Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, #3)(76)

Keeley nodded. “There are only two guards on the dawn shift, because they don’t expect anyone to attack at first light. We all studied the hideous map you made—”

“‘Hideous’ is strong.”

“‘Hideous’ is kind,” she rebuked him with another roll of her eyes.

“The point, Captain? Before my ego never recovers.” He feigned pain to the gut.

“Like I was saying…we all studied the map, but I know it would be far wiser to take someone who knows those tunnels inside and out. I won’t risk the others just for the sake of my pride.” She held out a hand, and he took it without thought.

“I want you to come with me, Gideon, because I trust you. Will you be my second in this?”

The little witch knows.

Gideon sputtered, releasing her hand, and sprang to his feet so fast he nearly knocked her over. “Oh, enough! This is so obvious! Do you think me a fool? You know that I know!”

She held a hand over her heart, her lip wobbling under the scrutiny, and Gideon seethed at the action. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir knight.”

Gideon pulled her to her feet and dragged her farther into the forest. She was strong enough to break free, and despite his frustrations, he wasn’t pulling very hard, but she followed willingly, confusing the deadlands out of him. “What’s wrong with you?” She yanked her arm away when they made it a few feet deeper into the wood, the firelight replaced by the silvery moon reflecting off a nearby pond.

“You’re going to look me in the eye and tell me honestly that you have no idea I suspect you as the traitor?” Gideon pulled out the proof he’d been keeping in his pocket and threw it against the dirt.

Keeley stared at it, a glisten shining at the rims of her eyes, before looking up at him. And then her entire facade crumbled. “Oh, fine. I knew.”

“Ha!” Gideon pointed and then immediately lost all steam. “Oh. I didn’t think you’d admit to it.”

She picked up the letters, clutching them protectively to her chest in a manner that made Gideon feel like a unicorn’s ass. Dirt crunched under her feet as she stared at him, gaze not wavering under his scrutiny.

“I’m admitting that I knew you suspected me. Not that I’m the traitor. Gods, you Valiant Guards get all your wits knocked out of your head when you go through your ridiculous training, I swear.” She huffed and showed him the letters. “Read them.”

He pulled at his collar with a sheepish wince. “I, um…already did.”

Her eyes flashed as she pulled her comb out once more and started attacking her tangles again. “And what, pray tell, did you find that was so incriminating when you were snooping among my personal belongings, sir knight?”

“I didn’t snoop,” he argued.

She speared him with a look that made his insides twist into uncomfortable foreign shapes.

“Well! You knew about Edwin being tied up! You weren’t on the list of people privy. I couldn’t leave it up to chance! And I didn’t want to take it to The Villain until I had tangible proof.” He couldn’t stand the attack she was waging against her hair any longer, even if she was the enemy. Her hair had been nothing but kind to him. He ripped her comb away and tossed it into the nearby pond.

“Hey!” she yelled, shoving past him to get to the water, and he caught her by the wrist. “What’s wrong with you? I need that!”

“Let the poor object drown. It’s tired of doing your dirty work.” He waited until she stopped flailing before gently releasing her. “Explain.”

She whirled and huffed a humorless laugh before shoving past him to dig through the shallow water, attempting to recover the blasted thing. “What’s there to explain? I knew about Edwin being tied up because he told me himself. I had the nerve to bring him an extra bandage for his head. And anyway, I shouldn’t have to explain myself to you of all people. You found my correspondence from a king and drew your own conclusions.”

“I beg your pardon—what other conclusions should I draw when you’re working for The Villain and writing to the enemy?”

Keeley stopped splashing through the water to look at him like he’d grown a second set of ears. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Gideon tugged a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her, along with her packet of letters. “Then explain this.”

The letter read:

One day I will come see you, my princess—when it’s safe, when the world is safe again, we will be together always.

When Gideon found the letters taped under Keeley’s desk, and when he saw who the correspondence was from…

“Your boss had already departed with my sister when I put two and two together. I thought it would be kinder to all if I confronted you myself.” Gideon felt ages older than twenty and five years. His back ached, his knees hurt, and he felt nothing would hit the spot more than a prolonged nap.

“These letters are not from Benedict,” Keeley said absently, peering at the note as she held it up to the letters in her other hand.

“They’re all signed The King,” Gideon argued, pointing to the pile of letters. Did she think him so naive that he wouldn’t see what was right in front of him? Or perhaps she’d guessed at his unwanted infatuation and sought to use it to her advantage?