Page 6 of The Sin Binder’s Chains (The Seven Sins Academy #2)

We set up camp in the ruins of something ancient.

The Hollow doesn’t have real shelter, just jagged remnants of what once existed before this place was carved out of reality.

The land stretches into the void, broken pillars jutting from the ground like shattered bones, blackened stone that hums with something long-dead.

It doesn’t matter. It will have to be enough.

Elias and I work in silence, but I can feel his unease, sharp as a blade. He’s done everything he can, burned through his energy trying to keep her body from thrashing, tried to soothe whatever storm is tearing through her mind, but it isn’t enough.

It’s not even close.

Luna still shudders in her sleep, her breath shallow, uneven. Every few minutes, another wave of pain racks through her, her body curling in on itself, her fingers twitching like she’s reaching for something she can’t grasp. For him.

Riven’s pain is pouring through the bond, raw and unrelenting.

And I can’t stand it. I can’t stand the way she jerks in agony, how her lips part in a soundless sob, how even though her body is still now, her face is wet.

She’s crying. Even in sleep, the pain doesn’t leave her.

Elias crouches beside her, watching, mouth pressed into a firm line. Then, after a long moment, he exhales and mutters, "I hate this."

I kneel beside her, reaching out, letting my fingers hover over her wrist. Her pulse is too fast. Her skin is damp with sweat, strands of hair stuck to her temple, her breaths shallow and hitched.

This isn’t just the bond reacting. This is her. Her body, her mind, her soul breaking under the weight of it. I press my palm to her forehead, reaching for my power. Pushing it into her. Searching for something to grasp, some way to sever the pain, to force her body to recognize that it isn’t hers.

But pain doesn’t yield. Pain doesn’t bow to logic. It supersedes everything. And when I try to force it down, she jerks violently, a strangled breath tearing from her throat, her fingers clenching into the dirt like she’s trying to escape.

"Fuck." I grit my teeth, drawing my power back before it makes things worse.

Elias exhales sharply, dragging a hand down his face. "Well, that didn’t work."

No. It didn’t. It won’t. Not until she learns how to shut the bond off.

I stare at her, body still trembling, jaw tight. "We can’t let this happen again."

Elias scoffs, shaking his head. "Yeah, no shit."

I ignore him. "She has to learn how to block it out. Or she won’t survive this."

And neither will we.

Elias quiets, his usual bravado gone, replaced with something heavier.

I glance at him. "Can you do anything?"

His expression hardens. "You think I haven’t already tried?"

I do know.

Elias might not take much seriously, but this? This is different. He’s been trying to pull her under properly, trying to force the pain out of her dreams, but it isn’t working. Because the agony isn’t just in her mind. It’s in her bones. And it’s not letting go.

Another broken whimper escapes her lips, and I can’t fucking take it anymore.

I reach for her again, gripping her wrist this time, ignoring the slick heat of her skin. "Luna," I murmur, voice lower, firm, but careful. "You have to let go. You have to. "

Her breath hitches. Her body still shudders.

Another tear rolls down her cheek.

And I swear, I will burn this fucking world to the ground if she doesn’t wake up.

The fact that Riven hasn’t escaped yet means something.

Pain makes him stronger. That is an immutable fact, written into his very existence.

He isn’t like the rest of us. Pain doesn’t weaken him, it doesn’t slow him down, it doesn’t break him.

It feeds him. Fuels him. Turns him into something even more lethal than he already is.

And yet, he’s still there.

Still trapped. Still suffering in a way that is carving through Luna like she’s the one bound in chains. My fingers curl into a fist before I can stop myself.

It doesn’t make sense. Severin wouldn’t waste time with torture for the sake of it. He wouldn’t let Riven grow stronger just to watch him burn hotter. Which means whatever they’re doing to him isn’t just pain. It’s something worse.

And I don’t know what it is. That alone is enough to make my jaw tighten, my pulse drum against my ribs.

Elias exhales sharply, shifting beside me. I don’t look at him, but I feel the way his gaze lingers on Luna, the way his fingers flex against his knees like he’s debating whether or not to touch her again.

He just mutters, “He had to have done something to piss Severin off.”

He’s right. Severin doesn’t waste effort. He doesn’t act on impulse. Every move he makes is deliberate, calculated. If he’s torturing Riven, it isn’t just to hurt him. It’s because he wants something.

Which means one of two things. Either Riven refused to give it to him. Or he gave it up, and Severin didn’t like the answer. Neither option settles well in my chest.

Elias shifts again, rubbing the back of his neck. “You think he’s even capable of giving Severin what he wants?”

I glance at him, frowning. “What are you asking?”

Elias shrugs, but it’s forced. “Just saying, Riven isn’t exactly a reliable source of information.” His voice dips lower, expression unreadable. “Unless what Severin’s looking for is a death wish.”

He’s not wrong. Riven has never folded for anyone, never cowered, never given an inch that wasn’t torn from him by force. If Severin is expecting him to break, then he doesn’t understand who he’s dealing with. But that doesn’t mean he won’t keep trying.

I exhale, dragging a hand through my hair. “It doesn’t matter what he wants.”

Elias snorts. “Doesn’t it?”

I level him with a look. “No.”

His silver eyes narrow slightly. “And what makes you so sure?”

Because it doesn’t matter. Because Severin can’t have him. Because I’ve already decided, Riven is ours. And we’re taking him back.

Luna groans again, a low, fractured sound that scrapes against my ribs like a dull blade. Her body tenses, another shudder ripping through her, her hands twitching against the dirt like she’s trying to claw her way out of something unseen.

Elias swears under his breath.

I don’t give him time to complain.

“Pick her up,” I order. “Hold her. Try again.”

Elias snaps his head toward me, silver eyes wide with pure panic. “What?”

