Page 39 of Evil Villain (The Royal Court)

“I think you can stop,” I growled.

She held her hand up in my face. “Don’t look at me like that, you brat. The kitchen caught on fire because ofyou.”

My jaw dropped. “How was it me? You were supposed to be watching the fries!”

Felicity was sitting in her favorite spot on the couch, while I was sitting in the comfortable armchair. Concrete was curled up in a ball next to Felicity on the couch, and his ears flicked every time we yelled back and forth at one another, like he was irritated we were disrupting his nap.

“Youwere supposed to be watching the fries,” Felicity whined back at me. “I was doing the pizzas.”

“The ovens for the pizzas aren’t even on your side,” I argued. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

All the playful frustration left Felicity’s face as she stared at the course layout on the television. “Oh… Yeah, you’re right.”

“Okay. I’m going to try again. Please don’t let the fries set the whole kitchen on fire.”

She side-eyed me. “Don’t get lippy with me.” Just as I was about to hit the button to restart the level of the co-op cooking game we were playing, Felicity’s phone rang. She glanced over at it on the table next to the couch, and then sat up a little straighter. “Oh. Hang on. It’s Nico.” I sat up at attention too as she brought her phone up to her ear. “Hello? Hey.”

She stood up and walked out of the room and though I was tempted to follow her, I let her go. She preferred to have conversations isolated, I’d noticed. It was less about keeping information from me, because she always told me everything, but more about being able to focus her thoughts. All I could do was hope that his call was a sign that he’d found something.

“Concrete.” I tapped my leg. “Come here, boy.” Concrete turned his head in my direction and looked at me, but didn’t move. “Come here.” He offered a couple of blinks, but stayed in place and I snickered. “Fine. I guess I’ll come to you.” I stood up and his tail immediately started to flap, growing more excited as I closed in and sat down where Felicity had been moments before. I sat down and he did move then, but only enough to scootch forward and set his head in my lap and bear his belly. “Brat.”

I started to scratch his stomach, and in no time at all his tongue rolled out of his mouth and to the side and his eyes drifted shut again. As I laughed at him, I realized how difficult it would be to leave him when the time eventually came. I’d have to get a dog of my own as soon as could, probably one very close to Concrete. I smiled, imagining moving into a small, modest place with Cherri and getting a dog. Maybe Venom and Felicity could come and visit and bring Concrete and our dog could bond with him. Was it dangerous to dream of such a delightful life? I had very little faith that I’d ever have that kind of life, but it didn’t keep me from wishing for it.

“Hey,” Felicity said, walking back into the room.

“Hi,” I said. “Any news?” She frowned, and that was enough of an answer. “No luck, huh?”

“Connor’s proving slipperier than he thought,” she said. “He’s coming up short, but he’s going to keep trying.”

“I know we agreed that we’d leave Nathan out of this, but the information he has could be really useful. Maybe we should reach out to him,” I said.

“That’s a last resort option,” Felicity replied. “Let’s give Nico a little more time and then if it really feels like he’s not getting anywhere, we can consider it.”

“Fine,” I said.

“There is something though,” Felicity said. “Something else I’m hoping you’ll keep a secret from your dad.”

“Okay?”

“There was a place he used to go. A trade show of sorts. It’s masked to look like a car show, but it was something of an underground black market. They use these flashy cars and all their money to hide just about any illegal business. Nasty stuff. Trafficking. Drugs. Embezzling. Blackmail. Murder for hire. If it would be considered a felony, you can find someone there who will do it,” Felicity said.

“Connor has to have used a place like that,” I said.

Felicity nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking too. Garret wouldn’t tell me where to find it, but Nico did.”

“Wait… You’re gonna go? That’s gotta be insanely dangerous,” I said.

She punched my arm lightly. “Maybe, but I can take care of myself. Plus, it would be worth it if it meant we could get a solid lead on Connor.”

“Let me come with you then,” I said.

She glared at me. “We agreed—”

“I know, but we also agreed we were going to work together,” I retorted. “If Venom knew I let you go somewhere he didn’t want you to go, alone, he’d break my legs. I’m not letting you go alone. Either we both go, or neither of us.”

She watched me quietly for a few minutes, and her jaw flexed and relaxed in a pattern while she considered it. Finally, she blew air out of her nose and nodded. “Okay. We’ll go together.”

My stomach actually lurched a little at the thought. It’d been a little while since either of us had mentioned Connor or looking for him, and July was officially underway. I’d very nearly tricked myself into thinking that this was just the life I was living. I was just a normal kid living with his mom and adorable pit bull, doing chores around the house, and getting a little too into co-op video games.

---