Page 115 of Assistant to the Villain

The list.

“Tatianna, where were you the night the guvre escaped?”

The healer widened her eyes before taking a step back, looking at him, and proceeding to howl with laughter. “Did you think it was me? The spy!”

Clare chuckled, too, and Evie put a hand over her mouth.

These women were taking years off his life. “You laugh, but you are the final person I couldn’t rule out as a suspect.”

“If I were the traitor, you’d be dead already, Tryst.” Tatianna reached up to pinch his cheeks, and he swatted her hand away. “The night the guvre escaped, I was at the Evergreen Tavern. You can ask the barkeep.”

His head was pounding with that deep ache that had settled there when the traitor first started complicating his life.

“Then I’m out of options,” he said, defeated.

Another voice floated from the direction of the open doorway. “What, uh… What happened to the door?” Blade walked in, grinning from ear to ear.

“What do you want, Gushiken?” This day was getting worse and worse.

“The guvres are doing a thing,” Blade said, giving The Villain a pointed look. “Seemed like they needed some privacy.”

“What sort of thing?” Clare asked.

“An, um—well, they’re reacquainting themselves with each other,” Blade said, waving his hand in a small circle.

“Oh,” Sage said matter-of-factly. “They’re fornicating.”

A strangled sound left Trystan’s mouth as he swung his gaze to Evie’s, his eyebrows nearly reaching his hairline. Her lips were curved into a soft, knowing smile…

Think about it. And die, his mind threatened.

“Fantastic,” Trystan said sarcastically, looking away from Sage. “And you need me there for that…why?”

“I thought you could use your magic to keep the office from crumbling. They’re very…um…enthusiastic.”

His eyes squeezed shut. “I’ll be right there.”

Blade nodded at all three of them, grinning again before disappearing behind the ruined doorway.

Trystan started to follow but stopped short. Without turning around, he said, “Is my assistant still going to be standing when I return?”

“She’s safe with us,” Tatianna assured.

He nodded and kept moving. But when Sage’s screams began again, he wasn’t entirely sure he could keep his power from evisceratingsomeoneuntil she stopped. He just hoped it wasn’t a guvre. Or Blade.

The dragon trainer chose that moment to give Trystan an encouraging thumbs-up, which was followed by another one of Sage’s screams.

Actually, he did hope it was Blade.

Chapter 51

Evie

“No more.”

“Just one more try,” Evie pleaded. They’d been at this for what felt like hours, but she was growing tantalizingly close to being able to stand while the dagger was within inches of her. A vast improvement, considering when she first started this exercise, she was nothing more than a fetal ball on the ground, nearly swallowing her own tongue.

“We can try it again tomorrow. You need rest,” Tatianna insisted. The daylight was beginning to fade, and the boss still hadn’t returned.