I knew the plan. Esmay had repeated it over and over again. It was, in her words, flawless. With all of us split up, there was no way we couldn’t find him. Our “mortal enemy.” I smirked as I turned another corner in the dark passageway, thinking of what his face would look like when one of us caught him. Then we would lock him up, I supposed. Because he was evil. I told myself again and again. He’s evil. He’s evil. He’s evil. What do you do to evil people? Kiss them? Wait, no. You lock them up. I told myself that again a couple of times. I rounded another corner, my gun pointed up then came to a stop.

Rowan stood in the corner of the hallway, his own gun trained on me. I smirked and walked closer to him, lowering my gun and placing it against my hip.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said, his own gun lowering.

“Now, now, don’t sound so relieved. I’m here to collect you. And bring you to jail.”

“Oh, dear,” he said dramatically, taking another step closer to me. “Esmay’s worker, here to defeat me at last. My scheming must finally come to a stop.” He came closer, his breath mixing with mine.

“Yes, hands behind your back, villain.”

He instead grabbed my back, pulling our hips together and dropping his gun. I looked into his eyes and our lips drew closer.

“Villain,” I muttered as our noses touched. “I’m being captured by the villain.” I brought my lips to his.

This was wrong. And I knew it. But somehow I couldn’t stop. I knew what his plan was to dominate the kingdom - it was evil. Which is why I joined Esmay. To defeat him. To save countless lives.

Tomorrow, I told myself as our lips met, our breaths infusing together. Tomorrow, out in the battlefield, I would fight with Esmay against his army. But for now, I was happy in the arms of my supposed mortal enemy.

Scuffling. We both pulled away and froze. Someone was coming. I looked at Rowan and whispered “go” as Esmay came crashing around the corner, her gun held firm in her hands. I shoved him around the corner and he mouthed “sorry” before swiping his feet under me, sending me crashing to the floor.

I snatched the gun on the floor into my hands, hoping Esmay wouldn’t notice the one clipped to my hip. She ran forward and I watched her, torn between helping her friend and catching her enemy.

I faked a groan from the floor. “I’m sorry Esmay, I’m so sorry,” I said as I sat up, rubbing the back of my head for effect. “I couldn’t catch him, I tried-“

“It’s ok, it’s not your fault,” Esmay said, helping me up. But I saw the fury behind her eyes, the frustration at not being able to catch the villain.

Part of me felt bad. Rowan WAS evil and Esmay WAS my friend. I should help her catch him, for the good of the world. But at the same time, I thought of Rowan’s lips presssd against my own and sighed. Tomorrow, I told myself again. Tomorrow I would stop this madness.