Page 29 of The Sin-Binder’s Fate (The Seven Sins Academy #1)

It never snows here. The House stands at the highest point of the academy, its towers cutting through the sky, its spires gleaming in the moonlight.

From my window, the academy sprawls below, a kingdom built on power, on centuries of dominance, on the weight of the sins that rule it.

The land beyond stretches out like a dark abyss, the jagged cliffs of the Nethervale cutting off the mortal world from our own.

And yet, snow falls. Slow. Soundless. Fragile things don’t belong here.

The last time it snowed, Maeve died.

Beside me, Riven watches the storm, arms crossed over his chest. He hasn’t said anything yet, but I know why he’s here.

“It won’t last,” I murmur.

Riven snorts. “Neither did she.”

I don’t look at him. We don’t talk about her, not really. Not in the way that matters. But Riven isn’t one for subtlety. I tilt my head, watching the way the snow dusts the stone walkways below, covering them in something that almost looks pure. Almost looks like something untouched.

It’s a lie. Nothing here is untouched. Not this place.

Not us.

Not her.

“Luna isn’t going anywhere,” Riven says, finally breaking the silence.

I hum, unsurprised. “No.”

He shifts, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “Silas and Elias were following her around today.”

I knew they would. Silas is predictable in his curiosity, and Elias will follow wherever the chaos takes him. But the fact that they were so open about it means something else.

Means they’re already adjusting.

I glance at Riven. “And you?”

He scoffs. “I don’t fucking like her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I let my gaze drift back to the snow. “No. But you don’t want her gone either.”

Riven is silent for a long moment, then exhales sharply. “I don’t trust her.”

Good.

None of us should.

But I see the way some of them are starting to shift, the way curiosity has settled into the cracks of their resolve. Some of them are obvious about it, Silas, Elias, and Caspian with his blatant interest. Others hide it better.

Riven shifts beside me. “Ambrose was with her today.”

I arch a brow. “And?”

He makes a face. “He was Ambrose about it. ”

Which means he pushed her, tested her, took something from her just to see how much she could stand before she shattered. I expected as much. Ambrose doesn’t want her. But he wants to see what she does when she’s been knocked down.

I exhale slowly, watching the snow spiral against the dark sky. “Don’t get attached.”

Riven barks out a laugh. “To her?”

I finally glance at him. “To any of it.”

Riven exhales sharply beside me, his arms still crossed, his glare fixed on the courtyard below. “It’s happening, isn’t it?”

I don’t answer immediately. Instead, I watch the way the wind shifts, the way the world seems to pause, like it’s waiting. It always starts this way. Small things. A shift in the air. A storm that shouldn’t exist. The first signs of war.

“Scouts have been spotted near the border,” I say finally. “Blackwell confirmed it.”

Riven’s jaw tightens. “Then it’s not just a rumor.”

I glance at him. “You knew it wasn’t a rumor.”

His scowl deepens, but he doesn’t deny it. We’ve seen this before, watched the pieces move across the board like a game we were forced to play. And now, it’s happening again.

This time, for her.

Riven shifts, dragging a hand through his hair. “I tried to scare her off.”

I hum, unsurprised. “And?”

He lets out a rough laugh. “She’s still fucking here.”

“They won’t stop,” I murmur, watching the way the snow swallows the light from the torches below. “Not until they have her.”

Riven’s fingers flex, like he wants to hit something. “She’s not ready for this. ”

“No. But she will be.”

Riven’s voice tightens. “Lucien, you know how this ends.”

Yes. I do. I close my eyes briefly, letting the memory settle behind my ribs, the scent of iron, the sound of a life being ripped apart, the weight of another failure. I refuse to watch history repeat itself.

“We need to prepare,” I say. “Talk to Blackwell. I want our defenses in place before the first attack.”

Riven nods, his expression grim. “And the guys?”

I glance at him. “Make sure they understand what’s coming.”

He mutters a curse under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. “And Luna?”

I exhale slowly. “You’re training her next.”

Riven groans. “Lucien, ”

“She needs to defend herself.”

“She won’t fucking listen.”

“Then make her.”

He glares at me, but he knows I’m right. He knows this is the only way to keep her alive.

His fists clench. “You give a shit what happens to her?”

“No.” The lie is too smooth, too well-practiced.

I sigh, my fingers tightening against the windowsill. “She’s just a kid, Riven.”

