Page 35 of The Villain

“Learn it now before you really piss me off.”

“Stop talking,” he snaps and shoves his drink to me.

I push it away with a sneer. I won’t be placated by his concern.

“Here you go,” Denise drops off water, a juice, and hot chocolate. I stare at the options, baffled. “I put in for some nice chicken broth for you, too. That will ease your throat. Everything will be ready in a few minutes.”

I stare after her in confusion. It’s like everywhere I turn someone has Tera’s kindness gene. Maybe she infected them all. Anything is possible. That added in with the not listening is making this place weirder than I’m used to. There’s no logic in this town to me.

“You don’t want to mess with these people,” Shade insists. He must not have noticed the weirdness going on in front of him. He’s built up an immunity.

“No, statue,” I lean forward so he can hear me better. My voice is almost gone but my lips twist up into my feral smile. “They don’t want to mess with me.”

He gapes at me like I told him I was a spider and started crawling all over the table to build a web. Or my smile is creeping him out. I drop it and clear my throat.

I pick the hot chocolate and take small sips. It doesn’t ease anything but it is good.

“Were you meeting them?” I ask, keeping my eyes focused on him.

“Yeah,” he snaps back. “To pay back what I owe. They were going to give me a cost in person only. I just wanted the shit over with.”

“You aren’t paying anything,” my tone drops to almost nothing with rage. It’s turning into the cold determination I normally get before I get rid of an annoyance.

“They’re going to complain to our boss if I don’t,” he assures me. He doesn’t sound angry anymore. His voice has hushed like he’s talking about the bogeyman.

His dread doesn’t affect me. I’ll tell his boss the same thing.

“I was handling it just fine without you.”

I give him a flat stare.

“Damn it, Evie,” he says in a weak tone and leans back. His eyes squeeze shut and he breathes deeply for a bit. Hopefully he’s getting it through his head that he’s not paying shit and if they have a problem with it they can talk to me.

How has my statue survived like this? Accepting everything that comes his way like he thinks stone doesn’t crack over time.

I leave him to his meditation and look out the window.

“I wasn’t handling it,” he mutters.

I look at him with a frown, setting down my cup. What does that mean? He felt guilty for my actions? Why not say so?

“I’ve been in deep shit ever since I said I did it. Tera told you, didn’t she. That’s why you were there tonight.” He looks resigned and defensive over it. Almost petulant.

I shake my head. If Tera knew about it, she kept the knowledge close. Good call on her part. I’m not reacting well to the news. She may have manipulated things to make sure I was in the right place at the right time but she kept everything else a secret.

“She didn’t?” He seems surprised. The defensive positioning stops as soon as I shake my head again.

“I thought she complained about my problems to you,” he trails off in confusion. “Why did you tell them, then?”

Is he serious? We just went over this.

“You owe them nothing. You never have and you never will. They can talk to me about it or they can shut the fuck up.”

He takes in the look on my face, whatever it is, and his expression becomes something I’m not familiar with. He softens. As gentle as his grip on my chin or the kiss on my lips. His mask has fallen away to reveal something other than anger and mockery. I want to memorize it. Keep him just like this. Happy and relaxed.

I wish I had brought my phone inside but that would ruin one of my games. He doesn’t even know he’s playing that one yet.

“Come with me to get coffee tomorrow,” he says softly. He starts shifting his glass in tiny increments as he stares at me.

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