Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, #3)(26)

Sorry. You’re stuck with me.

He swore it punched his leg.

Evie turned to Becky, who looked concerned, and patted the HR woman’s hand in a gesture of comfort. Because the world had flipped upside down in the past two weeks, and in the mayhem the two of them had apparently become fast friends.

Blade leaned over to whisper something in Evie’s ear, and she laughed. The sound was so sweet it gave Trystan a toothache.

And a sick stomach.

That reaction at least remained consistent. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I called this meeting,” he started, “so I’ll get right to the point.”

Blade frowned. “No introductions first? Isn’t that customary?”

Trystan looked at Blade with an incredulous expression. “We all know one another, Gushiken. Why in the deadlands would we need to introduce ourselves?”

Blade held his hands up in mock surrender, eyebrows shooting to his forehead. “But do we really know one another, sir?”

Trystan’s eye twitched.

Blade threw a wink at Becky, who was very clearly fighting a smile. “Isn’t that right, lovely Rebecka?”

The smile only peeked through a bit when Rebecka said flatly, “Don’t address me.”

Kingsley hopped onto the table, a sign in hand, nearly waving it in Trystan’s face.

Calm.

“I’m trying,” he bit back.

Another giggle from Sage, only this time the smile was genuine and her light-blue eyes were locked on him. He stepped back to sit and nearly missed the chair, eliciting another chuckle from Sage and a few others in the room who ceased as soon as he glared in their direction.

Clearing his throat, Trystan desperately tried to regain control of the situation. “I’ve called you all here because there are multiple issues that need to be dealt with swiftly. It’ll be easier to tackle everything we need to accomplish if we split it up among us. I trust you all to do what needs to be done.” Trystan glanced to his left. “Except you, Gideon.”

Gideon looked from side to side, waving his hands like he was denouncing the need for Trystan’s trust. “I don’t expect you to trust me, Maverine, but I can be of use to you. No one knows the Gleaming Palace the way I do, and I know you’ve been planning to send your Malevolent Guards in. I’ve seen every hidden tunnel, every blueprint; I know my way in and out. If one of the items on your to-do list is getting the female guvre back before the baby is born, then I sincerely urge you to allow my aid.”

Trystan couldn’t afford to be generous with his trust. He’d spent the last two weeks attempting to have the manor secured once more and to calm the male guvre in their hold as Trystan explored every possible plan to get his mate back, while also trying to determine the final object to fulfill the prophecy.

It was like he was juggling a million different objects.

And they were all on fire.

Keeley spoke up then, her face wan from her injury that morning. Trystan’s feeble chest twisted in what he assumed was a pang of sympathy or a heart attack. He unfortunately was fond of the employee. “The Malevolent Guards can accompany him, sir, and ensure that he leads us where we need to go. And if he doesn’t? We can handle him then, too.”

Trystan contemplated, looking to Evie for quiet counsel. She nodded at him, and that was enough. “I’ll consider it. One wrong move, Mr. Sage, and I will have Keeley dispatch you.”

Gideon smiled, shrugging. “What a way to go.”

Keeley elbowed him in the stomach, and Gideon went into a coughing fit.

Yes. Trystan was very fond of Keeley.

Ms. Erring adjusted her glasses, sneaking not-so-subtle glances at Gushiken before asking tentatively, “And what is it you want me to do, sir?”

“I need the thorn barrier assessed. If you’d be willing to call in one or two of your brothers to assist you, I believe the hedge needs to be stronger. Bigger, sturdier. I thought, since your family deals so often in powerful plants…”

Ms. Erring nodded, not needing anything more than that. “I’ll send a raven for Roland. He’s the most knowledgeable of my brothers on the subject.”

“Thank you.” He turned to Gushiken next. “Blade, I need you to find out all you can on histories of guvre younglings. And for the deadlands’ sake, please keep the one we still have in line; he ate two of my favorite interns the other morning.”

Sage didn’t allow the comment to pass before she guffawed and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have favorite interns, Evil Overlord.”

“Perhaps because they keep getting eaten,” Gideon chimed in, and Blade snorted into his hands.

Trystan was among his own workers—those with whom he’d always been intimidating and in charge—yet he was still surrounded by thankless traitors.

The life of a villain.

“If you’re done.” More authority in his tone had everyone in the room sitting up straighter. Everyone but Sage, who remained in her relaxed posture, her eyes shamelessly peering into his. Trystan took a swig of the water in front of him.

And then choked on said water like he was trying to swallow flour.

Wiping his mouth and feeling weary to the bone, he said, “I have reason to believe that one of the stained glass windows in the manor may contain the fourth object in the prophecy.”