Page 2 of The Sin Binder's Chains

Elias falls into step behind me, the whisper-soft drag of his movement barely audible over the steady beat of my boots. “You realize he’s going to make you regret that, right?” His voice is smooth, that lazy slur of his that always makes it sound like he’s half-asleep, except I know better. Elias is always listening. Always aware.

“I regret a lot of things,” I murmur, scanning the halls ahead, searching for the sharp silhouette of Lucien’s retreating form. “Pissing off Lucien is nowhere near the top of the list.”

Elias hums. “And yet, you make it a hobby.”

“I like my hobbies.”

He exhales, something that’s almost a laugh but not quite. “I’ll make sure your gravestone says that.”

I flick him a look over my shoulder. “That’s morbid.”

“Accurate, though.”

I don’t argue, because if I don’t survive this, there won’t be enough of me left for a gravestone.

The halls stretch wider as we reach the main archway leading to the outer courtyard. The doors ahead are massive, carved from black ironwood, sigils etched deep into the surface, humming with embedded wards. Even from here, I can feel them, woven into the grain, soaked into the metal reinforcements. This place wasn’t just built to keep people out.

It was built to keep something in.

Elias steps ahead of me, pressing a palm to the heavy doors. The sigils flicker in response, the magic shifting beneath his touch, recognizing him. The locks disengage with a deep, grating thud.

“I still don’t know why we’re listening to him,” he mutters, shoving one of the doors open with a casual strength that shouldn’t be possible. The courtyard beyond is empty, the cobblestones slick with recent rain, the sky overhead a churning mass of cloud and moonlight. “This whole ‘charge in blind’ plan feels incredibly stupid.”

“Since when do you care about smart decisions?” I step past him, out into the courtyard, the crisp bite of night air settling against my skin.

“I don’t.” He shoves his hands into his pockets, following. “I just think if we’re all going to die horribly, we should at least make it interesting.”

I snort. “What, you want a dramatic sendoff? Maybe some fireworks?”

Elias grins, slow and wicked. “If I’m going out, I want an audience.”

I shake my head, dragging my gaze across the courtyard. The academy behind us, a massive silhouette against the restless sky, but it’s not what holds my attention. Lucien is waiting nearthe outer gates, his posture rigid, his focus locked on the path beyond.

He doesn’t acknowledge us as we approach. Doesn’t turn as I stop beside him, the iron bars of the gates stretching high above us, cold and unforgiving.

“What’s the plan?” I ask.

Lucien exhales, still staring ahead. “We move fast. We don’t make mistakes.”

I lift a brow. “That’s it?”

He finally looks at me, and whatever he sees in my expression makes something in him shift. Not soften, Lucien doesn’t soften. But there’s a flicker of something like restraint. A pull at the edges of him.

“We don’t have time for careful,” he says, voice quiet but firm. “Silas and Riven have already been gone too long.”

I swallow, something twisting low in my gut. “Do we even know if they’re still alive?”

Lucien’s jaw tightens. “They are.”

I don’t ask how he knows. Because I feel it too, the thread in my chest, stretched tight, fraying, but not broken.

Elias shifts beside me, stretching his arms overhead with a lazy roll of his shoulders. “So, when you say fast, are we talking ‘discreet and efficient’ fast or ‘cause a scene and see who we piss off’ fast?”

Lucien doesn’t even blink. “We get in. We get them. We leave.”

Elias grins. “Oh, so option one. Boring.”

Lucien turns, pressing a hand to the iron gates, and they groan open on silent hinges, revealing the path beyond, the dark stretch of road that leads away from the academy, into the unknown.

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