Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Assistant to the Villain

Author: Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Series: Assistant to the Villain #1

- Assistant to the Villain (2023)
- Apprentice to the Villain (2024)

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Goodreads Summary:

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel. If you need help remembering what happened in Assistant to the Villain then you’re in the right place.

What happened in Assistant to the Villain?

• Evie is stumbling through the woods, quite upset because she has quit a couple of jobs recently even though her father is sick and her family is going to starve.
• Evie stops at a river and finds it flowing with blood. She heads upstream to figure out what’s going on, and finds The Villain. He is injured and bleeding heavily, and he’s trying to hide from the King’s guards.
• He tries to get Evie to hide but the pair are seen. Evie gets hit by an arrow. 
• The Villain shows Evie that he has a super intelligent frog called Kingsley, and people were trying to steal him. And so the Villain grabbed him and went on the run.
• The Villain and Evie head back to his home together. The Villain offers Evie a job as his personal assistant, and Evie is so desperate that she accepts.
• The job involves a lot of paperwork because there are lots of mistakes in the ledgers, and awful coworkers like Becky, who doesn’t like Evie at all.
• Evie overhears the Villain torturing someone in the office next door. She falls off her chair, so the Villain comes to check in on her. He sends Evie to Tatianna, the healer, because she has broken her tailbone.
• Tatianna offers to help, but the payment will need to be made in secrets. Evie admits that she dreamt about the Villain the previous night. Tatianna gives Evie some medicine for herself, and also for Evie’s father.
• The Villain overhears Evie telling Tatianna about her sex dream. He takes her to the parapet, and Evie is worried that he’ll throw her off it.
• Thankfully that doesn’t happen. The Villain reveals that there’s a traitor at the manor, and he would like Evie’s help finding them. Evie hopes it’s Becky.
• Evie puts a list of potential names together. Becky notices, and asks what she’s doing. Evie distracts Becky so that she doesn’t learn about the traitor.
• Evie talks to Blade, the dragon tamer, about shipments of weapons that have been intercepted. The Villain thinks this was the traitor’s doing.
• Evie returns to her family home. She’s pleased that her father is feeling a little better. Evie is reminded of her brother and mother, who are missing.
• Lyssa asks their father to tell a story. Evie anticipates her father talking about how evil the Villain is. Evie knows he isn’t as terrible as portrayed.
• The Villain is pacing in his office, and hears Evie humming outside his door. He leans closer to the door, and Evie enters and accidentally hits him with it. He seems to like this.
• Evie delivers a list of names of potential traitors, including herself, but The Villain assures her she can’t be the traitor due to a magical tattoo ring he gave her. It is enchanted so that she can’t betray him. The Villain’s guards have rings that turn poisonous if they betray him, ensuring their loyalty.
• Evie tells The Villain she would torture anyone who hurt him. He swoons.
• In the kitchen with Edwin the Ogre, Evie is contemplating over the fact that she has no idea who to trust. She hears a mysterious ticking noise and follows it to her office, where she discovers a bomb. Kingsley tells Evie to run.
• Becky holds the door for Evie as she runs towards the parapet with the bomb in hand, but Evie trips and drops the bomb on the ground. 
• The Villain investigates one of his safehouses and finds his people battling the Valiant Guards. He uses his magic to identify and exploit the knights’ weak points, defeating them with a grey mist. His magic grows stronger with each knight that he kills.
• On his way home, he wonders who the traitor could be.
• He gets home and immediately knows something is wrong. Becky informs him that Evie took a bomb out to the parapet.
• The Villain uses his magic to protect himself and Evie as the bomb detonates. They both survive, but much of the tower is destroyed, including the library.
• The Villain carries Evie to Tatianna for medical attention, and Evie worries he is angry with her so she apologises to him.
• The Villain is concerned, suspecting someone diverted him to the safehouse while attempting to bomb his office, possibly targeting Evie.
• After Tatianna heals Evie’s sprained ankle, The Villain insists on escorting her home. During the bumpy carriage ride, Evie’s magical wound from her former employer causes her discomfort, but she keeps it a secret.
