Page 78 of Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore
Violet crumpled the moment he was gone, leaning over her counter and crying long, deep sobs while Bartleby wound his vines through her hair and around her shoulders without even pretending like he was attempting to strangle her.
She felt alone and lost, her worst fears confirmed. Nathaniel knew the truth, not just about her identity but the terrible thing she’d done, the thing that would bring the entire world crashing down on her. She’d be hunted for being the Thornwitch by the Queen and anyone with a taste for vengeance or glory, yes, but Shadowfade’s supporters would kill her for being a traitor. Nowhere was safe for Violet.
And apparently, no one was safewithher either.
The blight was all her fault. She was the reason for the rot in Wingspan Green and the fallen cherry tree downtown and the wreck that had become the Feldspar farm’s crops. Her intentions had been good, but her own ignorance had caused harm.
Despair crashed into Violet like a wave at highest tide, when all three moons were full in the sky. No matter what she did, what she told herself, where she ran, she would always be a villain. The Thornwitch would never leave her.
And now, if Sedgwick successfully brought Shadowfade back, she’d have no choice. If Guy didn’t kill her for what she’d done to him, he’d force her back into service, especially now that Sedgwick knew she could be extorted. All it would take would be a threat against one of her friends here in Dragon’s Rest, and Violet knew she’d be helpless.
He had the Eye of the Serpent. He had the spell. Nathaniel needed time, but the clock had run out: every moment she stayed here moping was another moment Sedgwick had to prepare.
Perhaps it was a futile endeavor, but Violet’s life was over. She would never be Violet Thistlewaite, the florist, ever again. Rough Around the Hedges was done. Nathaniel would tell everyone else, and she would be finished.
A clattering at the door drew her head up hopefully, but of course Nathaniel wouldn’t have returned. Of course he wouldn’t want to talk this out. No, it was a letter in the mail slot, fluttering to the floor.
Violet approached it with shaking hands, knowing there was only one piece of post she was waiting on, and there it was, a seal marked with forked lightning and a sword—Karina the Tempest.
The missive was short:
You cannot keep calling me like a dog.
You’ve done this before.
You can do it again.
Be good, and don’t make me regret this.
—K
That was it, then. The Tempest wouldn’t come to help.
Violet shut her eyes and clenched the letter in a tight fist. She had nothing to stay for and no one to help her. There would be nohero coming to save them. No knight in bright armor with a team of laughing, glorious companions riding to victory.
And Violet? She was the Thornwitch, dammit, a villain proper. A monster.
But she was powerful. And determined. And heartbroken and angry, and protective as hell over the people she’d come to love. The Tempest was right—she’d done this before. She’d killed Shadowfade, and she could very well be the one to make sure he stayed dead.
Whether they loved her back or hated her for existing, she would help the people of Dragon’s Rest. The people of herhome.
Like it or not, she was all they had.
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“Violet is the Thornwitch,” Nathaniel said miserably as he burst through the door of the town meeting, scrubbing a hand through the mess of his hair. His neighbors and friends stared at him in shock, eyes wide and jaws slack. “She’s behind the blight. I—”
“Hold on now,” said Quinn, putting her hands up. “Start over.”
Nathaniel sighed, feeling completely drained, and leaned against the wall of the inn, closing his eyes as he explained to them what had happened. He could still see her, holes in her shirt, covered in thorns, that unearthly glow in her eyes when she’d first regained consciousness.
“She came here after his death, trying to hide,” he said on a sigh, “and she played us all for fools.”She certainly played me for a fool anyway.
The collected residents of Dragon’s Rest were silent long enough that Nathaniel had to open his eyes to be certain they were all still there.
“You idiot,” said Pru softly, Daisy curled up in her lap. “Nathaniel, go after her.”
He reeled. Of all the reactions he’d been expecting, this wasn’t one of them. “Excuse me?”