I don’t bother repeating myself. I just look at him. He hesitates, but not for long. Because for all his bullshit, for all the joking and avoidance, Elias knows when it’s time to shut up and listen.

Mostly.

He still grumbles, voice full of suffering, “You just want an excuse to make me emotionally available, don’t you?”

I exhale, unimpressed. “Elias.”

He sighs dramatically, muttering something about emotional blackmail before reaching down and gathering Luna into his arms. The second she’s against him, she shudders, her head tilting against his shoulder, her body unconsciously curling toward his warmth.

Elias visibly locks up. He swallows hard, shifting her slightly, and then, because he is incapable of existing without making everything worse, he mutters, “So this is happening. Great. Love this. Super normal.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Elias. ”

“She’s uh, ” He clears his throat. “Really warm. Like, just so warm.”

I lift my head, glaring.

His grip tightens, his brain imploding. “It’s like holding a fever,” he continues, not stopping, because of course he doesn’t stop. “Or like one of those nice heated blankets. You know, the expensive ones. The kind that makes you question if you should ever get out of bed again.”

My patience is thinning.

“Elias.”

“She smells good, too,” he adds instantly, like he wants to die. “Which is completely irrelevant. But, like, it’s worth noting. In a scientific way.”

I stare at him.

He stares at the sky, desperately avoiding my gaze.

"I will murder you."

“Please do,” he mutters. “End me right now.”

Luna shifts against him, whimpering, and all humor vanishes. Elias goes dead still, inhaling sharply, his entire body tensing beneath her weight.

I step closer, voice lower. “Put her under. Now.”

He doesn’t argue this time. He exhales, his hand sliding carefully against the back of her neck, fingers splaying across her skin. His power stirs, a subtle hum in the air, and his voice, when he speaks, is different. Softer. Lower.

"Go deeper, little star."

Luna stills. The tremors in her limbs ease, her body melting into him, her breath evening out. I don’t look at Elias, but I can feel the way he shifts, the way his fingers flex slightly before settling again.

I should make him put her down.

I don’t.

Because for the first time since this nightmare began, Luna is finally calm.

She’s stable now, her body no longer wracked with pain, her breath slow and even, her muscles relaxed into sleep.

There’s no reason for him to keep holding her, no reason for his grip to stay so firm, for his fingers to remain where they are, splayed across her back, curled at her waist, one arm cradling her legs like she’s something precious.

And yet, he doesn’t let go. I watch him, watch the way his mouth presses into something unreadable, the way his silver eyes flicker with something wrong for him, something serious.

Elias doesn’t look at people like that. Not with hesitation. Not with wanting. But he’s looking at her like that. Like he doesn’t know what to do with her. And he doesn’t trust himself not to do something stupid.

I exhale, slow and sharp. Of course it’s him next. The bond with Luna doesn’t follow logic. It doesn’t care for hierarchy, doesn’t wait for what should be orderly. It’s unpredictable, erratic, and consuming.

He’s already falling. He knows it, too. It’s in the way he shifts, restless, like his skin is betraying him. It’s in the way he watches her, the way his grip tightens instead of loosens.

And I know, without a single fucking doubt, that when it happens, when the bond snaps into place, Elias is going to lose his mind over it.

I lean back, arms folding across my chest, voice low. “Put her down, Elias.”

He hesitates. Then, too slow, he exhales and finally, finally eases her onto the ground, onto the makeshift bedroll we set up before she started convulsing. His movements aren’t careful.

They’re reluctant.

I smirk. “Took you long enough.”

Elias glares. “I will kill you.”

I arch a brow. “Bold words from a man who just cradled her like she was a goddess descending from the heavens.”

He makes a sound, offended, deeply suffering, and drags a hand down his face. “I’m going to walk into the void. Just straight into it. Forever. Good luck with literally everything.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. Because he can deny it all he wants. It doesn’t matter. The bond already has its claws in him. And it’s only a matter of time before it pulls tight.

There’s no sky here, not in any way that makes sense. Above us, the Hollow churns in a never-ending mass of almost-clouds, streaks of sickly light breaking through in fractured slashes. The air hums with an unnatural charge, something static and wrong, like the whole place is holding its breath.

And the sound. Or rather, the lack of it. Nothing moves. No wind. No distant creatures. No echo of life beyond our own. Even the horses, the ones we took from the Rift, stand still now, motionless, as if they know this place isn’t meant for them.

I inhale slowly, dragging my gaze across the horizon. Nothing stirs, but that means nothing.

The Hollow doesn’t warn. It just devours.

My fingers curl at my sides, a slow, deliberate movement, my mind already reaching for the possibility that Severin knows we’re here. Would he know? Would he feel the shift, the unnatural presence of something foreign bleeding into his wasteland?

Severin is old. Older than the Academy, older than any mortal kingdom, older than the myths they tried to bury. He was one of us before he became something else. He knows how to hunt. He knows how to wait. And if he’s paying attention, if he knows we’ve stepped foot into his domain.

I don’t think he’ll wait long before making his move.

The thought grates against my ribs, sharp and intrusive.

It’s one thing to prepare for a fight. It’s another to wait for one to be delivered to you.

And something about this, this silence, this emptiness, this unnatural stillness, makes me wonder if we’re already running out of time.

A shift behind me.

Elias exhales, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay, so, totally unrelated, but, uh. If we did get attacked right now, do you think I’d have enough time to heroically grab Luna and ride off into the sunset, or am I immediately dying?”

I don’t look at him. “You’re immediately dying.”

He sighs. “Yeah. That checks out.”

I roll my shoulders, dragging my gaze over the distant horizon one last time. Nothing moves. Nothing stirs.

But that doesn’t mean we’re alone.

I have a feeling we won’t be for much longer.