Page 214 of The Sin Binder's Chains

I remember walking into a room once, just to find Caspian standing there, shirt torn, looking wrecked and radiant and hollow at the same time. She was behind him, fingers tangled in his hair like she owned him. Her eyes landed on me, and she smiled.

That smile was worse than a wound. Because she knew what she was doing. She made us all feel it. Her power. Her pleasure. And she used it to undermine us. Every decision, every battle plan, every argument, we were off-kilter, distracted, tainted.

Even Ambrose, calm, righteous, unreachable, looked at Caspian like he didn’t recognize him anymore. Like whatever piece of Caspian belonged to the rest of us had been carved out and offered to her on a platter.

And she loved it. She craved that power. The power to divide. To control. To devour.

Caspian tried to leave her once.

She laughed.

Said the bond wasn’t something you could walk away from.

And for a while, it wasn’t.

Not until the rest of us snapped, one by one, fraying at the edges until it wasn’t about love or loyalty or anything human anymore.

It was about survival.

And now she’s returned.

With Caspian gone.

Taken.

Again.

And if she still has him, if she’s still feeding off him, we’re already behind.

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