Page 43 of Assistant to the Villain

Evie gave a squeal of victory when she spied the burgundy-colored book with a cover that read,Training Magical Beasts: For Novices.Shaking her head and picking up the large volume, Evie realized that Blade must have embellished on his résumé about his “elite experiences” with magical beasts of all kinds if this was his evening reading. She tucked the book under her arm, straightened the knit dragon, which looked like it’d had many years of being loved, and turned back toward the door.

But the light coming in from the window suddenly caught against a gold paperweight peeking out from underneath Blade’s desk. So Evie walked over, bent to pick it up and place it where it belonged, when she saw a slip of parchment underneath. Angling her head and holding the parchment to the light of the window, she froze.

It was a letter requesting employment, and the name signed at the bottom sent a chill up Evie’s spine.

King Benedict.

Evie’s heart began to pound as she read over the certificate. Blade? It couldn’t be Blade; why would he—

A hand closed around her mouth, and Evie froze.

“Please don’t scream.”

Chapter 16

Evie

Evie didn’t scream.

She did, however, pull her arm forward and slam her elbow back into Blade’s stomach.

“Argh!” Blade grunted, doubling over when he released her. Evie whipped around, gripping the certificate in her hand.

“What. Is. This?” she bit out.

“It’s not what you think, okay? Can I explain?” Blade’s eyes darted around, panicked. “Please don’t tell the boss, Evie. I’m begging you.” His desperation was palpable, and she softened for a second before Blade made to dive and snatch the certificate from her hands. She quickly ducked to turn away from him, and Blade’s hand ended up slapping against her cheek.

“Ouch!”

Blade pulled back, a horrified expression on his face.

“You hit my face!” Evie gasped.

“I’m so sorry; it was an accident! Are you okay?” Blade reached for her, but Evie took a step back.

“You hit my face,” she repeated, holding her cheek.

“I know, I’m sorry!” Blade said, holding both sides of his head. “Okay.” He sucked in a breath and leaned his face toward her. “Free shot, go ahead.”

Evie looked at him with an exasperated expression. “I’m not going to hit you.”

Blade looked at her with wild eyes. “No! Do it! I deserve it.”

“Blade, I’m not—”

“Hit me!” he wailed.

“No!” Evie screamed back, throwing her hands in the air. “This is ridiculous. Why do you have this?” She held up the letter and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, Blade sighed and sat on his bed, which did in fact creak, and looked at her with a sheepish smile. “So, I didn’t exactly find the dragon egg when I was hiking in the east.”

Evie trying to piece together what he was saying, knitting her eyebrows together. “You didn’t…?”

Blade picked up the toy dragon on the nightstand and started nervously picking at the frayed edges. “I grew up in the Gleaming City.”