• The Villain takes Evie to her house and meets her sister, Lyssa, introducing himself as Trystan. Evie is worried about this new revelation, but Trystan assures her his identity is unknown. As he leaves, Trystan invites Evie to a tavern the next night to investigate the maker of the timepiece on the bomb, needing her assistance.
• Evie arrives at the tavern before Trystan. She is harassed by a former lover before Trystan arrives. When Trystan does arrive, Evie pretends to be with him, and Trystan awkwardly plays along and threatens the former lover.
• The tavern owner, Malcolm, arrives, and Evie loudly and awkwardly calls him over. Malcolm reveals himself to be Trystan’s brother, leading to a tense moment before they step outside.
• Malcolm explains he sold a clock to a stranger with glowing blue ink on his fingernails, a significant clue. The brothers agree not to harm each other and part ways.
• Trystan ensures Evie will be safe getting home, but she worries the bomb maker might target her next.
• The next morning, Evie arrives at work early and finds The Villain enjoying the sunrise. They share a brief interaction before he sends her to fetch his sugary drink.
• Evie then takes a drink to Blade, who is dealing with his skittish dragon. Blade asks Evie to retrieve a dragon training book from his room, where she finds a certificate of employment from King Benedict. Evie suspects Blade might be the traitor and starts to scream, but Blade begs her to stop.
• Blade explains he stole the dragon egg from the Gleaming City to protect it and chose to work for The Villain, who isn’t afraid of the King. Evie advises Blade to confess to The Villain before he is suspected of being the traitor.
• Evie joins Trystan and Tatianna to speak with Clare, Tatianna’s ex and Trystan’s sister, about the glowing blue ink.
• Tatianna and Clare argue but are interrupted with questions about the ink. Clare reveals she sold glowing blue ink to two people: an old widower and a man named Lark Moray, who used the Valiant Guards sigil when signing his name.
• Trystan gets upset. Clare asks when it’s going to stop.Evie asks what they’re talking about, and Trystan tells her it’s none of her business, angering her.
• Trystan later catches up to Evie, explaining that he has a complicated past with King Benedict.
• In Trystan’s office, Evie tries to open a vent to eavesdrop but falls, landing on Trystan.
• Becky interrupts just after Evie gets off Trystan’s lap, bringing Blade’s certificate of employment without a name, which she claims Evie dropped.
• Trystan suspects Evie of betrayal despite the tattoo preventing it, leading Evie to quit her job in anger. The tattoo may now poison her for betraying him by quitting.
• Evie’s departure causes chaos at The Villain’s Manor, as she managed all logistics and operations.
• Becky, now Trystan’s assistant, is in Trystan’s office. Blade arrives and confess the certificate was his, kept as a reminder of his past.
• Trystan feels guilty about mistrusting Evie. Even Becky admits Evie should return, as the manor is in disarray and also on fire, with only Evie knowing where the fire hoses are installed.
• Evie stays in bed the next morning, feeling sad, not sick with the Mystical Illness like Lyssa believes.
• Lyssa leaves for school, and Evie discusses their missing mother and older brother with their father. Their mother developed uncontrollable magic after Lyssa’s birth, which led to her accidentally killing Evie’s brother with a ball of starshine. The mother left, feeling guilty. Evie’s father misses her. Evie relates to missing someone, feeling the same about The Villain despite his mistrust.
• Trystan is miserable until he sees Evie, who apologises for quitting abruptly and expresses her hurt. Trystan apologises, leading to a light-hearted conversation revealing their fears (Trystan afraid of the dark, Evie of ladybug spots). Evie tells Trystan that she wants to know him, which deeply affects him.
• Over the next week, things return to normal, including Becky’s hostility, while Trystan appears to stop sleeping.
• Blade shows Evie and Tatianna how Fluffy the Dragon has improved, noting a message on the removed chains: “THE VILLAIN WILL FALL.”
• Evie realises King Benedict had planned for Blade to work for The Villain and take the dragon. The feud between King Benedict and Trystan is long-standing, with Benedict being the first to call Trystan a monster. Trystan vows to end the feud by taking the King’s head.
• In the town square with her father and sister, Evie’s father asks her for money to buy drinks for his friends.
• Evie realises she has feelings for The Villain, despite the complications.
