Chapter 78

Evie

The dagger flew out of the knight's back and into Evie's waiting hand. She smiled, wiggling her fingers. "Hello, boys! Did I miss all the fun?"

They charged toward her, but she was ready for them. She felt no fear, just ice in her veins as she threw the dagger with a flick of her wrist. It spun and guided itself right into another knight's shoulder. Down he went. The rest closed in on her, and Gideon leaped to his feet…but there was no need to protect her. Someone else was already there.

The Villain clutched a knight by the head as his mist took care of the others. "Were you going to hurt her?" he asked casually, calmly. Which Evie knew for The Villain was the equivalent of alarm bells calling, DANGER! DANGER!

The knight stuttered beneath his hand. "No, no, I—I—"

The Villain squeezed his head hard. "Answer honestly. I detest liars."

"Yes, I was, sir," the knight finally admitted, shaking.

"I'm afraid I will have to hurt you, then." It was a resolute statement.

"Please, sir! Have mercy!"

The Villain's eyes flickered down to the man's boots before calmly climbing back up. "The boots you're wearing were stolen from me during my stay at the palace." Evie blinked in surprise at the statement and even more when the knight yelped, tugging the boots off and muttering apologies and something about winning them. It was, all in all, a confusing exchange.

Or it was until The Villain swung an arm and knocked the shaking knight clean out. That was normal. Evie took the opening and rushed for him. "Are you okay?" she asked, but then stopped cold. The male guvre was still lying there, all alone; he looked at Evie with a whine. The sight, his pain, what it meant for their mission… In that moment, she was re-shattered all over again. She could practically feel the pieces of her falling away. "No." She gripped the sides of her head. "No, I can't take any more."

Gideon was there, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We'll get them back, Eve."

More fighting roared around them, but Evie no longer had any motivation to join the fray. Her dagger felt as useful as a pencil. Gideon looked like he was ready to fight, but Evie put a hand over his, stopping him. "Just watch," she said.

The Villain was walking to the center of the fighting with the same dark, calm, and cold expression. He was ready.

And so was she.

One by one, every knight began choking and then fell, attacked by a mysterious force they couldn't see. "His magic really is invisible," Gideon whispered, sounding awed and a little bit terrified.

"To everyone but me," Evie admitted.

And as the remaining knights caught on to the danger, they scattered, clearing the courtyard as fast as they could. They nearly made it to the entrance of Hickory Forest.

But it was too late.

A rumbling rattled overhead as a wave of fire spread from the courtyard to the tree line, turning the escaping knights to ash. "Oh, that's right," Gideon said. "We have a dragon."

Evie grinned, nudging his shoulder. "Fluffy."

Fire shot across the courtyard in celebratory bursts, and the Malevolent Guards cheered as they claimed their victory. Fluffy swooped down with Blade and Becky atop him, Ms. Erring gripping Blade tightly as he pumped his fist.

The Villain stood alone, with bodies littered around him, staring at the destruction, expressionless. Hunched over, weaker—because of her.

Gideon nudged her with his shoulder. "I'm okay. Why don't you go see if he is, too?"

Evie licked her lips, shutting her eyes briefly. "He prefers it that way, I think—being alone."

Gideon nodded once, and then a contemplative expression took over his face. "Eve, could we talk? I have something important to tell you."

Her heart felt like it was weighted with lead, bottoming out to her stomach at what she had to say, the failure she had to admit. "Me too."

But their discussion was paused by Edwin barreling in, arm sliced open and bloody, but he barely seemed to notice. "Miss Evie!" he yelled.

Tatianna was working her way through as many Malevolent Guards as she could to triage any wounds; she and Clare shot haphazard glances at each other as they healed and patched them up, already looking tired, but Tatianna jolted when she saw Edwin, reaching him in seconds. "Edwin, what happened? Give me your arm."

"Don't fuss, Miss Tatianna. I'm all right."

Her glowing hands hovered above the wound, gently molding the slabs of skin back together. Tatianna smiled softly. "I'll always fuss over you, dear Edwin."

He turned to Evie, and they locked eyes. "Miss, it's your sister."

Everything around her seemed to come to a grinding halt at the realization that Lyssa could have been anywhere near the battlegrounds. Was she okay? Evie would never forgive herself if something happened to her—

"She's okay!" Edwin assured, and everyone visibly exhaled. "But we found her below in the dungeons… It seems she's been sneaking there to visit with your father."

Evie groaned in anguish, her heart breaking anew for what this must mean. "Oh, Lyssa."

Edwin winced. "There's more, Miss Evie. She wasn't just down by the dungeons—she was locked in your father's cell."

Gideon took her hand as she braced herself for Edwin's next words.

"Your…your father escaped."