Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain Book 3)

Evie

“Gods, Edwin, are you all right?” Evie asked as she rushed to the ogre’s side. His room was overlarge, as was the chair he was seated in. It was cushioned, red, and looked fit for a king. Or, in this case, a very sweet office chef with purple tears running down his blue cheeks.

Edwin took off his glasses with one hand, rubbing his eyes with the other. “You didn’t have to come all this way to check on me, Miss Evie.”

Evie laid a hand on Edwin’s cheek. “Your room’s only in the east wing, Edwin. It was hardly a hike, and even if it was, you’re well worth the trip.”

Edwin rubbed at his wrist, where dark marks were forming from the ropes he’d been tied up with. “I’m just grateful Ms. Erring didn’t let on to Miss Lyssa what had happened. She got her away before she could see me.”

The Sage sisters had grown up in a village—a small one, but it was full of people. And while they had received help occasionally from their elderly neighbor, the rest were more inclined to whisper and gossip, leaving Evie on her own. “It takes a village to raise a child” was a saying she’d heard frequently from people who meant well, but Evie knew that wasn’t true. You didn’t need a village at all.

An office full of loving eccentrics would do just fine.

“I can’t thank you enough for how good you’ve been with her,” Evie expressed, standing to make room as Tatianna rushed in, along with Clare, Kingsley hopping behind.

“Oh no. Now I’ve caused a fuss!” Edwin moaned.

“Hush, Edwin, and let me see your wrists,” Tatianna argued, her hands glowing yellow as she scanned over the chef for injuries.

Clare stood back, arms crossed, holding her elbows as if she were staving off a chill. “Trystan will be here any minute. Edwin, what happened?”

Edwin’s eyes went unfocused as Tatianna began healing the bump on the back of his bald head. “I don’t remember. All I know is one moment I was cleaning up the broken chair in the kitchen, and the next it was all darkness.”

“The prisoner who attacked Evie,” Clare said, tugging at the drapes in the corner to let in the rays of the setting sun. “Was it him?”

Evie shook her head. “No, he was locked up by then.”

Tatianna’s sleeves fluttered as she worked, using the worn pink bow at her wrist to tie back the braids from her face. “So it was someone else? Another intruder? Wouldn’t one of us have noticed?”

Evie held tight to her stomach with one hand. “Not if…”

Clare’s eyes sharpened. “Not if what?”

“Not if it was one of the employees,” Trystan finished as he walked into Edwin’s chambers, and the ogre made to stand before Trystan held up a hand. “Edwin, so help me, if you leave that chair before you are fully healed, I will cut the chocolate chip budget by half.” It was the most polite threat she’d ever heard him deliver.

And Edwin’s only response was to smile and settle back into his chair.

Clare shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “You think that one of your employees did this? Who?”

“Whoever was slipping notes to Lyssa. To trick her into setting my father free,” Evie reasoned, giving Trystan a pointed look. “We find who wrote the notes, we find our traitor.”

Tatianna sighed. “I still don’t understand why they would go after Edwin. What was the plan, to sabotage the cauldron brew? Poison the cupcakes?”

Something was tugging at Evie’s memory, but her head still hadn’t recovered from her own contusions; though the physical wounds were nearly healed, the fight in the kitchen was spotty. “Maybe it’s not Edwin they were after,” Evie ventured. “Maybe it was something in the kitchen?”

Trystan nodded, a gleam of respect in his eyes that made her nearly preen.

Don’t take the bare minimum, Evie!

Even though she was alarmingly used to it.

“You’re right, Sage. We’ll investigate further in the morning.”

“Wait, say that again.”

He rubbed at his chin. “We’ll investigate in the morning?”

“No, the ‘You’re right, Sage’ part.” She lowered her voice to mimic him, steepling her hands underneath her chin.

His dark eyes rolled so hard Evie thought they might disappear inside his head. “I do not sound like that.”

Clare snorted, looking more relaxed than when she’d entered the room. “Yes, you do.”

Kingsley held up a sign.

Ha.

“Okay,” Trystan growled. “I’ve had enough of this. Edwin, let me know if you need anything. Sage, let’s go.”

Evie stumbled after him, trying to keep up with his long strides. “Where are we going?”

Her boss stopped, giving her a look so disquieting Evie felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise. “Why, Sage, the sun’s nearly down, the workers have gone home, and it’s time.”noveldrama

Evie rubbed at the sore spot on her head. “For?”

He smiled, his dimple peeking through.

“For you to try your hand at torture.”