Bound and Tide (Villains & Virtues)

by A.K. Caggiano

Gone fluffy and dull with time, the feather was no less comforting in Xander’s hand. Its stem was broken, and there was no magic in it, but he’d guarded it like it was a precious thing for at least a decade. It was one of a kind, after all, its mate destroyed in his attempt to enchant the pair. His attempt with Bloodthorne. They were in their early twenties and had called a truce. Birzuma had been imprisoned by Archibald a few years prior, and one of them had been hurt or lost or something else inconsequential—who could bloody remember—and together they came to the brilliant conclusion they should conspire on a spell. It all ended terribly, of course, because neither blood mage could be trusted, especially when they were so young and foolish. Damien ended up absconding with their only success: a pair of feathers that would allow the users to find one another over great distances—an early attempt at translocation. Xander wasn’t even really all that upset when he discovered Bloodthorne’s betrayal—he’d been planning on killing him when they were finished anyway. But when he found the feather they’d failed on first was all that was left behind, he had become…sentimental. Xander supposed then he always had been capable of love because if he’d ever loved anyone, it was Damien. The man was the closest thing he had to a brother even if Xander spoke to him much too salaciously for that—innuendo and come-ons were a good cover for true, too hard to admit feelings—and for all the tort...