Page 14 of The Sin Binder's Vow

I glare at them both. Hard.

“Shut up.”

Elias raises his hands. “Just trying to lighten the demonic mood, brother.”

Luna doesn’t smile.

She’s still watching me. Still waiting. And she hasn’t said anything yet, but I feel the bond humming through my bones, restless and sharp.

“He asked me to tell you,” I continue, jaw tight, “not to come near him. Not to speak to him. Not to touch him. Not until we know what this place is doing to the bond.”

I see it then—the flicker behind her eyes. Hurt, buried fast. She doesn’t show it outright. Doesn’t make a scene. But the ache is there. And worse, theunderstanding.She gets it. That’s the part I hate.

“Can I help him?” she asks.

“No.”

It comes out harder than I mean it to, but I don’t take it back.

“Not this time,” I add, a little softer. “He doesn’t want to be saved.”

“Not by me,” she murmurs.

The words gut me.

I look away. Because I don’t know how to lie to her anymore. And I don’t know what it means that we’re all still pretending we don’t need her.

“I assume Orin too?” Luna asks, and her voice—gods, her voice—is too even.

Too measured. Which means she already knows the answer.

I exhale slowly, jaw tight, trying not to look at her too long. The bond’s been quiet, but not gone. Not since I stepped close. Not since she turned those eyes on me like she could rip open every part of me I’ve locked down.

“Yes,” I say.

Just that. No embellishment. No space to make it sound better.

Orin’s too still, even for him. He hasn’t spoken in the last few minutes, just watched the exchange with that unnerving calm of his, like he’s measuring something none of us can see. But I know Branwen has her claws in him too. He just hides it better. And maybe she’s not actively pulling on him the way she is with Lucien, but she’s there. Rooted in the cracks she left centuries ago.

“She wants Caspian,” I continue, voice low, clipped. “That much we know.”

Luna’s brows pull together. Not confusion. Calculation. She’s putting it together. Her mouth opens, but I speak first—because if she starts asking questions I can’t answer, I’ll snap.

“But with Lucien?” I grit the words like they’ve got thorns. “It’s fixation. Not lust. Not need.Fixation.She doesn’t just want himback. She wants himto choose her.Wants him to crawl on his fucking knees and ask for it.”

Luna flinches—barely. But I catch it.

And fuck, I shouldn’t have said that last part. I look away, but not fast enough.

She’s already watching me. Not judging. Not afraid.

Justseeing.

Gods, I hate that.

“She’s trying to tempt him,” I add, softer now. “Twisting the bond. Making him feel it. Making him think about what he gave up.”

“And Caspian?” she asks quietly. “What is she doing to him?”

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