Page 19 of Accomplice to the Villain

Evie burst through the side doors, already to Lyssa, throwing her arms over their crying little sister. “It’s okay. You’re all right. You’re safe. I’m here,” Evie soothed as Lyssa buried her head in Evie’s shoulder, crying. Thankfully, Lyssa couldn’t see the horror in Evie’s own eyes as she stared at Gideon.

“Keeley. Is she dead?” Lyssa sobbed, and Gideon’s pulse raced, the room suddenly suffocating despite the shattered window and the fresh air spilling in.

He knew it wasn’t poisoned. But every breath sickened him just the same.

Keeley lay flat on the ground, her ravaged back exposed, and Gideon was kneeling beside her before another breath could be taken. The pleading look on Keeley’s face as her golden eyes searched his would be seared in his memory forever. To his great relief, Tatianna appeared next to him.

The healer’s pink-painted lips pulled up in a rather sad smile as her hands glowed over Keeley’s back, hovering but not touching. “It could have been worse. That blast should’ve killed you.”

Gideon’s brow was furrowed, his heart somewhere in the vicinity of his shoes. “I’m sure she’s sorry to disappoint. Keeley is usually so very good at following a chain of command, aren’t you, Captain?”

Keeley sputtered a laugh, and Gideon felt as if he could fly, or end a war, or something as monumental as the sound made him feel. “Very—” The captain stopped to cough. “Very funny, sir knight.”

Tatianna brushed a gentle hand against Gideon’s arm, her dark eyes boring into his. “Could you carry her to my quarters, Gideon? And avoid touching her back if you can manage it.”

Gideon nodded, bending toward Keeley. “As much as you’ll hate this, Captain, do you think you can manage to put your arms around my neck?”

Keeley attempted to sit up but nearly fell, and would have if not for Gideon’s quick reactions. He gripped her elbows, guiding her long, lithe limbs around his neck, then reached for her legs, looking at her for silent permission. She nodded, and Gideon took hold of each of her thighs, bending his knees to stand, her arms folded around him, her lemon-scented skin making him unpleasantly dizzy.

“Don’t drop me, sir knight,” she whispered in his ear, causing goose bumps to rise across his skin.

Gideon tightened his arms, only enough to strengthen his hold, ensuring she could fully relax against him. All the pretense of his ire toward the woman had disappeared, perhaps forever. She’d saved his sister. Her first instinct was to throw herself right into the danger to protect a little girl. It made Gideon wonder if anyone had ever done that for Keeley. It nearly made him volunteer right there.

“I’ll do my best, Captain,” Gideon replied unsteadily, giving Evie a gentle nod before turning to follow Tatianna.

Nura Sage appeared from the parapet, glassy eyes wide in horror. “My gods. My gods, I’m so sorry. Is she all right?” A faint white-silver glow still remained around their mother, as if it was weakened, slowly fading little by little.

Before Gideon could take another step, carrying the woman in his arms like fine porcelain, he watched Trystan step toward Nura, a hard look of resolve on his face. “Worry not, Mistress Sage. It was entirely my fault. My magic is waning and unruly; it should never have made it that close to you.” He was blank when he continued. “Your reaction was only natural. It’s best for all to keep their distance from me until the prophecy is broken and the magical order to Rennedawn is restored. Especially you, Sage. If I give an order to leave, I expect you to heed it when your safety and that of others is in jeopardy.”

Gideon sighed.

Evie looked wounded, naturally; Trystan Maverine looked a bit like someone about to have a tooth pulled. She tugged Lyssa farther into her neck, gently standing them up. “I’ll leave, then. I’d hate to disappoint you. I’m rather familiar with the emotion.”

Gideon couldn’t be sure, but he felt as though something unsaid passed between Evie and Trystan Maverine in that moment. Something that made Evie glare at the man with a charge that nearly shook the room more than the starlight.

Gideon hadn’t revealed his suspicions about where the prophecy could be headed or who he thought would play each role. It was a silly, senseless theory. But as Gideon Sage turned his head to check on his sisters one last time, the look in Evie’s eyes made him fear many things.

The greatest of them being…

What if he was right?

Chapter 10

Evie

“Sometimes I have daydreams about punching him in the jaw. Really hard!” Evie exclaimed.

She watched for Rebecka Erring’s reaction. Their newfound friendship was still fresh and potentially fragile, but at the same time, Evie felt very much that she could say anything to Becky, and the Human and Magical Creature Resource woman would understand and, even better, reply with words that could soothe the fire inside Evie.

But Becky didn’t look up from her paperwork. Her long fingers leafed through the pages of her notes one at a time, her glasses perched on the tip of her nose. Behind them, her light-brown eyes flicked to study Evie’s serious expression. “If we’re referring to the boss or anyone else who works in the office, just be sure you fill out a form first.”

Evie huffed, crossing her arms before shoving a freshly baked blueberry scone into her mouth. It was delicious, the sugared dough melting on her tongue. It mattered not that the scone was fluorescent pink where it should’ve been blue; it seemed the strangest creations that came from Edwin’s kitchen tasted the best. Plus, he’d come in on his day off just to make a large batch for everyone after the near miss with Lyssa and her mother’s starlight magic.

Lyssa had thankfully settled quickly after the terrifying encounter. Keeley would heal fully from her physical wounds—thank the gods and thanks to Tatianna, who had been working on the Malevolent Guard captain for the last few hours. Evie owed the captain every gratitude, but the pain in Trystan’s eyes when he’d realized the incident had begun because of his magic…that was something Evie was decidedly not grateful for.

Especially since she was almost certain her mother’s magic wasn’t reacting to Trystan’s magic at all. No, Nura Sage had been reacting to her. Her mother had glimpsed a side to her she’d never seen and rejected it in the most dramatic way possible.

Evie chewed her bright-pink scone with a vengeance, the memory of The Villain’s chastising rebuke only fueling her. “Are you giving me permission?”