Page 50 of Apprentice to the Villain

Evie sighed and shut her eyes tight. “Luna!” she called, and a pixie with purple wings halted. “Can you put the incident board at zero?”

They had an incident board for the boss’s kills?Of his own staff members?

The Villain grumbled, “That hardly seems fair. Damien wasn’tan intern.”

“Hush!” Evie scolded. “Tati, Clare? Are you ready?”

Tatianna winked at Gideon, patting him on the shoulder as she passed, which chilled him to the bone. “I deal in secrets, sir knight, and I sense you are holding a great many. I would suggest not waiting so very long to reveal them.”

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat that arose at the truth of her words. He could’ve told Lyssa and Evie of their father’s manipulation of him. How Griffin and the king had abused Gideon’s own magic to hurt their mother.

It was that ignorance, that naive trust of the adults in his life that had destroyed his family. He turned to look at Lyssa. Tatianna was right; there were so many secrets living in his mind, like traps waiting to be sprung.

Secrets that could topple an empire, if he chose to wield them that way. And perhaps he would.

But not yet.

The Villain called back then, pulling Gideon out of his musings. “Gushiken and Ms. Erring are in charge. We’ll be back by the day’s end!”

Ms. Erring was the one in the round glasses, judging by how Blade bumped her with his shoulder and grinned.

“You’re not qualified to oversee anything, you buffoon.I’min charge.” The woman sniffed.

Blade chuckled, but Gideon was then distracted by a large, green frog hopping after the departing group…with a crown affixed to its head.

“This is a very strange place,” Gideon said in astonishment.

Ms. Erring folded her arms and grumbled, “You don’t know the half of it.”

Chapter 29

Evie

It wasn’t hard to ascertain that Evie had far overestimated her riding abilities. The first clue being she had the stamina of a goldfish.

“Can. We. Take. A. Break.” She huffed out each word between trots. She’d thought riding a horse would be a leisurely experience, but her entire body ached from trying to keep her balance in the seatandhold herself up.

“Use your core strength,” Clare called from beside her. They’d been on the winding path through Hickory Forest for more than an hour, and by Evie’s measure they weren’t even halfway to their destination.

She threw an exasperated hand in the air. “What core strength?”

The Villain immediately slowed at her response, waiting for her mount to catch up. The animal had been incredibly patient for the duration of the ride.

He looked at her strangely; it made her feel warm. He opened his mouth, and she held her breath.

“You look ill.”

Tatianna, who was riding with pristine posture, not breaking a sweat next to The Villain, gave him an exasperated look. “Who taught you etiquette? A pack of wolves?”

Kingsley was atop Tati’s steed, shaking his small head alongwith Clare.

They all fell into a slow canter, The Villain nudging in beside Evie. “I merely meant that you look as if you didn’t sleep last night.”

“I didn’t.”

He spun his head toward her in a flash, gripped the reins of her mare, and halted them both. Clare and Tati glanced at each other, slowly trotting ahead while angling their necks back to hear.

The boss asked, “Why?”