Page 114
Story: The Sin Binder's Descent
“Tough night, Dalmar?” My voice cuts through the stillness, too loud on purpose.
He doesn’t move. Doesn’t even look up. I push off the frame and cross the space, slow and deliberate, letting my footsteps echo sharp against the concrete. He doesn’t react, not until I stop beside him, close enough to see the tension in his jaw, the storm barely stitched together beneath his skin.
“You gonna sulk forever, or can we skip to the part where you admit you’re pissed because you care?”
That earns me a look. Sharp. Dangerous. All the things Ambrose thinks keeps people out, when really—it’s just another invitation.
His mouth twists, not quite a smile, not quite a snarl. “I don’t need a lecture from you, Veyd.”
I grin, wide and reckless. “You’re getting one anyway.”
I lean my hip against the bench, turning to face him fully, arms crossed like I’m ready to start something I won’t finish.
“You think you’re the only one who didn’t want this?” I gesture vaguely at the space between us, the house, the Academy, the mess we’ve crawled out of night after night. “Newsflash, Ambrose. None of us wanted it. We didn’t want to be bound. We didn’t want to care. And then Luna walked in and ruined everything.”
He laughs, low and bitter, a sound like gravel under boots. “She didn’t ruin me.”
“You’re standing here in an empty garage like you’re trying to remember how to breathe. She ruined you.”
He drags a hand through his hair, fingers curling into the back of his neck like he could hold himself together with nothing but pressure.
“You’re pissed,” I continue, voice quieter now, cutting sharp and clean. “Because it wasn’t supposed to happen to you.”
He doesn’t deny it.
I watch him for a second longer, then push away from the bench, closing the space until I’m right in front of him, close enough he can’t look anywhere else but at me.
“I was you once, you know,” I murmur, voice soft like a knife slipping between ribs. “I spent centuries refusing to be bound. Refusing to let anyone close enough to matter. Then Luna showed up, and I fought it, and I lost.”
I shrug, careless and sharp. “Best thing I ever did.”
His gaze flicks to mine, something jagged and quiet lurking in it.
“She’s not a prison,” I say, softer now. “She’s the fucking key.”
Ambrose’s throat works, like he wants to argue, wants to spit something cruel, but the words never come.
He just breathes. Tight. Shallow. Like he hasn’t figured out how to survive this yet.
I lean back, giving him a little space, but not enough to let him run.
“You don’t have to want it,” I say. “But you’re bound now. And the sooner you stop fighting her, the sooner you’ll figure out you were never losing.”
Ambrose is still pretending he can breathe without choking on it.
I watch him—the way his jaw flexes, the faint tremor at the corner of his mouth like he’s holding his teeth together just to keep from cracking down the middle. He’s braced against the workbench like it’ll hold him upright when we both know it won’t.
He’s bound now. And the only thing holding him together is the lie he keeps whispering to himself.
I sigh like this is exhausting—which, honestly, it is—and dig into the pocket of my hoodie, fingers brushing lint, a crumpled receipt, and finally, the joint I’ve been saving for when shit really hit the fan.
This qualifies.
There’s a little fuzz stuck to the end, but it’s mostly intact. I fish it out, roll it between my fingers, and glance sideways at him.
“You know how this works, right?” My voice cuts through the space, sharper now, the smirk gone. “You can’t force a bond.”
Ambrose doesn’t look at me, but his jaw tightens just enough to tell me he’s listening.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114 (Reading here)
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192