Page 109 of Accomplice to the Villain

She held up her hands, genuinely confused. “What? You already knew that!”

“Did he now?” Fowler smirked and looked at Evie a little like he could see right through her thin shirt. She folded her arms over herself just in case, and her boss clocked the motion.

The dark mist shot out and pinned Fowler to the tree, pushing his cheek into the bark.

“Release me, Villain! It was all in good fun!” His voice no longer held that careless edge, dipping into the beginnings of what sounded like panic.

“I thinkthisis fun,” Trystan said dryly, shoving Fowler’s face harder into the tree until Evie thought she heard it scraping skin. She remembered his penchant for beheading and feared where this act of retaliation was descending to.

Oh, the mess.

She grabbed Trystan’s arm without thinking, and he didn’t move. His body was so still, her touch not even enough to cause a jerk. She squeezed as a test, and he froze further, tightening muscles she hadn’t realized existed. “Sir?”

“I’ll kill him, and we’ll all be happily on our way.” Trystan pressed the mist against Fowler’s throat, and he began to choke. “If you’ve objections, do not waste them. I do not care.”

Rude.

She scoffed. “All right, Dramatic One, except I wasn’t going to object. I was just going to urge you not to dawdle. We lost a night’s travel because of this fool, and I would like to find some pants soon.”

His shoulders loosened like an untied knot, his head swinging down until his gaze stopped on her. “Let me get this right. Your only objection to Lord Fowler’s death is that I might loiter?”

Evie released a sigh. “And yet you’re already doing it.” She made her way to a nearby stump and sat atop it, combing her fingers through her tangled curls. “Let me know when you’re done.”

Fowler was half gagging, half laughing, eyes sparkling with intrigue. “Oh, she’s brutal, isn’t she?” he managed to choke out.

“Youkidnappedus!” Evie argued. “AndI’mbrutal?”

“Now, Sage, it was for a party. Fowler was trying to show us a happy evening,” Trystan said solemnly in rebuke. But the subtle shift of his mouth, the tiniest movement upward, nearly undetectable, told Evie that he was getting back at her.

How exciting!

“Then I suppose you should spare him after all.” She folded her arms and smirked.Got you.

“As the lady wishes,” he whispered roughly.

Oops. He got me.

But The Villain didn’t hesitate as he dropped Lord Fowler to the hard earth. His magic—for once cooperating—returned to him, leaving Fowler a coughing mess. Kingsley and his re-chained foot dragged over as he held up a sign that read:Choke.

“Charming, little frog,” Fowler said, climbing to his feet and brushing his hands down his trousers, which were now caked in dirt. As Evie suspected, the entirety of his right cheek was scratched from the bark, blood dripping from deeper cuts. “I merely came to ensure that you were given your horses back.” Fowler gestured to their four horses waiting at the tree line. “And, of course, to refresh your food and water stores. And to tell you the magic wand’s caveat.”

Trystan glared. “What. Caveat.”

Fowler, despite his eccentricities, looked a tad meek. “Unfortunately, a few years back, I broke the wand in two. I was told it could work half as well with one part, and I always preferred it as decoration. So I thought it kind to give it as a gift. I melted the glass down and had it made into a lovely pair of slippers!”

Tatianna sighed. “Oh no.”

Fowler chuckled nervously. “I’m afraid for the wand to work…you’ll need to retrieve the glass slippers. It must be whole to work at its full magic.”

Evie cut in gently, hesitant to ask, “And who has them, Lord Fowler?”

Fowler brightened. “This is the good part! Fortunately, it was given to someone you know well! The Villain’s mother, Amara Maverine.”

Clare froze, as did Trystan.

Fowler dimmed. “Or perhaps…not so fortunate?”

Amara Maverine. Splendid. As if they didn’t have enough sinister characters to deal with, now they had the demons of her boss’s past cropping up like weeds.