Page 97 of The Sin Binder's Chains

Orin, beside me, exhales deeply, the kind of exhale that says we are all better than this, but unfortunately, this is our reality now.

Elias, however, Elias loses it.

"You absolute fucking legend," he wheezes, doubling over, hands on his knees. "That’s, you are, holy shit."

Silas, without missing a beat, lifts a bloody hand from Malachi’s collar and winks.

I take great pleasure in stepping in front of her, cutting off whatever ridiculous urge she has to intervene.

"Lucien- " she starts.

"He’s fine," I say, completely unbothered. "He doesn’t need saving."

"I wasn’t going to- "

"You were."

"I was going to check on him."

I tilt my head toward Silas, who has just stomped on Malachi’s ribs with an unnecessary amount of flair.

Luna presses her fingers to her temples. "He was just imprisoned."

"And now he’s working through his feelings."

She glares. "By making it everyone else’s problem?"

"Of course."

A beat.

"Fine," she mutters. "But if he starts monologuing, I’m stepping in."

I sigh. "Fair."

Severin is fuming. Which, frankly, makes this even better. Because he just lost. And the longer he stands there, the more he has to accept it.

Another body hits the ground. Riven. Unlike Silas, he doesn’t land with the weight of someone eager to be in a fight. He doesn’t rise immediately, doesn’t grin through the blood in his mouth. He’s slow. Unsteady. Barely able to stand as he pushes himself up.

His body isn’t just bruised, it’s wrecked. Torn at the edges, split open in ways that tell me whatever happened to him in that fortress, it wasn’t meant to break his body. It was meant to break him. And I know, that if I don’t let her go right now, Luna will kill me where I stand.

So I let her go. And she’s on him before I can even blink. Not delicate. Not cautious. Just there. Her hands on his face, his jaw, gripping his wrists like she’s holding him together.

Like she’s afraid that if she doesn’t, He might fall apart. Riven tenses. Doesn’t lean in. Doesn’t push her away. Just stands there, breathing through it, letting her touch him.

And Severin. I can feel his rage simmering, feel the way it coils inside him as he watches her walk with Riven. He might have had Riven under his control for a while.

But Riven was never his. Not really. Not the way he is hers. And in this moment, with Severin standing there, seething, and Luna gripping Riven like she might carve vengeance from his bones, I know exactly what we’ve done. We haven’t just taken back what’s ours. We’ve declared war.

Severin exhales slowly, dragging his gaze from Riven to me, sharp and assessing, but it doesn’t matter.

I already know what he’s going to say before the words even leave his mouth.

"You think this is over?"

I tip my head, a mockery of consideration. "No," I murmur. "I think you know exactly what’s coming next."

His jaw tightens. "You’re not leaving here with her."

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