Assistant to the Villain, #3
Accomplice to the Villain
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Contents
Chapter 3
Overview
Evie goads Trystan by returning with bloodied hands and reveals a risky Slums visit for prophecy leads, where she stabbed an attacker. Their charged exchange triggers Trystan’s uncontrollable death magic, forcing Evie to evacuate the office. Tension spikes as he distances himself, but an intern interrupts, claiming they have found a ghost.
Summary
Evie returns to the manor still bloodstained, deliberately provoking Trystan after two weeks of distance. She revels in his alarm, using his handkerchief to clean her hands under the staff’s gaze, then finally explains she went with Keeley to the East End Slums chasing prophecy leads about waning magic.
Evie reports that an elderly man with ancestral knowledge shared sparse lore, but tavern regulars recognized her and tried to turn her in. She reveals she stabbed one assailant in the neck, testing Trystan’s reaction. Trystan’s anger surfaces when he learns men touched her, and when Evie asks why it matters, he strains to answer.
Their closeness triggers Trystan’s death magic to surge uncontrollably, gray mist sweeping the office, breaking a wanted poster and snuffing torches. Evie realizes distance calms the power and hastily fabricates a “ghost” story, prompting the panicked staff and interns to flee.
As the magic slowly recoils to Trystan, Evie and Trystan clash: she defends her cover story, he orders her back to her new office, and she refuses, hurt by his coldness. Their standoff is cut short when a breathless new intern bursts in, announcing, “We found the ghost.”
Who Appears
- Evie (Sage)Protagonist; returns bloodied after a Slums lead, admits stabbing an attacker, calms chaos by evacuating staff, refuses Trystan’s dismissal.
- Trystan (The Villain)Boss with volatile death magic; alarmed by Evie’s blood, angered by her assault, loses control near her, then pushes her away.
- New internBreathlessly interrupts to report, “We found the ghost,” escalating the aftermath of the magic incident.
- KeeleyOff-page ally; accompanied Evie to the East End Slums to chase prophecy lore.
- Office staff and internsWitness the magic outburst; flee after Evie’s ghost warning, clearing the room.