Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)

by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Worry not, hasibsi. You could fix a broken world with just your smile.

But Evie still smiled. Just in case.

Loyalty was easy to acquire when the only other option was death.

“I would, you know. Torture someone,” she clarified, an alarming sincerity on her face. “If I knew it would help you—if it was someone hurting you… I’d do it and I’d probably enjoy it just a little.”

Trystan rubbed his chest, feeling everything she’d said break shards out of the walls he’d built.

It was more than the work itself, though; it was the people she was surrounded by. There was no pretense of being “better” here. They were all flawed enough to compromise any fantasy of moralistic value in favor of survival. It was beautifully comforting, in a world that had done its best to make Evie feel tragically alone.

a good book often felt like the same comfort as the heat of sunlight brushing your cheeks.

She dared to want more of him, and that thought alone was far too dangerous to explore further.