Page 29 of The Sin Binder’s Chains (The Seven Sins Academy #2)

I lean back, stretching out my arms, my gaze flicking between them.

Luna. My bond. The one person in the entire world I could never let go of, even if she never felt the weight of it like I did.

And Layla. The wild card, the unexpected storm, the only other person here who could match Luna’s sharp tongue and make her laugh.

I study them for a moment, the smallest hint of something warm curling in my ribs.

Then I smirk, slouching deeper against Luna’s side.

“So, anyway,” I say, casually draping an arm across the back of the rock. “You two wanna talk about my many admirable qualities? Or should we get into my stunning good looks first?”

Luna groans. Layla cackles. I win.

I’ve been without her for weeks.

Weeks of fighting, of bleeding, of clawing my way through the rotting abyss of Severin’s hellhole with nothing but the bond’s dull pull in my ribs to remind me she was still out there. Weeks of waiting, of knowing she was beyond my reach, of aching for something I couldn’t have.

And now she’s here.

Close enough to touch. Close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from her skin, close enough that if I just leaned in, gods, if I just took what I wanted.

But we’re not alone. And I can’t go feral on her. Which is so unfortunate, because Land Above, I want to go feral on her.

My grand, well-thought-out plan of scooping her up in my arms and spinning her around like some devastatingly romantic, entirely insufferable menace didn’t quite pan out. And honestly? It’s probably for the best. Because if I got my hands on her, I don’t know if I’d have let go.

Instead, I sit next to her, watching the fire flicker over the sharp planes of her face, and pretending, just barely, that I’m not losing my mind over the fact that she’s right fucking there.

She hasn’t touched me since she wrecked my entire existence earlier. Not even a brush of fingers, not even some casual torment just to make me suffer. But she hasn’t left either.

And that’s the thing.

Maybe it’s just hope, but I think, I think, she missed me too.

I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. She’s focused on something across the camp, but I see the way her jaw tightens, the way her fingers curl slightly, the way she knows I’m watching her.

I lean in a little, just enough to test her, just enough to see if she’ll turn.

And then, A thump lands between us. A stick.

I blink.

Luna and I both look down at it. Then up.

Elias is standing there, arms crossed, staring at me like I’ve personally offended him in ways he cannot verbalize.

I raise a brow. “Uh.”

Elias clears his throat, expression dead serious. “Since you’re a dog now, I figured you’d want something to chew on.”

Layla chokes on her drink.

Luna snorts, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

I squint at him. “What?”

Elias gestures vaguely. “You’re over here vibrating with suppressed animal urges, so I figured I’d help.”

I exhale slowly, dragging my hand down my face. “Elias.”

He nods, solemn. “Yes, my beautiful, lovesick disaster?”

Luna laughs under her breath, and I swear to the gods above, I almost ascend out of my body.

Elias smirks. “Oh, sorry, am I interrupting your little staring contest of longing and unspoken need?”

Luna hums, still watching the fire. “You should let him have this one, Silas.”

I gape at her. “Et tu, Evernight?”

She shrugs, but I see the curve of a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Elias sighs dramatically, sitting across from us, kicking a boot out like he’s settling in for the entertainment of a lifetime. “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s endearing.”

I rub my temples. “I’m not embarrassed.”

Elias tilts his head. “You should be.”

I grab the stupid stick off the ground and chuck it at him.

He catches it, twirls it between his fingers, then smirks. “Good boy.”

Luna full-on laughs.

I don’t know what I was expecting. Luna doesn’t hand out softness like candy. She’s sharp edges and deadly intent, a walking storm wrapped in a body that shouldn’t be this devastating.

But when she leans into me, just enough for her shoulder to brush mine, just enough to make my brain short-circuit entirely, it’s not to bite back, not to roll her eyes, not to tell me I’m the worst thing to ever happen to her in this gods-forsaken void.

She leans in, tips her head just slightly, and smiles.

Not her usual smirk, not the sharp, taunting grin she throws my way when she knows she’s won.

"I did miss you, you know."

Like it’s nothing. Like it’s casual. Like she hasn’t just altered my entire molecular structure.

I don’t breathe. I don’t move. I am fully deceased.

Her smirk flickers back into place, slow and wicked, like she’s enjoying the way my entire existence just unraveled at her feet.

I force myself to blink, to function, to recover from whatever fucking black magic she just worked on me.

“You know,” I murmur, dragging my fingers along the back of the rock behind us, getting just a little closer, just enough to make it dangerous, “you say something like that, Luna, and a lesser man might think you like me.”

She hums, unbothered, still smiling like she knows exactly what she’s doing to me. “Good thing you’re not a lesser man, then.”

Oh, fuck.

I grin wider because I refuse to lose this round. “Careful, Evernight. Keep talking like that, and I might think you’re flirting with me.”

Her brows lift. “And?”

“And?” I lean in, voice dropping low. “That would be dangerous.”

She tilts her head, studying me, dark eyes gleaming with amusement. “For whom?”

Oh, I am so in love with this woman, it’s disgusting.

I grin, lazy, easy, like I’m not dying inside. “For you, obviously. I’m devastating when I flirt back.”

Her smirk deepens. “Devastating?”

“Life-changing.”

Luna exhales a soft laugh, the kind that sends something molten curling through my chest, the kind that makes me want to press my mouth to hers just to see if I can steal the sound for myself.

She shakes her head, that goddamn smile still in place. “You’re the worst.”

I press a hand to my heart. “And yet, here you are. Leaning into me. Smiling at me. Admitting you missed me.”

Her lips press together like she’s fighting a laugh. “Regretting it already.”

I smirk. “No, you’re not.”

She sighs, dramatic, exasperated, but she doesn’t move away. And gods help me, I know exactly what that means.