• Trystan approaches Evie in town, intending to see the blacksmith involved in the treachery. The blacksmith is Evie’s former employer who sexually harassed her and injured her with a magical blade.
• Trystan asks the blacksmith to make chains to capture a magical beast called a guvre. The blacksmith reveals he made chains for an agent of the King who wore a mask with the King’s symbol, for five gold coins.
• Evie, distressed by the blacksmith’s presence, tells him they don’t need his services, prompting him to yell at her. Trystan intervenes and, as they leave, the blacksmith attacks Trystan with a magical blade, but Trystan breaks his wrist. Evie stops Trystan from killing the blacksmith to avoid drawing attention.
• Trystan learns about the blacksmith cutting Evie with the magical blade and uses a crystal to contact his guard to have him deal with the blacksmith and make him leave town.
• Trystan takes the magical blade to Tatianna to see if she can break the spell and heal Evie. 
• Trystan captures the guvre, something King Benedict has failed to do. Trystan is mildly injured.
• Evie, Tati, and Becky replace an abstract painting of The Villain with a caricature of him, which he secretly loves.
• Trystan asks Tatianna to help break the blade’s enchantment.
• A storm starts, and Trystan explains that keeping a guvre causes natural disasters. Evie prepares sleeping pallets as no one can leave the manor during the storm.
• Evie, Blade, and The Villain visit the captured guvre, which Evie finds both terrifying and cute. Evie suggests that the guvre’s mate will come to rescue it.
• Evie, Blade, Tatianna, and Becky share wine during the storm, joined later by The Villain.They all share laughs until they hear the cry of the female guvre. 
• The Villain and Evie work closely, with lots of touching and banter, to capture the female guvre. Evie’s hands get slightly melted; she tries to hide it from Trystan, but he notices. After reuniting the guvres, the storm calms.
• Evie spends the night with Tatianna, who heals her hands while Evie recounts the story of what just happened.
• The next day, Evie asks about Tatianna’s relationship with Trystan’s sister, Clare. Tatianna shares a story about her childhood, revealing her healing magic strained her relationship with her mother, but she was close to Clare and Malcolm until Trystan became The Villain. Tatianna and Clare broke up when Clare couldn’t forgive Trystan, though Tatianna could.
• Evie realises a map is missing from a locked storage, with keys only held by her and the Villain. Trystan says there used to be a third key.
• Evie and Trystan overhear workers mentioning someone found a Valiant Guard mask after the explosion. They hide in an alcove to eavesdrop, squished together, creating romantic tension. 
• Trystan offers to take Evie home in his carriage and tells her they need to explore the manor to find the traitor so he has given everyone else the day off.
• On the way to Evie’s house, they spot and tackle someone wearing the Valiant Guard mask—Becky. Becky explains she tried to sneak into the Gleaming City to find a cure for the Mystical Illness, but Trystan assures her there is no cure. Becky and Evie realize they both know someone with the illness, bringing them closer despite pretending otherwise.
• Lyssa is worried because Evie didn’t come home the night before and their father is now very sick.
• Evie finds an invitation from the Traitor on her desk which asks her to attend a party thrown by the Core healer. Evie wears a beautiful white dress with rainbow sparkles to the party. On the way, she meets Blade and Becky, who also received invitations.
• Blade is distracted by Becky, leaving Evie alone.
• Evie meets the Core Healer, Arthur Maverine, who is Trystan’s father. Arthur mentions a letter from Evie, but she never wrote to him.
• Trystan arrives, avoids his father, and finds Evie; they dance. Trystan shares his troubled past with Evie.
• The male guvre attacks the party, melting people. Arthur is injured; Blade pursues the guvre while Evie and Becky help Arthur.
• The Traitor tricked everyone into coming to the party to release the guvre. Trystan chases Clare, suspecting her as the Traitor.
• The group are surrounded by Valiant Guards who captured Trystan. Evie convinces the guards to let them go by spinning a story and pretending to be on her period. She kisses Trystan to stop him from blowing their cover, and the guards let them go.
• However, more guards soon approach to take Trystan and Evie to a healer but instead they attack. They’re also super creepy towards Evie. Trystan kills the guards for their behaviour towards Evie, realising he loves her but deciding not to tell her.
