Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1) (71)

Her touch burned.

Shaking her arm off, he stood up and slinked closer to the wall, trying to bring about a distance that allowed him the space to think properly.

She narrowed her eyes at his sudden withdrawal.

“It would appear that way, yes.” The skies chose that moment to split open and deluge the manor in pounding rainfall.

She had to raise her voice slightly to be heard over the torrential downpour. “And are you planning on releasing the creature by the day’s end?”

“No, I cannot.” He needed him at least long enough for the cogs of his plan to roll together. For the traitor to inform the king.

Sage sighed, moving toward the door, a sense of purpose in her gait. “I’ll send the interns for some bedrolls from the laundry room, then.”

“Why on earth would you do that?” Trystan asked, an uneasiness beginning to creep around him like a stealthy predator.

“Because if the storm keeps up like this, there’s no way anyone can leave here safely at the end of the day.” Her gaze was pointed as another crack of lightning lit up the room around them. She paused as if she needed to carefully choose her next words. She needn’t have bothered. Waves of doom were already roiling in his stomach.

Finally, she said, “We’re trapped here for the night. Together.”

Lightning lit up the sky once more, flickering over Sage’s lips, slightly turned up at the corners. He leaned hard against his desk when the door closed behind her.

Squeezing his eyes tight, he tried to organize his thoughts.

But as lightning flashed yet again, he couldn’t help worrying that his plan for vengeance had given him more than he bargained for.





Chapter 32


Evie


“It’s huge!” Evie gasped.

Blade turned to her then, a sly smile on his lips. “If I had a gold piece for every time—”

A loud smack wrenched through the air, and Blade winced and clutched the back of his head.

The Villain didn’t even look in Blade’s direction as he brought his hand back to his side. “It’s smaller than the dragon.”

Her boss had been very quiet since she’d left his office to make sleeping arrangements for everyone. After dismissing the interns and leftover workers to the guest quarters across the courtyard under heavy guard, he’d invited Evie to the back corner of the cellar to see the creature for herself.

And the guvre was horrifying.

“Yes, but Fluffy doesn’t look like that.” Evie tilted her head, and the serpentlike animal angled his head with her. “Stop being cute—you’re supposed to be a living nightmare.”

He looked like one, at least, despite the somewhat docile manner with which he was currently conducting himself.

His eyes were large and bugging out of his head, which was sloped and tapered at the nose like a snake. When he took a step closer to the bars, his bat wings flared out, the leathery membrane so like the dragon’s and yet different in a way that made her feel intimidated.

“Why are we keeping this horror show in our cellar again?” Evie asked, giving the vicious animal a little wave and gentling her expression when he tilted his head again at her.

She turned to get an answer and saw her boss watching her motions carefully, something light in his eyes and a slight upturn of his lips, so small she almost didn’t catch it. “Sir? Is something wrong?” she asked curiously.

He shook his head and cleared his throat, shifting his gaze back to the bars. Ignoring her question, he said, “Guvres are notoriously mated animals.”

“And you thought we could assist the creature in the courting department?” Blade asked dryly, creeping a hand through the bars, clicking his tongue. Amazingly, the guvre crept closer and nudged his head against Blade’s hand.

“How did you do that?” Evie’s eyes widened.

Blade shrugged. “Animals like me.”

“Oh yeah, you’re just always in the infirmary; I forget sometimes.” Evie hadn’t meant the words to sound so insulting, but of course she realized this after they’d already been spoken aloud.

To her relief, Blade chuckled and adjusted his vest. “It’s the less desirable part of the job, to be sure.”

“I would’ve thought the less desirable part would’ve been cleaning up the creature’s excrement.”

Blade and Evie both stared at their boss with open mouths. “Did he just make a joke?” Blade asked her in an exaggerated whisper.

She returned her answer at the same volume. “I know. He’s been doing that a lot lately.”

“Interesting. Do you think—”

“Enough!” Their boss put both hands on his hips, looking dark and formidable. “If you two don’t mind, I’d like to finish what I was saying.”

“Oh, no!” Evie said with false innocence. “We don’t mind—go ahead.”

Quirking a brow, seeming to want to smile once more, her boss shook his head and opened his mouth to speak. “Guvres are typically mated animals. This particular guvre’s mate is of value to me.”

“Then why not just capture the guvre’s mate? Why go to the trouble of taking this one?” Blade began throwing slabs of beef through the bars, and the creature swallowed them without chewing.