His scowl deepens.

I look back at the snow. “She needs to be looked after.”

Riven watches me for a long moment, his irritation shifting into something darker.

Then, finally, he exhales. “Fine.”

Severin. The name drags through my mind like rusted iron, sharp and unwanted, cutting into things I thought I’d buried. Outside, the snow keeps falling, blanketing the academy grounds in something false, something soft. But Riven and I both know what it means.

Winter only comes when something is about to die.

Riven shifts beside me, his fingers flexing restlessly. “We should have killed him when we had the chance.”

I tilt my head, eyes still on the courtyard. “We did.”

He scoffs. “Didn’t take.”

A humorless smirk curves my mouth. “It never does with him.”

That’s the thing about Severin, he doesn’t stop. He wasn’t meant to be more than a shadow of what I am, a failed embodiment of Pride, but instead of fading into nothing, he built himself into something else. Something dangerous.

And now? Now, he’s back. And he’s brought an army. And this time, he has his sights set on Luna.

I inhale slowly. “He thinks she’s a weakness.”

Riven exhales sharply. “She is.”

I glance at him. His jaw is tight, his shoulders rigid, the weight of old memories pressing against his ribs just like they are mine. He doesn’t have to say it, I already know what he’s thinking. The last time Severin came here, he left Maeve’s body in the snow. And we let him take her from us.

I look back at the frozen courtyard, at the flakes swirling in the dim light. “This time will be different.”

Riven’s laugh is dry. “You believe that?”

I roll my shoulders. “I have to.”

He drags a hand through his hair, watching me carefully. “You think Severin wants her dead?”

I hum, considering. “Not at first. ”

He exhales, muttering a curse under his breath. “He’ll want to use her.”

“Yes.”

And if he can’t? Then he’ll destroy her just to prove that he can.

“You know what he does to things he can’t own.”

Riven’s expression darkens, memories flickering behind his eyes. “Yeah. I know.”

“So what’s the plan?”

I drag my thumb over my lower lip, thinking. Calculating.

“We cut him off before he reaches us,” I say finally. “We force him to fight for every step he takes.”

Riven nods. “Blackwell needs to start locking down the outer perimeter.”

“He already is.”

“And the others?”

I smirk slightly. “They’re already picking sides.”

Riven shakes his head, muttering, “Fucking idiots.”

But he’s wrong. They aren’t idiots. They’re just predictable. Some of them will fight for her. Some of them will fight for themselves. But in the end, it won’t matter, because when Severin comes, there won’t be room for hesitation.

There will only be survival.

Winter is here.

And war is coming.

I exhale, dragging my fingers along the frost-bitten windowsill. “One of us may need to bind to her.”

Riven’s reaction is immediate. A sharp inhale, a clenched jaw, the barely restrained urge to throw something. “Absolutely not.”

I don’t look at him. “It would make her stronger. ”

He lets out a rough, humorless laugh. “So?” He gestures toward the falling snow, toward the past buried beneath it. “Maeve had three of us bound to her, and she still died.”

My fingers still.

I exhale slowly. “It would be suicide not to give Luna a backing of at least one bond.” I turn toward him, leveling him with a look. “We both know that.”

Riven’s expression darkens. He does know. He knows Severin will take her apart the moment he gets his hands on her. Knows that without something to anchor her, to give her the ability to command something more than herself, she won’t last long enough for this war to even begin.

He runs a hand down his face, exhaling sharply. “Even if I agree with you, which I don’t, who the fuck do you think is going to volunteer for that?”

I tilt my head. “That’s what we need to figure out.”

Riven mutters a curse, shaking his head. “They’d have to be insane.”

Or desperate. Or already too far gone.

I glance back out at the courtyard, considering. “Caspian,” I murmur. “He’s the most obvious choice.”

Riven groans, already irritated. “Yeah, because that won’t end in absolute fucking disaster.”

I smirk slightly. “She could use someone like him.”

Riven snorts. “You mean someone obsessed with her?”

I arch a brow. “He’s the easiest to sway.”

Caspian wants her. There’s no hiding it. And a binding? That would be the ultimate claim, the thing he’d never be able to let go of, not even if he wanted to.

Which is exactly the problem.

