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

by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The Villain, King of Darkness, Haunter of Dreams, had his arms around her. Worse, even, she was not nearly as afraid as she should’ve been.

There had to be a rule somewhere that evil overlords needed to be at least fifty, maybe sixty if they were pushing it. But not young! And not, even more disastrously, beautiful.

How her predicament had escalated from unemployed butcher’s daughter to aiding and abetting this kingdom’s greatest enemy in an alarmingly short amount of time. Good grief, maybe she was chaos.

“If you’re going to work for me, Sage, you cannot continue to call me that.”

Before she knew what she was doing, her hand was clasped in his.

“Normal” was for those who didn’t have the ability to stretch their minds past the unreachable end.

Granted, she didn’t want to become evil, but when you spend most of your life trying to see the sun, you begin to wish for rain.

the Mystic Illness—a sickness that had plagued the kingdom for the last ten years.

Evie shook her head hopelessly. “Sir, I hate to belittle your successes, but there are people who go their entire lives without killing anyone.” His face remained serious. “How dull.”

“We have a traitor in our midst,” he said in a low voice.

It was still a mystery whether it was because she found Evie obscenely annoying or if the rumor Evie had heard from one of the interns was true. That Becky had, once upon a time, wanted to be the assistant to The Villain, and Evie had been given the position instead.

Her mother had loved her father to distraction until the incident…until she’d left them.

Trystan Arthur Maverine, or more affectionately known to the public as The Villain,

It had nothing to do with wanting her to be comfortable. Nothing at all.

Once a new guard agreed to the posting with their signature, they’d be bound to Trystan’s life force with the inked-on ring.

But when the bargain keeper had arrived, he couldn’t go through with it. He’d picked the gold instead.

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

It was a hard lesson to learn that sometimes it was better to remain lonely than to waste companionship and energy on someone undeserving.

She was calm, cool, collected.

“What the fuck are you doing here, brother?”

But he seemed to make better decisions when she was near, less impulsive, more strategic.

Magic hadn’t just controlled Nura Sage; it had destroyed her and in turn destroyed Evie’s sense of safety.

“Clarissa is the only person in the Kingdom of Rennedawn who sells the sort of ink Malcolm saw,”

At that, Evie gasped, slapping The Villain on the arm. “You have a sister!”

“The man introduced himself as Lark Moray.” She bit her lip and pointed to the signature below the name. “But he signed the ledger with one of the Valiant Guards’ sigils.”

In Trystan’s deepest, most private thoughts, he imagined what it would be like to walk into his brother’s tavern a different man. Clare and Tatianna would be sitting there, hands linked, waving him over with a glass of wine outstretched for him. Trystan would sit with them all, enjoy their company, and feel a sense of belonging among his family. But that would never happen.

She’d quit.

Blade frowned at her back as she returned to her new desk—right outside Trystan’s office.

“You use too many words to say simple things,

“There is so much that can be fixed by honesty, if you’re brave enough to use it.

Trystan could hardly bring himself to care, however. He was currently coming to grips with the fact that he simply did not have an office without Sage. Or he supposed he did. But it was frankly an ill-functioning disaster.

The Villain Will Fall

“It was a secret project, solicited by one of King Benedict’s Valiant Guards.”

“That you treat your actions and choices like they are not your own.”

“You have a death blow in your shoulder,” he said. “Do you understand what that means?” “I—” “It means that if I hit that scar at just the right angle with my magic, you die.”

He had a wild thought of getting a hundred more of those hideous depictions of him hung around the room, just to keep seeing that look on her face.

“She’s beautiful,” Sage said in awe. “She’s horrifying,” he corrected.

“Oftentimes, it’s the same thing.”

“All I will say is, Clare never forgave Trystan for the events that turned him into The Villain, and I did. It wasn’t a problem in the beginning, but it became one, and then it was over.”

“They found a mask with King Benedict’s emblem on it. In a corner of the stairwell the day of the explosion.”

Someone had stolen a map. And Trystan knew who it was.

The mask with King Benedict’s emblem on it.

“I got the map of their usual route from the cartography closet. I thought I’d pretend to be one of them and hitch a ride right into the Gleaming Palace.” The third key—now it made sense.

To Evangelina Sage Looking for a cure? Briar’s Peak Tonight

“My name is Arthur Maverine. I believe you work for my son, Trystan. I am the core healer.”

I feel like my life keeps happening to me, rather than me living it.”

And then the screaming began.

“Someone’s released him.” “The person who got us here.” Evie sighed. “It was a setup.” The Villain sneered.

Women’s tears scared men, but the functions of the female body clearly sent them into apoplectic fits.

“What were you going to say, love?” he whispered,