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

The Villain

The morning dew had barely had time to dampen the grass before Trystan began beating down Tatianna’s door.

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“Tatianna!” he boomed. “Wake up!”

The door was on a tilt, not entirely repaired from Trystan kicking it down with Sage the day prior, and creaked horribly when Tatianna finally yanked it open. Her nightgown was lavish, her robe a draped pink silk that matched the silk bonnet tying back her hair, her dark eyes blinking rapidly, voice still edged with sleep. “Is someone bleeding or dead?”

He paused, his fist still midair from knocking. “The prisoners downstairs—”

“Is anyone bleeding or dead who isn’t meant to be bleeding or dead?” she clarified, her lips pressing tightly together as she awaited his answer.

This was a terrible idea.

“No,” he said carefully.

“Are you admitting finally that you’re in love with Evie Sage?” She folded her arms, the fluffy ends of her robe coming together.

He sputtered, “I—I will admit no such thing.” Out loud.

“Then I am returning to bed.” Tatianna groaned and made to slam the door, but Trystan caught it with his hand. She let out a little grunt, pushing it harder. “Trystan, by the gods, whatever it is, let it wait until the sun’s come up.”

“I’m busy then,” he stated logically.

Her eyes flared, her hands glowing in a threatening gleam. He released the door, stumbling backward. “Come back later,” she bit out, then slammed it shut.

He sighed, leaning his forehead against the cool surface. “Sage and I kissed,” he admitted quietly.

The door flew open so fast he was fairly certain it would be knocked off its hinges again, his forehead catching open air as he tripped into his healer’s quarters. Fortunately, her exam table stopped him, though it possibly bruised his kidneys in the process.

“Tell me everything.” Tatianna grabbed a comfy chair from the corner and dragged it over, tucking her slippered feet underneath her. “Did you kiss her? Oh! Did she kiss you? Good for you, Evie!”

“I’m not—” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t come to talk about that, actually. I’m worried about Kingsley.” He pulled the frog from his pocket. His friend’s crown was so far down the side of his head it was practically hanging off one of his eyes.

Tatianna leaned her chin against the palm of her hand, unamused. “Why? Did you force him awake at an ungodsly hour, too?”

The frog blinked, his eyes growing more alert, and he hopped and settled into Tatianna’s lap.

“He was meant to check on Sage for me while I kept the guvre comfortable last night. Next thing I knew, I awoke hours later, alone, and Kingsley had never returned,” Trystan explained, staring at his best friend. “When I finally tracked him down, he was dangling from the chandelier, completely out of it. Something’s off with him. Haven’t you noticed? Misspelling signs, holding up empty ones? Seeming absent?”

“Mother hen.” Tatianna gentled her voice. “He’s not absent—he’s a frog, and he’s right here. So he got a little sidetracked. Happens to the best of us.”

“He was our best friend, Tati. He was our best friend, and now he’s this. And it’s my fault.”noveldrama

Tatianna shook her head. “No, Trystan. It’s your mother’s fault. She commissioned the enchantress to hurt you. Besides”—she held up Kingsley, cradling him with both hands—“you spent a decade trying to find a way to undo it. You’ve punished yourself enough for a crime that isn’t yours.”

“Maybe that’s why I’ve committed so many others I’ll never take the blame for,” he muttered sarcastically.

Tatianna blew out a breath that turned into a whistle. “I’m so glad you said it so I didn’t have to.”

His irritation melted away when he lifted one of Clare’s flower clips from the worktable. He held it up, pointing a questioning look at her. “Speaking of the past…”

“We were speaking of crime, actually.”

Trystan took the hint. Don’t touch the subject of the youngest Maverine. Understood, but his daily interactions with others in the office seemed to be having an adverse effect on him, because…he wanted to know.

Kingsley jumped to his shoulder, just when Trystan needed the distraction. “Do you think you could look him over anyway? Make sure everything’s functioning right?”

“I’m a healer for people, Trystan. Why don’t you ask Blade?”

“Because I might run into…someone I’m not quite ready to see yet.”

“Ah.” Tatianna nodded, as if she’d sorted him long before he’d admitted a thing. “You afraid you’ll plant one on her again?”

“She kissed me!” he argued.

“HA!” She jumped, pointing at him, self-satisfaction evident in the little hops she was doing. She started waving her hand at her face. “Hoo, all this excitement is making me flushed. Open the window, will you?”

Trystan rolled his eyes, but he went to the window, cracking it slightly to bring in a rush of cool air.

“Thank you.” Tatianna smiled. “Wow. So our sweet Evie kissed you. This is good. At least one of you has some sense.”

“Are we speaking of the same woman who accidentally baked a batch of cupcakes with salt instead of sugar her first week on the job?”

Tatianna tapped her chin with a manicured finger. “Didn’t you eat them all anyway?”

Kingsley found a sign from the basket in the corner and scribbled out a word.

Yes.

Tatianna smiled and shrugged. “Look at that! He’s as sharp as ever.”

Something in Trystan’s face must have conveyed his impatience, because Tatianna grabbed the frog from the corner and placed him on her examination table.

The morning was still gray but lighter, the last dregs of night saying their final farewell, and Tatianna breathed it in like it was restoring her. “All right. Let me have a look at him.” Her hands took on their warm yellow glow, and she hovered them around the frog, scanning his small body for any issues. “But I’m telling you, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Kingsley blinked, his eyes homing in on the glow of Tatianna’s hands. And then he leaped.

Out the open window.

“Ah! Oh gods!” Tatianna screeched, and Trystan yelled as they both dove after him, shoving simultaneously through the window frame but clutching at only air. All they saw was a frog soaring, then hitting the ground gracefully and turning around to look at them with a soft “ribbit.”

“Oh gods! Tryst, what do we do?” Tatianna grabbed his arms, and they both knew the answer. They couldn’t take their eyes off that frog, but jumping out the window was a fool’s errand.

“Sir?” Sage’s voice floated up, and Trystan’s heart dropped. Had she stayed out there all night, waiting for the sun to rise on the stained glass?

And he’d assumed she’d retire; instead, he’d inadvertently left her out there to put it together with only Blade and an abandoned “outside dinner.” It was difficult to enjoy villainous acts when they made you feel like you were being boiled alive.

And then Kingsley hopped right at Sage, smacking her in the chest and forcing her to the ground arse first. Thank the gods, though, she kept her hands tight on the amphibian, effectively stopping his escape.

“Oof!”

“Tatianna?” Trystan said lightly.

“Yes?” she asked nervously, likely sensing the danger beneath it.

“I think we have something to worry about.”