Page 28 of The Sin Binder’s Chains (The Seven Sins Academy #2)

I am a fucking legend. Calm. Cool. Collected. A vision of effortless swagger, an icon of unshakable composure. The epitome of a man who is definitely not completely, irreversibly, and catastrophically obsessed with Luna Evernight.

Nope. Not me. Not anymore.

I’ve done it. Mastered myself. Evolved past my primal, hormone-driven need to make a complete embarrassment out of myself every time she breathes near me. I have ascended.

And then.

Then. She rubs her hand up my arm.

My fucking arm.

Not in a passing, absent-minded way. Not in a casual, meaningless way. No, she drags her fingers up my forearm, slow and deliberate, like she’s testing the shape of me, like she’s making some kind of goddamn study out of my skin.

I die instantly.

Brain? Gone. Body? Useless. Soul? Fucking obliterated.

I don’t move. I can’t move, because every single neuron in my body has short-circuited in real-time, and all I can do is stand here, malfunctioning, while she keeps touching me like this is some kind of normal interaction.

And then.

Oh, gods, she leans in just a little, tilting her head, her lips curving like she knows exactly what she’s doing to me, like she’s enjoying this, like she’s…

I make a noise.

A noise. Not a cool, detached chuckle. Not an easy, unaffected exhale. No. It’s worse. It’s so much worse. Some godforsaken, half-strangled, breathy thing that escapes me before I can lock my shit down, Luna stops.

Oh, no.

She blinks up at me, head tilting slightly. “Did you just-”

“No.” Immediate. Loud. Absolutely not.

Her lips part, and I see it, the realization, the dawning horror of what just happened, the shift from innocent curiosity to vicious, soul-ending amusement, and fuck me.

She smirks.

I am going to die.

She drags her fingers down this time, featherlight, like she’s testing a theory, and I swear to every god in existence, I do not whimper.

I don’t.

I do not fucking whimper.

But she grins like I did. Like I just signed my death warrant, and oh no, she’s enjoying this too much, she’s about to-

“So…” Her voice is way too soft, way too pleased with itself. “I make you nervous?”

I scoff. I scoff. Like a man in charge of his destiny, like a man not currently on the verge of catastrophic system failure.

“Nervous?” I repeat, slouching back, doing my best to look like I have not, in fact, just experienced the single most devastating touch of my entire life. “Please, sweetheart, you don’t intimidate me.”

Her smirk deepens. “No?”

“Nope.”

She trails her fingers back up.

I black out. Just for a second. Just long enough for every single one of my survival instincts to self-destruct in real time.

Her nails scrape, just barely, just enough, and I swear, swear, I almost sway into it.

She leans in. “You sure?”

I make the absolute worst mistake of my entire existence.

I meet her eyes.

Fuck. Because they’re right there, inches from mine, dark and amused, wicked and knowing, her mouth curved just slightly, the tip of her tongue darting out to lick her lips.

Oh, I am in so much fucking trouble.

I grin. Because I have nothing left. No pride. No self-preservation. No ability to not dig my grave deeper.

“Oh, Evernight,” I murmur, dropping my voice into something low, something dangerous, something that absolutely betrays the fact that I am on the verge of ruin.

Her brows lift, just slightly.

I lean down, just enough to make it worse. “I think you like making me suffer.”

She exhales a soft laugh, tilting her chin up. “What gave it away?”

I smirk because I refuse to lose this round.

I tap my temple. “It’s the deep, deep emotional damage. Really helps a guy figure things out.”

She bites her lip. Not in the cute way. Not in the way that suggests she’s nervous, or shy, or even remotely trying to hide whatever monstrous thing she’s thinking right now.

No.

She bites it like she’s tempted. Like she’s hungry.

For me.

And fuck me, I feel my knees buckle for half a second.

Luna tilts her head. “You’re thinking hard about something right now.”

I hum, casually. Totally fine. Not completely losing my shit at all. “Just wondering if I should kiss you or let you keep playing your little game.”

Her brows lift, her smirk deepening. “Oh?”

I nod solemnly. “Yeah. Tough choice.”

She exhales, like this is all so effortless for her, like she’s just toying with me at this point. Then she leans up, just enough for her breath to brush my jaw, and I fucking brace myself because she is about to ruin me.

“You wouldn’t last five seconds with me, Veyd.”

And then, she’s gone.

She walks away. Like she didn’t just dismantle my entire existence. Like I’m not standing here, jaw slack, brain fried, dick hard, and soul fully fucking wrecked. Like she didn’t just win.

I blink. Blink.

Then I spin, watching her saunter away, and fuck her, fuck her for that little sway in her hips, for the way she knows exactly what she’s doing, for the way she just dropped a bomb on my entire life and left me to deal with the fallout.

