Page 34 of The Sin Binder's Chains

I roll my eyes, standing up and dusting myself off. “I’ll consider it if you ever touch me in my sleep again.”

Elias lifts his head just enough to smirk at me. And despite himself, despite how wrecked and unhinged and deeply mortified he looks, he has the nerve to waggle his brows.

“…Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Sin-Binder.”

Panic slams into me like a physical force.

My chest tightens, my skin burns, and for a second, I swear I can still feel it, Riven’s pain tearing through me, fire scorching across my back, my stomach, everywhere.

I sit up so fast that Elias yelps, nearly toppling over from where he’s still sitting next to me.

“Shit,” he mutters, steadying himself. “Good morning to you too, Sunshine.”

I barely hear him.

My heart is hammering against my ribs, my breath uneven as I press a hand to my chest, expecting to feel the phantom wounds still there. But… nothing.

The pain is gone. Mostly. There’s still a dull weight pressing down on my sternum, but it’s manageable, nothing like before, when it felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside out.

Lucien watches me carefully from his spot near the fire, his sharp gaze assessing, calculating every flicker of movement.

“How do you feel?” he asks, his voice even, controlled.

I inhale slowly, testing the ache in my chest, rolling my shoulders.

“…Better.”

Lucien nods like he expected that answer. “Riven may have helped on his end.”

I snap my gaze to him. “Helped?” My throat is dry. “You’re saying he, what? Muted it?”

Lucien exhales, stretching his legs out in front of him. “More likely, he redirected the pain elsewhere. If he’s aware of what it was doing to you, he would have forced his body to endure it on his own.”

A slow, sick feeling curls in my stomach. Because I know Riven. And I know he would take every ounce of it if it meant shielding me from it.

My fingers clench against my thigh. “That’s not, he shouldn’t have to. ”

“He shouldn’t,” Lucien agrees easily. “But he will. Every single time.” He tilts his head slightly. “Which is why you need to learn how to cut it off yourself.”

I look at him, inhaling sharply. “Cut it off?”

Lucien nods once. “Not the bond itself. Just the pain.”

Elias clears his throat, still looking extremely uncomfortable about the whole thing. “I mean, yeah,” he says, shifting awkwardly. “It’s kind of a problem that you, uh…feel everything your bonded Sins feel. Like, not to be rude, but if one of us gets impaled on something, which, honestly, probability-wise, seems very likely, you’d just drop dead on the spot. Which, for the record, would be extremely inconvenient for all of us.”

I glare at him. “Wow. What a heartfelt concern.”

Elias puts a hand on his chest, mock-offended. “I care, Luna.” A beat. “Mostly about my own well-being, but like, you matter too, I guess.”

Lucien sighs heavily, rubbing his temple. “You are unbelievable.”

Elias grins. “Thank you.”

I exhale sharply, shaking my head. “Okay, focus.” My gaze locks onto Lucien. “How do I do it?”

Lucien studies me for a long moment. “You find the thread in the bond that carries the pain,” he says slowly. “And you sever your connection to it.”

I stare at him.

---