Page 46 of Accomplice to the Villain

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.”

Chapter 24

Kingsley

Alexander Kingsley was confused.

And perhaps a smidge disoriented.

He’d awoken, startled by the rush of footsteps, to find himself bouncing in Trystan’s hands, then to Tatianna’s office, and then…it was fuzzy, but he was no longer in the healer’s quarters at all. He was sitting atop Evie Sage’s midsection while she slowly moved to sit up.

“Sage!” Trystan yelled, bursting through the back door. “Kingsley!”

Tatianna scurried out next, her pink robe dragging behind her. Birds began their morning greetings, and Alexander tried his best not to be distracted by the sounds so he could understand the scene unfolding before him.

“I’m fine,” Evie assured them, looking down at Alexander, reaching up a finger to straighten his crown. “I can’t get my curls to stay put for more than a few hours. How on earth has this thing survived so long?”

“It’s glued to his head,” Trystan muttered dryly, extending a hand to help her to her feet.

“Is it really?” Evie scrunched her nose, looking down upon him.

Alexander sure hoped not.

“No, Sage.” Trystan was cranky, probably because he was tired. The man had been sleeping terribly lately, and judging by the dark circles under his eyes, last night had been no different.

“Are you hurt?” Tatianna asked, rubbing a hand down Evie’s arm.

Evie shook her head, smiling ruefully. “I think I’ve just become a magnet for trouble lately.”