Elias strolls up beside me, claps a hand on my shoulder.

“You okay there, champ?”

I do not look away from Luna’s retreating figure. “She’s going to kill me.”

Elias sighs, nodding solemnly. “Yeah, buddy. We all see it.”

I exhale, dragging a hand through my hair.

And then, because I am a fucking legend.

I grin.

“Worth it.” I smirk, stretching my arms over my head like I own the whole damn void. “Miss me, darling?”

Elias hums, pretending to think it over, tilting his head just enough for his silver hair to catch the dim, unnatural light of the Hollow. “Mmm. Yeah. I think I am glad you’re back.”

I blink. Stare at him for a second. “Aww, Elias. ”

“Because,” he continues, before I can get too sentimental about it, “you take all the attention away from me with your absolute cringefest with Luna.”

Betrayal.

Pure, gut-wrenching betrayal.

I place a hand over my heart, reeling. “I thought that was a genuine moment. I thought we were having a heartfelt reunion- ”

Elias grins, slinging an arm over my shoulder. “Nope. Just sick of being the most embarrassing one here.”

I scoff. “Please. No one has ever, in the history of existence, thought you were more embarrassing than me.”

He squeezes my shoulder. “Exactly.”

I exhale, shaking my head. “You wound me, truly. And here I was, thinking you missed me.”

Elias shrugs. “Oh, I did. It was so peaceful while you were gone. No one calling Luna ‘angel face’ in the middle of a literal battle, no one winking at her when she’s seconds away from gutting them. ”

“That happened one time. ”

Elias ignores me. “And, best of all, no one makes terrible, gods-forsaken pickup lines every time she so much as breathes in their direction.”

I sigh dramatically. “So you admit you were bored without me.”

“Absolutely not.”

“It’s okay, Elias.” I pat his arm. “It’s safe to have feelings.”

Elias mutters something about suffering, but he doesn’t push me off. Which means he loves me, actually.

Across the camp, Luna is sitting by the fire, pretending she isn’t listening to every word.

I watch her for a second. The flicker of the firelight catching in her dark eyes. The slight, knowing smirk at the corner of her mouth. The way she knows, knows I see her, but doesn’t look at me, like she’s waiting for me to come to her.

Elias follows my gaze, sighs. “Oh no. You’re gonna say something dumb, aren’t you?”

I grin. “Always.”

And before he can stop me, I turn and head straight for her.

Luna looks up at me first, eyes dark with knowing, already tired of whatever I’m about to say before I even open my mouth.

Layla, sitting beside her, tilts her head back, taking me in with the slow, measured calculation of a woman who has already decided I am, at best, a disaster in human form.

I shift my step into something looser, a little more obnoxiously confident, a saunter, if you will. Because if I’m going to be insufferable, I might as well commit.

Luna exhales. Not a cute little sigh, no, this one is deep, bone-weary, soul-shattering.

I’m so good at being exhausting.

I drop down beside her, sprawling just enough to invade her space. She doesn’t move away, but her fingers curl slightly, like she’s deciding whether or not to smack me.

I grin. “Miss me?”

Luna levels me with a look. “You’ve been here for hours, Silas.”

“Yes, but have you emotionally processed my return? Have you allowed yourself the full range of emotions that come with reuniting with the greatest ”

She holds up a hand. “Don’t finish that sentence.”

Layla, betrayal incarnate, leans her chin on her fist, watching us with way too much amusement. “No, please, I want to hear this.”

I beam at her. “Thank you, Layla. Finally, someone who appreciates me.”

Luna mutters something under her breath about tragedy and suffering, but I pretend not to hear it.

Layla waves a hand. “So? The greatest what?”

I tilt my head, considering. “The greatest mistake Luna has ever made?”

Luna exhales again, even heavier this time. “Correct.”

I clutch my chest. “Wounded.”

“You should be.”

Layla laughs, leaning back against the rock. “Gods, I see why Elias keeps you around. I thought he was the worst, but- ”

“Ah, ah, ah.” I wag a finger. “I’m a treasure. Elias just likes standing next to me because I make him look more responsible by comparison.”

Luna rubs at her temples, looking two seconds from committing a crime. “Silas.”

“Yes, angel face?”

“Don’t call me that.”

I smirk, shifting closer, dropping my voice into something low, teasing, undeniably fucking stupid. “What if I whispered it, very softly, into your ear?”

Luna turns her head so slowly, so methodically, that it’s terrifying.

I lift my brows, grinning.

She stares at me for a long beat. Then, finally, she exhales, leans back, and mutters, “I should have left you in the Rift.”

Layla wheezes.

I clasp my hands together. “Bold of you to assume you could live without me.”

Luna glares at the fire. “I could learn.”

Layla wipes at her eyes, still laughing. “You two are ridiculous.”