“Put them with the rest,” a Valiant Guard called over to the one hauling Evie toward a handful of people crowded together, some of them clinging to each other and sobbing as they were gathered in a clearing not far from the original party location. Arthur stumbled and groaned behind her, and Evie quickly turned to help him.
“Stay in line!”
“He’s injured!” she yelled back, yelping in pain when the bigger knight gripped her by the shoulder, hard.
“Dayton!” one of the others called. “Stay your temper; these people are innocent.” The voice was kind, and despite the helmet he wore, Evie felt calmer.
But then she spotted another group of people and the unconscious man lying beside them. Taking in his torn black shirt and his too-still face, Evie swallowed back a scream at the thought that he was dead. But then she saw the blood trickle from his forehead as he shifted and she nearly passed out from relief. Not dead, just unconscious.
Evie pushed through the throngs of people, ignoring the calls from a knight to stay where they told her. She dropped beside Trystan and brushed a blood-soaked lock from her boss’s forehead. “Sir?” she whispered. “Are you all right?”
He groaned lightly underneath her touch, eyelids fluttering before going still once more.
For once, Becky’s appearance was a welcome sight. “Is he okay?” Her eyes were wide and her breathing heavy. “Where is Blade?” she asked, whipping her head around to look at the few other people standing with them. He was nowhere in sight.
“How are we getting out of this?” Evie winced when a knight threw another screaming woman into the group. “What are they doing here?”
“It had to be a setup,” Becky hissed. “There’s no way they’re here by coincidence. Whoever King Benedict has working for him, they wanted us all here for this.”
“Then why aren’t they taking us away?” Evie asked, looking around at the group. They bore the painted silver armor on their shoulders and chests. Most of their faces were hidden behind painted helmets, each inscribed with King Benedict’s insignia. But there was confusion playing among them. Whoever had organized them here had apparently abandon them, and with the guvre hovering nearby, each of the knights shifted nervously.
Evie could work with nervous men; they usually came by the dozen.
Arthur hobbled over, crouching beside her, and brushed a hair from The Villain’s face. “They don’t know what The Villain looks like, and whoever did is nowhere to be found,” Arthur whispered. “I’m too weak to heal anyone, but—” Feeling the pulse at Trystan’s wrist, Arthur turned warm eyes to Evie. “He’ll be all right. His lifeline is still strong. Do you have a plan?”
Becky was looking at her, too. The other people still conscious around them shuffled nervously, not paying attention to them as much as the guards. Evie found herself panicked—the person who gave the orders was unconscious. Evie’s job was to follow direction and follow it well. What was an assistant to do when her ruthless boss was out cold?
It was obvious, really. Whatever ruthlessness this situation required. Evie would have to become a villain herself, because they were not going to die here. Not today.
Evie flew to her feet, forcing a dramatic scream from her lips. “Please,” she sobbed. “Help me.”
One of the Valiant Guards was by her side in an instant, taking her forearm in his hand. She could see his green eyes through the slit of his helmet; they looked uncomfortable.
“What ails you, miss? You have nothing to fear from us.”
“Oh, I know.” Evie gave a watery smile as she gestured to The Villain, still unconscious in the hands of his father. “But my hu-husband.” She made the word seem forced, like she was seconds away from shattering.
The discomfort in the knight’s eyes increased tenfold.
A man terrified of a woman’s tears? I never would have guessed.
“He’s hurt. I fear for his life; I must take him to a healer immediately.” She wiped a tear from her cheek and then gripped the knight’s armor in her fists. “I beg you—let us go.”
The knight slowly removed Evie’s hand from his armor and then took a slow step away, like her hysterics were contagious. “My knights were instructed to return every civilian here unharmed. We found your husband unconscious already, my lady.”
Evie wanted to throw him a suspicious look, but she restrained herself. It was very clear he thought her quite gullible if she was supposed to believe the knights just found her boss with a small dent in the back of his head—if the guvre had done it, she was certain he’d no longer have a head at all.
“Of course.” She sniffed. “You all are valiant and brave. I should’ve known better. You see, I have my monthly cycle.”
One of the knights choked, and she was pretty sure another dropped his sword on his foot.
Women’s tears scared men, but the functions of the female body clearly sent them into apoplectic fits. She continued, resisting a chuckle. “My husband and I, we’ve been trying for a baby, you see.” The Villain groaned behind her, but Evie ignored it and kept her eyes forward. “It’s why we came to see the core healer. And then my husband heard The Villain had arrived to terrorize the core’s good work.”
Suddenly, every knight near her was on alert, their gazes darting around those captured, obviously trying to discern if The Villain was among them now.
“Oh, that dastardly evildoer isn’t here, kind sirs,” she insisted, blinking up at the soldier. “He took off after the sky serpent’s first attack like the coward he is.”
The knights chuckled nervously, turning to the one she was speaking with for direction.
“Please, sir, I do not have the supplies necessary for my monthly courses…and my dress is white.”
Every man within earshot winced. The guard before her nodded once, decision made. “Very well. I suppose you all may—”
A loud groan permeated the air, freezing everyone and everything around them. Evie turned her head slowly toward the groan, horror dawning like a fiery sun.
The Villain was waking up, and when he saw the knights around them, his reaction would be to ruin everything, and by ruin she definitely meant start murdering their captors. Instead of being let go and left alone, they would be outnumbered, and the guards would capture The Villain.
Or worse, they would murder him.
She had to do something…
Her heart pounded so loudly, the force of it nearly knocked her over as she made her way over to her husband on shaking legs. Dark eyes appeared as his lids blinked open, brows scrunching together in pain and confusion as he began to sit up.
His gaze settled on the group before him for only a moment, long enough for Evie to recognize the murderous rage in his gaze begin to take root, and she flung herself in front of him, gripping his collar in her fists. She watched him blink twice before his eyes widened.
It was the last thing she saw before she settled her lips onto his.