• Evie hugs Trystan and teaches him how to hug after he says he’s not sure what to do, which he finds amusingly ridiculous. They walk arm in arm through the woods, each thinking the other is weirded out. They meet Becky and Clare, and learn Blade is with the captured guvre. 
• Trystan summons the Malevolent Guard to transport the guvre to the Manor and decides everyone will stay the night.
• Evie returns home, finds her father is up and feeling great, so he has gone for a walk.
• At the Manor, Clare and Tatianna show Evie a box, and an argument breaks out. The box contains a magic dagger imbued with Evie’s blood, causing her pain.
• Trystan realises Tatianna wasn’t with them during the guvre’s release and hears Evie’s scream. He breaks into the room, discovering Clare has used magic to ward the doors. Trystan breaks through, and realises the women are trying to train Evie to not be so hurt by the magical blade.
• Blade asks for Trystan’s help to protect the room where the guvres are, as they are fornicating and may cause damage.
• Tatianna offers to make a pain-relieving potion for Evie’s father. 
• Clare apologises for selling blue ink to the Valiant Guard Traitor, revealing it can make copies of anything written with it so it’s quite powerful. Clare mentions a patron named East Marigold, who was sad because his wife loved the blue ink. He also bought some ink. Evie is shocked by the name, takes the medicine and another vial, and then heads home.
• At home, Evie finds her father struggling with cooking and gives him the new medication.
• She finds a letter from her mother on her father’s desk after “accidentally” dropping a hairpin in there.
• Trystan finishes dealing with the guvres and has a conversation with Clare. Clare hints that Trystan needs to tell Evie about the protective gold band tattooed on them both, as it’s actually a band of protection rather than employment.
• Clare discusses the blue ink again but is interrupted by a guard reporting that Lark Moray, who bought the blue ink, is dead. Moray clearly didn’t plant the bomb, as he has been dead for a while.
• Clare identifies the real Traitor as East Marigold, who is actually Griffin Sage, Evie’s father. Becky notes that Evie’s father gifted her purple ink as a present for starting a new job, which can be made from blue ink with red dye. This means that Evie’s notes will have been copied, and that Evie’s father is the Traitor.
• Evie finds her notes in her father’s office and realises he has been working for King Benedict and faking his illness.She confronts her father, and Griffin admits he tried to sell Evie to the blacksmith for his own pleasure.
• Evie reveals to Griffin that she drugged him with a sedative, knowing he was the Traitor after Clare’s mention of East Marigold. Griffin used the name East Marigold in bedtime stories for his daughters, which further disgusts Evie.
• Trystan and Tatianna arrive. Tatianna takes Lyssa back to the Manor while Trystan goes to find Evie. Trystan’s Malevolent Guards arrive and take Griffin away.
• Trystan, Evie, and Kingsley sit on Evie’s couch. Evie is in shock, and realises that she’s now a villain because she has been abandoned by her mother and her father is terrible.
• Evie asks Trystan about the King’s interest in the mated guvres; her father had said only that the King wanted them.
• Trystan reveals his backstory and how he became the Villain. He previously lived with the King to train to use magic. The King, who had been kind to him, helped him capture the guvre, believing a baby’s venom could heal everything. Trystan was later imprisoned in a cellar by the King but he escaped by developing his powers and killing the guards.
• Evie is not disgusted by this story, so that’s reassuring. They need to understand why the King used Evie’s father to reach Trystan. Evie panics and calms down with a hug, which almost leads to a kiss but is interrupted by Kingsley.
• Trystan is pleased that Kingsley is a frog and not the handsome prince that he used to be.
• Evie packs to return to the Manor but realises she forgot her important notebooks. She and Trystan head back to retrieve them but are ambushed by King Benedict and his Valiant Guards, including the blacksmith. 
• The King planned to have Evie be his saviour, but now she will be killed by the blacksmith.
• One guard knocks Trystan out, and the King takes him to the Gleaming City.
• Evie, alone with the blacksmith and two guards, uses the magical blade to kill the blacksmith. One guard kills the other and then flees.
• Back at the Manor, Evie plans to rescue Trystan. She needs Becky to kill her. Evie hangs the blacksmith’s head in the foyer and vows to save Trystan.

That’s what happened in Assistant to the Villain! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!