Page 90 of The Sin Binder's Chains

Lucien cuts her a glance. "Not yet."

"Not yet?" I gesture wildly at the impenetrable barrier. "Lucien, my love, my light, my least favorite person, we have been through hell to get here." I narrow my eyes. "Why, exactly, are we waiting?"

Lucien doesn’t answer immediately.

But when he does, his voice is calm. Too calm.

"Because we’re not the only ones who made it here."

Have you ever have one of those moments where your body registers Oh, that’s bad before your brain can catch up?

This is one of those moments.

Because as soon as Lucien says we’re not alone, I hear them.

The horses come first, wrong things, dead things, hooves that make no sound, breath that fogs the air too thickly, like they’re exhaling something heavier than air itself.

Then, the riders.

And I see him.

Orin.

I don’t know if I want to be relieved or very, very annoyed that he’s alive.

But that’s not what makes my stomach drop.

It’s the other rider.

The girl beside him.

Because she looks exactly like Luna.

Too much like her.

And the real Luna, our Luna, is already off her horse, already moving toward her before any of us can say a word.

"Luna, " Lucien starts, but it’s too late.

Luna is already running before I can process what the fuck I’m looking at.

Her boots barely hit the ground before she’s off, moving like the answer to a question she didn’t know she needed has finally been given to her.

And the girl, Same dark hair, same sharp features, same fucking presence, like the universe forgot it had already made one of her and thought, you know what would be fun? Another.

It’s wrong.

And it clicks somewhere in my slow, sleep-deprived, slightly concussed brain.

Another Luna. And Orin brought her.

Which means, Oh, fuck me.

I look at Lucien. And that smug bastard is smiling. He knew.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Layla?!" Luna’s voice cuts through the space between them, sharp, furious, too much all at once.

Layla doesn’t respond.

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