Riven shakes his head. “He wouldn’t be able to handle it. ”

Caspian’s power, his ability to amplify desire, to twist it, it could just as easily ruin her as it could ruin him. Their bond would be volatile, unstable, constantly teetering on the edge of self-destruction.

Not ideal.

“Silas?” Riven suggests, but even he doesn’t sound convinced.

I scoff. “You think Silas could handle being tied to anyone?”

Riven exhales sharply, muttering, “Yeah. Didn’t think so.”

Silas is too reckless, too unpredictable. If Luna bound to him, she’d gain access to his power, his mimicry, his ability to steal the strengths of others, but at what cost? His instability?

No. Not him.

I roll my shoulders, thinking.

“Ambrose,” I murmur.

Riven huffs a short laugh. “Yeah, that’ll go over well.”

Ambrose doesn’t want her. But he wants control. And there would be no greater way to prove she belongs to him than a bond that forces it.

“She’d gain possession,” I muse, considering. “The ability to own what she touches.”

Riven hums. “And the second she starts trying to own him?”

I say nothing. Because Ambrose would never fucking allow it. If she bonded to him, it would be a power struggle every day of her life.

Riven sighs. “What about Orin?”

I pause.

The only one of us who never takes more than he needs. The one who devours everything in his path but somehow still maintains control. Luna could use that. Could learn how to consume instead of being consumed.

Riven tilts his head, watching me. “What do you think?”

His shoulders are tight, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He’s already bracing for whatever I’m about to say.

Because he knows me. And he knows he’s not going to like it.

I exhale, dragging my fingers along the frost-dusted glass of the window. “It should be you.”

Riven’s reaction is immediate.

A sharp inhale, his entire body locking up like I just struck him. He turns to me, eyes flashing with something violent. “No.”

I tilt my head. “You didn’t let me explain.”

“I don’t fucking need an explanation.” His voice is lower now, rougher. “You already know my answer.”

I study him, watching the way his jaw flexes, the way his fingers twitch like he wants to wrap them around my throat. He doesn’t want to be bound to her. Which is exactly why it has to be him.

“She’s going to need the strongest foundation,” I murmur. “The first bond determines everything.”

His breath comes out harsh, his stance shifting like he’s readying for a fight. “Then let someone else do it.”

“You know I’m right.” I step closer, slow, deliberate. “You’re the strongest of us in battle. The most relentless. The most, ”

“I said no, Lucien.”

His voice is a low snarl now, his pulse hammering against his throat. He’s feeling it now. The weight of what I’m saying. The weight of what I’m asking.

I hum, watching him carefully. “Maeve’s first bond was with me. ”

His nostrils flare. “I fucking know.”

“And it was a mistake.”

His gaze snaps to mine. Because there it is. The thing we never said.

I roll my shoulders, inhaling slowly. “My power gave her presence. Influence. But it didn’t make her strong enough to survive.”

Riven doesn’t respond. He knows. He remembers. How we thought a binding to me would give Maeve authority, would solidify her role as our Sin-Binder, would force us to fall in line. But it didn’t save her. It left her vulnerable.

Riven clenches his jaw, voice strained. “She had three bonds, and she still died.”

I tilt my head. “Then maybe we did it wrong.”

His breath shudders, his glare cutting into me like a blade. “You think doing it right will change what she is?”

I smirk. “You mean what she isn’t?”

His lip curls. Because Luna isn’t Maeve.

And that’s what’s fucking with him. Riven doesn’t like feeling things.

He doesn’t like being forced into roles he doesn’t want.

But I can see it, the way he’s already trying to convince himself that this isn’t his problem, that she isn’t his responsibility, that it doesn’t matter.

I step closer. “She needs a bond that will keep her alive.”

His fists clench. “She needs to learn how to fight.”

I exhale sharply. “And if she doesn’t have time?”

He says nothing. Because he already knows Severin isn’t going to wait for her to be ready. He isn’t going to sit around while she learns how to wield herself. He’ll tear her apart the moment he gets the chance. And if we aren’t ready for that? She won’t survive long enough to become what we need.

I hold Riven’s gaze, my voice quiet. “It should be you.”

His chest rises and falls faster now, his entire body wired with resistance.

And then, finally,

“No.”

The word is final. Sharp as a blade. A refusal I can’t change.

I inhale, slow and measured. “Then we’ll have to find another way.”

He nods once, still furious. Still unmoving.

But I know one thing: I won’t let this go .