Bound and Tide (Villains & Virtues)

by A.K. Caggiano

“But, darling dearest, I’m to become a martyr for the gods on the morrow!” “You said you don’t know any of the details about this so-called prophecy you’re following.” “Well, no, but one can imagine.” He scrunched his nose. “Though one wishes not to. One wishes, instead, to pretend to have been thrust into the role of selfless savior, be treated like the foolish hero one is, and have one’s cock milked.”

“I promised you I wouldn’t leave you alone.” She did, but…she’d meant that? For how long, he wanted to ask, and what if he lost his arcana? Grew weak? Feeble? Old? What if his wit dimmed, or his good looks faded, or his charm—well, no, surely that would always stick around, but what if…what if he disappointed her?

already eager for whatever she was cooking up. “Do you think you could give me one of these for, say, an hour?” He turned to her fully. “And what in the Abyss would you do with that?” Red pouted. “Well, you, of course.” “Basest beasts, I never thought you’d offer.”

Love made one wild and free but safe and sincere too, and it overcame birth and duty and even hopelessness because, in the end, it was the most transcendent of virtues, and even a villain understood that.

I’ve prepared myself to let it go, and I’m happy that I can wrap a bow around it and call it complete, but it’s been a companion of sorts, and to see it finished is a little like another loss, a home moved away from, a body not working quite right, ashes in an urn. But then I remember that any future day could be someone’s first day picking up these books, and I know I never really have to say goodbye because books never die, not when someone’s reading them. And that’s because of you, Dear Reader, so thank you.