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

by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

“No. I have a condition where my tear ducts produce an excess of warm, salty water when I’m tired or in distress.”

“If you’re having some sort of episode, may I suggest you sit before you faint and crush the tulips?”

“Fluffy? You looked at me and thought to yourself, He looks like a Fluffy?”

“Fluffy is a beautiful name. I had a dog named Fluffy once.” She nodded succinctly and then deadpanned, “He used to growl at lint.”

Yes, I did just make an ass of myself. Thank you for noticing.

But the dragon trainer’s question echoed through his mind so many times, Trystan wanted to scratch it out. What about Evie?

I want to know you. Trystan felt unfettered fear as he sat there, because for the first time in a decade, the idea of that didn’t sound so very bad. And yet, he somehow knew in his bones she was going to be the death of him eventually.

Ruined. He didn’t feel ruined with Evie, though. He felt reborn. What a fucking disaster.

“You cannot be an evil overlord in distress,” he continued, “if you save the hero immediately after she saved you.”

“In the meantime, you need to find a way to get this winged lady to the cellar downstairs. And try to stop getting yourself into trouble in the meantime; I can’t keep saving you.” It was meant to be a joke, to lighten the moment, but it sure didn’t feel like one when The Villain’s molten gaze landed on hers.