Page 52 of Apprentice to the Villain

“You want me to be bait for the bridge creatures?”

The Villain rode up beside her. “You’re clever enough to solve the entry riddle they’ll give us to cross, and you’re charmingenough to convince them to ignore our differences in favor of finding your mother.” He turned, grinning, dimple on full display, then dismounted and helped her do the same.

Magical flower still gripped in one hand, she used the other to balance against his shoulder, which of course was hard enough to rival a boulder.

“That’s an apt comparison, I suppose,” The Villain said, amused, almost unknowingly puffing his chest. Had she spoken that aloud? Her senses felt dulled, her heart rate abnormally slow all of a sudden.

Tati and Clare dismounted easily, gracefully, and then conferred about something.Wait…arethere four of them?

The Villain turned, not noticing how she swayed when he released her. He sauntered toward the gold bell hanging from a flowered archway over the bridge entrance. “The bridge creatures hate me. We had a mild misunderstanding a while back, and they have long memories.”

Her vision was going spotty, but she felt warm, almost a little giddy. The flower in her hand shined brighter, but the scar on her back was tingling again.

She gave a little giggle, then, oddly, hiccupped. “Always making enemies wherever you go, aren’t you, Trystan?”

He immediately stopped in his tracks and spun around with a wild look of alarm. And when he spied the flower in her hand and the unfocused look in her eyes, his face jumped among three different expressions she’d come to know meant the following:

Alarm, concern, and finally, rage.

“Sage! What have you done!” He was in front of her in seconds, ripping the flower from her hand.

“Oh my goodness, I do not know.” She gave a wobbly shrug, giggling again, her words slurred, and she snorted at the way they sounded.

Clare strutted over, Kingsley perched on her shoulder, beforeripping the flower from her brother’s fingertips. “This is a Piony flower. The scent is supposed to make you intoxicated.” His sister looked at him with a frown. “She’s drunk, Tryst.”

“Oh, that’s bad, right?” Evie said, scrunching her nose, attempting a step forward but swaying into Trystan’s shoulder instead; he caught her immediately. She reached up and touched the stubble at his chin. “This is prickly. I like it.”

He looked like a scared owl, and she giggled again.

“We need to get out of here before they see us,” her boss said. He turned her around and led her back toward the horses. “You won’t be any help in this state.”

They were a foot away from the bridge when a gritty voice called from behind them, “Leaving so soon, Villain?”

It was too late.

Chapter 30

The Villain

“Act natural,” Trystan hissed.

Sage hiccupped, then promptly giggled at said hiccup.

“She’s as natural as a mooing chicken.” Tatianna grimaced, holding a glowing hand up to Sage’s eyes. Sage scrunched her nose and leaned away, blinking a mile a minute.

“Can’t you undo it?” he asked Clare frantically as the bridge creatures climbed up from the deep water that ran through the entire Heart Village. “Is there a plant for this?”

Clare tossed the red flower Sage had been holding in the direction of the woods. “Not for magical intoxication, Tryst. The only way out is to wait, and it can last hours.”

“Hours!” He stared at Sage, who was now humming a merry tune and skipping around in a circle.I won’t survive hours of this.It was suddenly quiet, and he found Sage’s gaze intent on his face. “What are you staring at?”

“Your mouth.”

Correction: I won’t survive minutes.

“Villain. Why did you return? Another bridge you want to destroy?” a creature asked, and Trystan turned to see none other than Reming. He was taller than Trystan recalled from their last fateful meeting, with sand-like skin mostly hidden behind a long tunic and tight trousers. Sea glass shined where human hair would be, a vibrant burst of colors.

“He destroyed a bridge?” Sage almost yelled, and he clapped a hand over her mouth, pulling her against his chest.