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

by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The way he would take perverse delight in her face flushing with anger and her nose scrunching. How she’d yell at him, and then the flush would go all the way down her chest, dipping below her bodice, at which time, naturally, he’d be distracted by it and stop listening. She’d notice and yell at him some more. He couldn’t wait.

“All for naught. Take pity and behold The Villain’s true final victim.”

“I. Am. Not. A. Victim.”

She was afraid, but she knew now: fear usually meant you were standing on the edge of something new, something self-altering, something potentially good. Fear was not something she would shy away from ever again.

And Evie knew she was in love with him. Right then, right there.

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

And her whole body felt like it was on fire when he said in a soft, low voice, “If you wish.”

He charged after her. “You think I do not care? As if thoughts of you and your well-being don’t plague me daily. Nightly. Every second we are apart! I watched you die! I thought I’d never see you again! I have never known such darkness, and I never wish to again. If you think that makes me overbearing, so be it. But do not ever claim I do not care about you. You are wiser than that, Evie. Do not be a fucking fool.”

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

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.

Destiny spoke again, interrupting them. “You would offer your most precious possession to save such twisted evil?” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve suffered more at the hands of those who claim to be good than those who are deemed to be evil.” She held the dagger up high. “Take it.”

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

“Think of me…when you’re with the trees.”