Evie imagined for a moment that she saw steam coming out of the man’s ears and nose, and a small smile graced her lips.
A slip.
When Otto’s eyes caught the movement of her lips, he went from enraged to explosive. But his oncoming meltdown was disrupted when The Villain stepped forward and held up a staying hand, looking at Mr. Warsen like he was nothing more than an inconvenience.
“What my assistant says is true. I have no need of your services any longer. As it turns out, I don’t think you can provide me with what I require, but I thank you for your time.” There was leveled calm in her employer’s voice, like the stillness in the wind before the beginnings of a storm.
“Of course. I wish you luck on finding someone who can serve you better,” the blacksmith sneered.
The Villain turned to Evie. “Are you ready to depart?”
She nodded, a little awestruck by the exchange. They both began for the door, but then Evie saw Mr. Warsen move toward Trystan with that all-too-familiar dagger in his hand.
And she started to scream.
Chapter 28
Evie
“Sir—” But the word came out on a strangled gasp as she fell to her knees in all-consuming, burning pain.
It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Before Evie had said a word, her boss was spinning toward the blacksmith and gripping his wrist in his hand. Otto screamed, dropping the dagger to the ground near The Villain’s boot, and her boss kicked it clear across the room.
“Please, my lord, my sincerest apologies. My temper, you see—I have trouble managing it. It’s like a beast overtakes me.”
Evie stayed on her knees, as if watching The Villain about to mutilate this man was a holy scene she was worshipping.
“Do you know what I find humorous, Mr. Warsen?” There was nothing jovial in his tone at all. The storm had arrived. “That you treat your actions and choices like they are not your own.”
She watched, with no small amount of glee, as the bones in the blacksmith’s wrist shattered under The Villain’s grip. Warsen let out an anguished cry. “Please, my lord! My livelihood is my hands. I’m nothing without them!”
“See, Mr. Warsen,” The Villain said darkly, hypnotizing. “This…this you can blame on me, that I just broke your wrist. I am responsible for that.” Another squeeze.
Otto began to sob as his knees gave out and he fell to the ground. “I beg you.”
There was a blackness surrounding The Villain now, that flare of inhumanity in his dark eyes as he looked upon the sobbing man.
For the first time since entering this space, Evie was not at all afraid.
“Blame is an interesting thing.” The Villain’s voice was level, calm, like he was talking about the weather. “Most people shirk blame, as though our flaws make us weaker.”
“You’re right, my lord!” Otto sounded desperate. “I am weak. Very weak!”
“They avoid facing their demons like they’re something to fear, to be ashamed of.” The Villain squeezed Otto’s wrist once more, pushing him against the ground now. “And they are cowards for it.”
Otto sobbed harder, his cheek pressed against the wood of the floor.
“That is the difference between you and me, Mr. Warsen.” Her boss bent his knees, going closer to the mess of a man before him. Evie searched for any amount of horror at the sight she was beholding, but all she could summon was a mixture of satisfaction and relief.
And it was utterly mesmerizing.
“I don’t run from my demons. I welcome them. I let them envelop me until I grow stronger.” The Villain released Otto’s wrist, leaving him sprawled out and shaking, and turned to walk toward the dagger that had been kicked to the other side of the room. He slowly bent to pick it up, then faced her finally.
He knew.
“A weak man pushes blame away from himself like a disease, to poison and spread over the rest of the unsuspecting world.”
Evie tried to remain steady as she brought herself to stand. “Be careful—that blade has magic embedded in the steel,” she warned, taking a subtle step backward.
But it was too late for pretenses, because the moment he held the blade up just a few inches higher, sharp pain, like fire, electrified her nerve endings. “Agh!” Her free hand clutched the back of her shoulder as she felt the room begin to spin.
She watched her boss chuck the dagger to the farthest wall, the blade burying to the hilt. Evie gasped as the pain left her in an instant, and she wobbled for a moment before her forearms were gripped in his hands.