ceramic chalices. The nutty aroma was an instant comfort, as was the warmth the chalice brought to Evie’s chilled hands. “I do not think you are the very first to want to strike Trystan, Miss Evie.”

Evie took a bracing sip, the bitterness from the brew sitting on the back of her tongue and livening her senses. “Yes, but might I be the first who wants to do it with a frying pan?”

Edwin looked up thoughtfully, considering. His glasses were no longer too small for his face. Lyssa had ensured the ogre finally had a pair that sat more comfortably atop his blue nose. “Someone threw a soup pot at him once.”

Evie’s ears perked up, and she sat straighter in her seat. “Was there soup in it?”

Edwin frowned. “No.”

“Could there be?” Evie steepled her hands together, smiling gleefully.

“No,” Becky said without looking up. “Edwin isn’t wasting a whole pot of soup on a joke.”

Evie glared, huffing out a breath. “It wouldn’t be a joke.”

“Edwin! The new yellow sparkles arrived!” Lyssa plowed into the kitchens with reckless abandon and with enough energy that you would never know she’d spent an hour crying in Evie’s arms that morning. Nura had fled to her bedchamber, allowing Lyssa the space to recover.

So much pain. It seemed to be all their family was made of these days.

And Evie knew that for their mother, there was no greater pain than disappointing a child you thought you could protect. It was why Evie was grateful for the family they’d found in the offices, for how this group had accepted Lyssa as one of their own, anticipating her little sister’s needs. Evie had never thought of Lyssa as a burden, but it was nice…to have people to share her with.

Edwin seemed to agree, taking Lyssa’s news of the sparkles’ arrival as if she’d told him that the sky was raining gold and chocolate. “That’s wondrous, Miss Lyssa! We must retrieve them at once!”

Lyssa squealed and clapped, running over on her tiptoes, giving Evie a gentle kiss on the cheek and then repeating the sweet gesture with Becky. To the shock of all of them, Becky accepted it with a small smile.

“Not too many sweets while you’re baking.” Becky pointed a finger at Lyssa.

Lyssa grinned and sprinted after Edwin. “I’ll wait until after we’re done, then!”

Becky shook her head while pushing herself up slowly to stand. “The familial relation between the two of you was never in question, but if it were, her conniving wordplay would prove it.”

Evie saluted before sipping another large gulp of her brew. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Becky flicked Evie’s head as she walked past her to return to the mountains of paperwork after the morning’s events. “You would.”

“Are they rebuilding the window?” Evie asked.