Page 188 of The Sin Binder's Chains

“Think she can do it?” I ask.

Lucien doesn’t stop walking. “Do what?”

“Survive it.”

He exhales through his nose, dark and thoughtful. “She already did.”

I frown. “You think this was survival?”

“I think,” he says, finally looking at me, “Severin thinks he can resist her. And he can’t. None of them can.”

“Even Dorian?”

“Especially Dorian,” Lucien says. “He’s already too close to the edge. She’ll pull him without trying.”

“And Soren?”

Lucien laughs, grim and low. “Soren’s already unraveling. You saw that. She called him out and he didn’t even blink. That’s not Soren. That’s influence. He’ll snap.”

“Then what?” I ask. “What happens when she has all of them? When she’s bound them, or whatever the hell comes before that?”

“She won’t bind them like Luna.”

“Yeah?” I snap. “And what the fuck does that mean?”

Lucien shrugs. “It means she’s not binding them for power. She’s not even binding them to balance. She’s binding them because it’s hers. That hunger. That quiet rage. It belongs to her. And they’ll follow it until it devours them.”

The Hollow comes into view just past the rise, spires of carved rock like skeletal hands reaching up from the earth. Orin’s still seated where we left him, eyes closed, like he’s listening to the world breathe.

Silas is pacing. Shirtless. Again.

Lucien groans under his breath. “Please tell me he’s not shirtless again.”

“Worse,” I say. “He’s pacing like he has something poetic to say.”

Lucien sighs. “Gods help us all.”

We find her where I knew she’d be. Not pacing. Not asking. Just waiting. Sitting near the black-rooted ash tree with her knees pulled up, hair knotted like she stopped caring what it looked like hours ago. Her hands are still. Too still. That’s how I know she hasn’t moved since we left.

Luna doesn’t look at us at first. Just lifts her head slightly like she’s listening to something none of us can hear. She probably is.

Lucien steps forward before I can. “She’ll be fine.”

Luna turns her head. Sharp. Not hopeful. Just ready to know.

“She stood her ground,” he adds. “Told Severin to feed her and get out of her way.”

Luna’s brows lift just enough to matter. “She said that?”

Lucien smirks. “Word for word.”

She exhales. It’s not relief. Not yet. Just the pause before her worry shifts into something sharper.

“She told Soren to stay the fuck away from her too,” I add, because I want her to know. Not everything. Just that her sister’s not folding. Not yet.

Luna blinks slowly. “And he listened?”

I shrug. “Didn’t have a choice. She dressed him down so hard, I think he’s still trying to figure out where his balls went.”

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