Page 48 of The Sin Binder's Chains

"Never."

That gets her.

She blinks, something shifting in her expression. "Silas has never bonded to a Sin Binder?"

"Not once."

She’s quiet for a moment, considering that.

Then she speaks, slower now. "And why never all of you?"

It’s a fair question. A smart one. And it demands an answer I don’t quite have.

"There’s no rule," I say eventually. "No law written in the Void that says we can’t. It’s… instinct, mostly. The bond is primal, drawn to what balances us, strengthens us. Sometimes that’s one of us. Sometimes it’s more. Sometimes- "

I hesitate.

Luna doesn’t let me stop.

"Sometimes it’s none of you."

It’s not a question.

I nod. "Sometimes, yes."

Her lips press together, her fingers curling against Elias’s side like she’s testing something.

And then, quietly, like she doesn’t want me to hear it.

"But not with me."

The words land, threading something thick and undeniable into the moment. Because she’s right. Not with her. Never with her.

I say nothing, but I see the way she registers my silence. The way her fingers twitch. The way she breathes in, slow and sharp, like she’s tasting something she hasn’t yet named.

Elias, bless his tragic existence, chooses that moment to speak.

"So, uh. Just to clarify. Caspian is the town whore, and Silas is the tragic virgin?"

Luna smirks. And just like that, the moment breaks.

I shouldn’t be the one having this conversation with her.

Orin would have been better suited, patient, methodical, able to sift through the weight of what she’s asking without letting it become a burden. But she isn’t asking him.

She’s asking me.

And worse?

She’s expecting an answer.

I watch her carefully, the way she sits straight-backed on Elias’s horse, her hands resting lightly at his sides. But there’s nothing light about the way she waits, the way her words linger in the air between us, curling, twisting, biting.

"Why even bother?"

She had asked it so simply, as if it were nothing more than idle curiosity. But I know better.

She’s testing something.

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