Apprentice to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #2)

by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The Villain didn’t miss light. He missed color.

“Could I get a corner cell?”

“I wish you’d pay more attention.” She skewered him with a look of censure, her most intimidating look—her best, really. His amber eyes, so often filled with mirth, grew intense as he replied, “I promise you: I do.” And then, without warning, he reached out and gently pushed her glasses back up her nose. She hadn’t even noticed they’d slipped.

Why do men take pain as well as ice takes heat?

“You wicked bitch!” She took a bow. “At your service.”

Min, had backed two into a corner and was pelting them with…cream puffs? She’s getting a raise.

Don’t be an arsonist, Evie!

“Threats to your life are not something to jest about. Ever.” Her lips parted, and all she could do was blink, wariness and confusion swarming around her like killer bees. Their buzzing rang in her ears as she asked, “Why?”

“I’m going to the ravine.” He stood right next to her, his face impossible to read. “Has working for me become that bad?”

It seemed the darkest tales held the harshest truths.

“Does your mind live in the gutter?” She shook her head, tapping a finger against her lips. “No, but it rents there on occasion.”

“I learned how to use a paperweight as a weapon.” He followed her lead, realizing that forcing it out of her would be fruitless. “Fascinating. How?” She placed both hands on the curve of her hips. “You throw it, um…really hard.”

“You are the most frustrating person I’ve ever met, and I work with hardened criminals.” He shuddered. “And interns!”

there was a difference between Gideon’s eyes and her father’s, and it wasn’t the color. It was the hope.

“Sir, why did you do that?” “Edwin’s nearly finished with a batch of cookies, and I did not want to share.”

“This room really is absurdly large. Who needs a bedchamber this size?” “Is it so the nobles have room to do cartwheels?” Lyssa asked. Evie scoffed. “Obviously.”

“I’m nervous for you to find Mama.” Lyssa’s voice was small, like she was almost too ashamed to admit the truth to her. “I’m afraid to meet her.” Evie’s eyes opened, startled. “Why, love?” Lyssa’s little face looked fierce, even seconds from sleep. “Because you’re the only mother I’ve ever had.”

Losing someone didn’t mean the end; it merely meant the beginning of the life you’d lead without them, the beginning of letting in the people you’d gain in their stead.

“Use your core strength,” Clare called from beside her. They’d been on the winding path through Hickory Forest for more than an hour, and by Evie’s measure they weren’t even halfway to their destination. She threw an exasperated hand in the air. “What core strength?”

You can’t be sad when you’re trying to be professional, Evie! But being professional is so sad,

“Can we talk about this later, when there aren’t three of you ganging up on me?” His figure was spinning in several different directions, and they all looked pissed.

“By the gods, alert the town crier! I’ve found a man who doesn’t believe in love.”

“You look awfully familiar,” Fritz said as he inched even closer. The Villain began thrashing again, but Evie didn’t move. She was through with letting herself be intimidated by men. “Did I take you to bed last month?” She frowned and shrugged, looking down at the gag still in her mouth. The intrigue in Fritz’s eyes only grew as he untied the cloth, and Evie spit the filthy-tasting handkerchief from her mouth. She smirked. “No, I don’t think I’ve ever been that disappointed.”

“Sir!” she said, feeling sobered but still lightheaded from the flower. “I have a wanted flyer!” The Villain looked concerned, glaring at the slip of paper and then back to her face as if he was worried she was about to cry. “Isn’t this…exciting!”

It was like the beginning of a bad joke. How many theater performers does it take to bring down The Villain? She chuckled to herself and mumbled, “Douglas, write that down.”

“Incarceration really tickles my funny bone,”

And like her mother, Evie feared one day…she, too, would break. A tragic inheritance, seeing your mother’s flaws crop up within yourself and having the awareness to know it but no idea how to stop it.

“He isn’t dead.” This surprised her cousin but didn’t seem to shock her. “Oh, how wonderful! He owes me money.”

It was two men fighting. Of course.

She’d spitefully learned to sew perfectly when her brother had called her patchwork hopeless, she’d jumped headfirst into the deep end of the pond when the boys in her class called her a chicken, and she’d found a job working for a villain when the employment market told her it would be impossible.

“I only have one pillow! Why would I be embarrassed?”

“Malcolm, I don’t mean to be rude or a poor host,” Evie started, extending her palm toward him, “but what are you doing in my house?”

“Real nice, you deranged turtle.” Trystan looked at Sage’s brother blankly before lifting an eyebrow. “He’s a frog.”

the summer before her tenth birthday, when she’d tried her hand as a fire-wielding trapeze artist and had promptly fallen off the roof. And burned a hole in the grass that never grew back.

“Are you okay?” “Nope!” she said cheerily,

“I do not lack equilibrium,” she argued. “The ground merely lacks the courtesy of letting me know when it is coming closer.”

Evie got a peek at Kingsley atop the dragon’s head—he was holding up a sign that read, Innocent.

She looked like the most beautiful nightmare he’d ever seen.

Evie merely blinked, waiting to see something appear from the fog, but nothing did. Was Becky playing a trick on them? Blade broke the silence first. “It’s really nice, what they’ve done with the place.” They all groaned.

She admired the woman for it, because it wasn’t thoughtless bravery that won the fiercest battles—it was welcoming the fear that lived inside your heart, in your mind, and harnessing it to carry your feet forward, knowing it couldn’t control you.

“Stop flirting with my brother.” “Yes,” The Villain said through clenched teeth. “You’re making Rebecka uncomfortable.” Tatianna’s eyes dipped down to where their boss gripped the back of a wooden chair. “You’re bending the wood, Trystan.”

She was alive, and the makers of this world were in for a true surprise if they believed he would ever be separated from her again.

“I would sooner take the scraps she lay at my feet,” he stated, “than commit myself to a cheap imitation.”

“His dark soul is mine. Hand it over or you’ll remain trapped here forever, tormented by great evil.” Evie curled her lip and nodded earnestly. “That’s a pretty average work week in the office, honestly.”

“I’ve suffered more at the hands of those who claim to be good than those who are deemed to be evil.”

“There was no villain’s assistant position…until he met you.”

They both broke into a grin at the same time—so big it felt like safety, like coming home.

When Evie turned back to Blade, the dragon trainer was focused on Becky in wonder and then possessiveness, like he’d fashion himself a thief just for the excuse to have that smile for himself.

Evie was still reeling from her indirect confession of love and how foolish it had been to show her hand at the exact moment he’d toppled the whole deck.

She’d deal with it all later, when her sister didn’t need her so much.