Page 104 of Apprentice to the Villain

His eyes fell shut again.

When he opened them once more, he emptied his stomach on a large patch of grass, wiped his mouth on his black sleeve, and then blinked. Sunlight burned against his pupils. There was green shrubbery all around and…a running stream. Hickory Forest.

“Argh.” He clutched his pained middle and came away with sticky redness—blood. A jostling at his waist made him grab for his satchel, and he opened the flap to see Kingsley sitting inside. This was—he was seeing—

Her.

Against the lining of the trees, light shone off someone walking along the edge, a shock of color coming in through the cracks. So bright, he nearly walked toward it, until he heard the call of male voices. The men who were after him, after Kingsley. He dropped to the ground to hide among the plants, ducking his hands over his head… He’d hide there, and he knew he’d be fine.

A moment passed, and he could feel the person from before moving closer. The sounds of a blade being unsheathed made him tense, but when he glanced up from the cover of his black cloak, he saw gently curved hips and sensible boots. Nothing else… He couldn’t risk moving his head up. It was a foolish village girl. What a nuisance.

His arm darted out, grabbing her wrist, and yanked hard. She fell, and his hand closed over the softness of her lips. Sage—it was Sage. The lucid part of his mind was peeking through, but then it was swallowed again, replaced with his current reality.

This was their first meeting.

He pulled her down and against him, struggling to remember that this wasn’t real. This was a vision of things past, a test.A test.But the memory played through anyway. “Be quiet, you little urchin, or you’ll get us both killed.”

She was struggling against him, wafting the smell of roses about them like a heady mist.

Everything went dark again.

His eyes closed and opened.

This time, he was in his office, at his desk, but this didn’t feel like a memory; the room grew hazy under the smoke from the candles lit all about the room. The night sky was dark as the moon shone through the windows, alongside one shining star.

Why was he here? He paused, trying to remember. This wasn’t real. Was it? What was he doing in his office?

Disoriented and confused, he heard a pained whimper on theother side of his office doors. Something about it caused the blood to freeze in his veins. He yanked the doors open.

Standing at the end of the hall, half hidden in darkness, half illuminated by candlelight—the sight so foreign in his safe place, his empire—stood King Benedict with a crown perched atop his regal head.

And a knife against Evie’s throat.

Chapter 63

Evie

Trystan’s screams shoved her heart up into her throat as she rushed down the arena stairs toward what seemed to be an elevated viewing platform, followed by his other employees and friends.

“It’s killing him!” Evie cried. “Trystan! Snap out of it!”

Whatever the creature in the arena was, it wasn’t human. Gleaming white shimmered off it, making it almost impossible to look at. The form it took was hardly a form at all, just an array of shine that reminded her of the sun’s rays descending to the earth, unnatural and a signal that the world had been turned upside down. Just looking at it made her feel sick to her stomach.

Becky grabbed Raphael by the collar. He’d been standing sentry over the scene when Reid led them to the Trench. “Stop this. Stop this now!”

“Or what?” Raphael’s eyes narrowed coldly. “You’ll kill me? Ruin the family? You’ve already made fair attempts at both, Rebecka.”

Becky reeled back, and Evie turned to him, directing all her anger at the man. “You’re an asshole!” She went to charge at him, dagger raised, but Becky tugged her back by the wrist.

“He’s a Fortis warrior, you ninny. He’ll eviscerate you.”

Trystan’s cries rattled the entire space from the arena floorbelow, turning her ire into debilitating pain.

“I have to help him,” she whispered, a tear falling freely down her cheek. She’d become no better than a watering pot. But tears were a quiet problem…if the sniffling didn’t start.

She sniffled and glared inwardly at the betrayal.

Stepping up, she gripped the side wall of the viewing platform, just as Raphael gave her a genuine warning. “No person has ever tried to stop the creature of destiny and lived. Its magic is older than time itself—itistime itself. Right now, it’s wrapping The Villain in every moment of his life touched by such magic. By destiny. If you interfere, you’ll get yourself killed!” Raphael was shouting at her now—annoying, since she’d only met him five seconds ago. A new record.