Page 139 of The Sin Binder's Chains

Silas

Elias shifts beside me, not even looking up from whatever he’s lazily toying with in his fingers, probably a knife, stolen from someone he’s already annoyed today. "You know she’s hunting you, right?" he mutters, voice thick with amusement.

I scoff, pretending not to feel the sharp heat of her gaze still pinning me from across the space. "Hunting is a strong word."

"Really? Because it looks like she’s planning how best to skin you alive."

I risk a glance, a mistake.

Luna’s standing there, arms crossed, weight shifted in that way that says you’re not getting out of this. Her dark eyes meet mine, and then, fuck, she tilts her head, just a little, jerking it toward the tree line.

The universal sign for: Come with me.

I look at Elias. I look back at her.

And then I do the only thing a reasonable man would do in this situation.

I step behind Elias like the fucking coward I am.

Elias chokes on a laugh, turning his head just enough to stare at me. "Wow. And here I thought you were fearless."

"I am fearless," I whisper-hiss. "I just, have other priorities right now."

"Like what?"

"Like, like, I don’t know. Not dying?"

Elias grins, eyes dancing with dark amusement. "You’re not gonna die, Silas. She just wants to talk."

"Exactly."

He whistles, shaking his head. "Oh, you’re so fucked."

I peek around Elias’s shoulder, hoping, praying, that maybe Luna lost interest, that maybe she got distracted by something far more interesting, like, say, an apocalypse.

No such luck.

She’s still standing there, still watching me, still waiting.

She knows.

Of course, she knows. I felt it the second I slipped up, the second she felt what I felt, what I wasn’t supposed to let her feel. It had been too much, that surge of warmth, that overwhelming adoration that I spent most of my existence stuffing down beneath jokes and distractions and outright denial. But for just a second, that bond between us cracked open, and I know she felt it.

And now she wants to talk about it.

And I, do not.

Elias sighs, shaking his head. "Just go, man. You’re making this worse."

"Nope."

"She’s just gonna chase you down later, and we both know you can’t outrun her."

"Not if I run fast enough."

Elias laughs. "She’s a Sin-Binder, dumbass. You’re bound to her. She can track you wherever you go."

I grimace. "Technicalities."

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