Apprentice to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #2)

Gideon shares pastries with Lyssa. He notes that one of the stained glass windows in the kitchen depicts Rennedawn’s Story. Lyssa deliberately drops a key, hinting that it belongs to her bed chamber with Evie. Suddenly, Marvin, the guard, staggers in, injured and bleeding, warning that the wards have fallen and the Valiant Guards are attacking.

Evie realizes that someone has betrayed them. As Trystan unleashes his magic, part of it unintentionally wraps around Evie, weakening him. Another part, acting independently, chokes a nearby guard. Evie throws herself in front of an arrow aimed at Trystan. At the same time, her dagger heats up, snapping the arrow in half before it can touch her.

Two remaining Valiant Guards retreat, but not before vowing that more will come. Trystan panics that Evie has been injured. Evie, unharmed, urges him to ensure that the two Guards do not escape. Trystan, feeling drained, worries that his magic is changing because of his connection to Evie. He suggests they keep their distance from each other.

They hear a woman scream; Evie instantly recognizes it as her mother.

Evie has a panic attack upon hearing her mother’s screams. As Tatianna, Clare, Blade, and Kingsley rush to comfort her, Tatianna reveals that the screams are coming from a memory plant. Tatianna found the plant in a hidden room where they were trapped.

Raphael confronts Renna, who admits she worked with King Benedict to find a cure for her own ill mother Ramona. They experimented with plants capable of siphoning magic. Renna assures them that she did everything possible for Nura, but in the end, Nura’s starlight magic consumed her, and she died, leaving only a vial of stardust.

Gideon and the residents of Massacre Manor struggle to fend off the Valiant Guards. Amid the chaos, the Valiant Guards breach the guvres’ enclosure. Desperate, the Malevolent Guards attempt to reach Trystan for help, but he is out of range and unable to respond.

Becky confronts her parents, angrily accusing them of giving Evie false hope. In response, Renna hands Evie a dark crystal slab—Nura wanted her to have it. Raphael urges everyone to leave, revealing that Renna has summoned the Valiant Guard.

Becky’s brothers apologize for their mother’s actions; they were unaware of her plans. Renna tries to justify her behavior, but her words fall flat.

Returning to Massacre Manor, The Villain leaps into action, joining the battle against the Valiant Guard. He races to the guvres’ enclosure, but he arrives too late—the knights have already restrained the female guvre and are too far away for him to intervene. Desperate, the male guvre attacks the Valiant Guards, only to be struck by a catapult that wounds its wing.

Meanwhile, the Valiant Guard turns on Gideon. Before they can strike, Evie steps in, fiercely defending him.

Evie and Trystan fend off the remaining Valiant Guards as Fluffy incinerates the ones retreating. With the battle subsiding, Evie rushes to check on the male guvre, who is clearly in pain from his injured wing and stolen mate.

Once the Malevolent Guard secures victory, Edwin the Ogre informs them that Lyssa snuck into the dungeon to speak with Griffin. During the chaos of the attack, Griffin escaped and locked Lyssa inside his cell.

Evie finds Lyssa in the dungeon, filthy and crying. Lyssa tearfully asks if Evie hates her now, but Evie embraces her sister, assuring her she could never feel that way. Lyssa received a note saying Griffin wanted to see her, which led her to steal the dungeon key. Though Lyssa initially yelled at Griffin, when he apologized, she began to hope they could let him out.

Later, Evie breaks the news to Gideon and Lyssa that their mother is dead. The siblings share a moment of grief. That night, Evie startles awake, troubled by one lingering question: Who gave Lyssa the note from Griffin?

Evie interrupts Trystan as he aggressively questions one of the Valiant Guards. She explains the note Lyssa received, and Trystan realizes that someone inside Massacre Manor must be working with the Valiant Guards. Evie asks what the hands of destiny told him, but Trystan refuses to answer. Instead, he asks if she regrets walking in the woods the day they first met. Evie would not hesitate to do it again.

At that moment, Kingsley holds up a sign that says “Destiny.” Trystan finally tells Evie something she already knew: Kingsley is Crown Prince Alexander of the Southern Kingdom, who was turned into a frog by an enchantress over 10 years ago. The transformation was an accident—Trystan’s mother hired the enchantress to kill Trystan, but Alexander walked through the door first. Instead of killing him, the spell transformed him into a frog.

Trystan then asks Evie if she remembers meeting a woman with three children on the day they met. When she confirms this, Trystan reflects on the prophecy given by the hands of destiny: He was destined to become Evie’s undoing and she his downfall. Determined to save her, Trystan vows to keep his distance from Evie.

Trystan and Kingsley join Lyssa for a tea party, where she playfully insists they dress up, to everyone’s amusement. During the party, Trystan informs Evie that he is setting up an office for her, rather than sharing his space. Evie warns him that he will regret this decision.

When they run out of sugar, Lyssa accidentally reaches for the vial of stardust—the last remaining piece of Nura. Evie, alarmed, shouts at Lyssa, causing her to drop the vial onto the crystal slab Nura had left for Evie. To everyone’s surprise, the slab begins to glow.

Realizing the significance of this moment, Evie quickly asks Trystan for the remaining stardust from the cave creature. As Trystan pours it onto the slab, the crystal’s color shifts from its crystalline form to an opaque midnight hue, with a single star shimmering in its center. When Lyssa remarks that it looks like the night sky, Evie has an epiphany: They must return to the cave because she knows where Nura is.

The road to the cave is damaged and barren, a clear sign of magic’s diminishing presence. As Evie and Trystan enter the cave, the once-vigilant sentry greets Evie with a somber familiarity. Evie hands the creature the crystal slab, calling it the “missing piece of sky” (420). Overwhelmed with emotion, the creature weeps and carefully places the piece back, completing its sky. In gratitude, the creature offers Evie a wish.

Evie asks for her mother, Nura. The creature agrees, states that Nura has become a wishing star, and frees Nura from the sky. Nura appears before them. Evie rushes into her mother’s arms, sobbing as they embrace.

Evie introduces Trystan, and Nura smiles warmly, pleased to finally meet him. She has been watching over them for a long time. Suddenly, the ground beneath them shakes. The creature, with a heavy heart, informs them that the magic sustaining the cave is rapidly fading and urges them to leave.

Evie pleads with the creature to come with them, but it refuses, insisting it must remain with its piece of sky to save Rennedawn and the magic.

As Evie, Nura, and Trystan leave the cave, it collapses behind them, disappearing completely.

Gideon and Nura share an emotional reunion, but Evie interrupts, pointing out that they now possess all three elements of the Rennedawn’s Story prophecy—except for the female guvre. Nura states that there are actually four parts to the prophecy, but she cannot remember the missing piece.

A debate erupts within the group about their next steps. Eventually, they decide to table the discussion.

Later, Gideon pulls Evie aside. He never gave her the antidote to the sleeping-death fruit—rather, the thing that saved her was love. Evie gazes up at the stars and vows revenge on all those who dare to confuse or manipulate her.

Gideon reflects on the tumultuous events of the past week at Massacre Manor. Tensions are high—Lyssa is avoiding Nura, while Evie and Trystan are keeping their distance from each other.

As Gideon revisits the page from Rennedawn’s Story that he had given Evie, a chilling realization dawns on him. He had always assumed that Trystan was the “Villain” foretold in the prophecy, but upon closer examination, a new possibility emerges: The prophecy might be pointing to Evie as the true Villain.