Page 6 of Evil Villain (The Royal Court)

He snickered. “Aw man, you know I’ve got you covered. I’ve missed ya anyway, so let’s take on The Royal Court together, girl!”

My smile grew, even if Sicily wasn’t there with me. “Thanks, Sic.”

“No problem. I’ll leave in the next five minutes here. See you soon.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

I hung up my phone and started up my car, but I waited a bit to leave. Postings Proper, where Sicily lived, was about fifteen minutes from Nathan’s house, whereas I was only about five away. I spent a few minutes flipping through college offers that were still open to me, and a few internships who’d reached out due to my somehow stellar grades at the end of the year. Though I would never ask him about it and he would probably never tell me, I assumed Nathan paid to make sure I graduated. It was the kind of thing I felt like I should thank him for, but also the kind of thing that it seemed like he should have done considering what he put me through. Regardless, it was going to be one of those few things that was never spoken between us, especially because I had no idea what to do with it.

Even before Deon, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my life post-grad. So many of my decisions were dictated by The Royal Court and what was best regarding my affiliation with them. I had no clue what I wanted to do now. Beyond finding Deon and ending things for good with Connor, I probably needed to set a personal goal to sort my own life out. To stay that I was lost would be an understatement.

My self-loathing had killed enough time for the moment, so I put my phone away, started up my car, and headed out to Nathan’s. I drove on memory, the trip being one I’d made a hundred times before, and it made me anxious the way it felt a little like settling into an old routine. Things would be very different now, though—for the better, hopefully.

I probably ran at Sicily for a hug a bit more eagerly than I should have, but it was really nice to see him. Not just because he had supported me through arguably the most difficult time of my life, but he also reminded me of Deon. Even once all of this madness was over, Sicily and I would remain close. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Aw, hey there, gorgeous,” Sicily said as he pulled me into a huge hug. “I didn’t like not seein’ ya for a whole week.”

“Me too.” I pulled away. “I have this thing where I recede in on myself when I’m sad. You may have noticed.”

“Nah. No idea what you’re talkin’ about,” Sicily replied. “Alright. You ready for this?”

“Yeah. Thanks for coming with me,” I replied.

Sicily braced his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. “Not a problem, ma’am.” He was wearing his signature newsboy hat, and his goatee was much fuller than it had been at the end of the year. The strangest, best superhero ever.

I grabbed my bag, which Sicily almost immediately pulled from my hands, and then we started towards Nathan’s house. The stone facade of the main house was a little daunting given the myriad of awful experiences I’d had the last few times I’d been there, but ever since Nathan’s mom was killed and his father went missing, he had the inside of the main house on his family’s property renovated and now it was the official Royal Court clubhouse. He’d created a bedroom inside for all of the members, mostly by pairing, and he’d created a ton of entertainment spaces for enjoying ourselves over the summer. The story I’d told my parents and Ciara wasn’tentirelyuntrue. We were planning to enjoy ourselves a little over the summer.

Whether or not we would succeed was yet to be seen. It mostly depended on if we found Deon, and exactly how much of our lives Connor was determined to ruin from wherever in Maine he was.

Once again, in spite of the key I had which would get me into the house I was in front of, I knocked regardless. Just like with my parents’ house, I felt like I had to earn the right to come and go as I pleased. We waited a few moments in silence and then eventually, I could hear the door unlock.

It opened and the face I saw on the other side was so much more welcome than I could have possibly imagined.

“Cherri!” Avery yelped. She damn near jumped through the doorway to wrap her arms around me and pull me into a bear hug. I wrapped my arms around her and returned the hug. “I missed you!”

“I missed you,” I replied.

Avery was my best friend. Through circumstances she had very little control over, I blamed her for losing Deon along with the rest of The Royal Court, when my anger should have been directed at people like Connor and anyone who helped him control Postings the way he did. I couldn’t bring myself to entirely regret it—I’d lost so much of myself being in The Royal Court. Not only did stepping away allow me to get back to my more natural self, but it also led to me getting close to Sicily. That said, I ended up taking things to the extreme and hurting someone who’d only ever been like a sister to me.

She didn’t deserve that.

We pulled apart a little, but I placed my hands on her face and looked into her eyes. “You’re so beautiful. I’m so happy to see you.”

She smiled wider and there were tears plucking at the corners of her eyes. “I’m happy to see you too. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too. I’m sorry for everything I did,” I said. “I love you.”

She snickered. “You’ve apologized to me about a thousand times this week and I already told you I forgive you.”

“I know, but I was so mean to you and—”

Avery dragged me back into a hug. “It’sokay,Cherri. We all had a tough time. If something happened to Ali, I can’t say I wouldn’t act the same. It’s fine. Let’s just put it behind us.”

I squeezed onto her, loving the feeling of my best friend in my hands once again. “Okay. I’d like that.”

We finally released, and Avery turned to Sicily with just as bright a smile. “Hi, Sicily.”

“What’s goin’ on, Avery?” Sicily replied. “I forget. Are you one of the single ones?”

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