Page 34 of The Sin-Binder’s Fate (The Seven Sins Academy #1)

Lucien taps his fingers against his glass. “And finally, Theron Vale.”

Her voice is quiet. “Gluttony.”

He nods. “Orin takes. Theron devours.”

The room is too still.

Luna exhales, something tight and uncertain passing through her expression. “And they want me because I can bind you?”

Lucien’s voice is quiet. “Some want you dead. Some want you theirs.”

She swallows hard. “And if I don’t learn how to fight?”

Lucien finally lifts the glass to his lips, taking a slow sip before setting it down again.

“Then you won’t be alive long enough for it to matter.”

Finally, she exhales, her fingers pressing into her lap. “So what you’re telling me,” she says slowly, “is that the only thing stopping the Sub-Sins from tearing this world apart… is you.”

Lucien inclines his head. “Precisely.”

She doesn’t move, but something flickers behind her eyes. She doesn’t want to believe it. She already does.

I lean against the edge of Lucien’s desk, watching her. “You expected something else?”

Luna exhales, shaking her head slightly. “I don’t know what I expected, but this,” she gestures vaguely toward both of us, toward the heavy, suffocating truth that’s just been laid at her feet, “this is insane. ”

Lucien smirks slightly. “Is it?”

She glares at him. “Yes.”

Lucien’s expression doesn’t change, but there’s something behind his gaze, something sharp, something unreadable. “And yet,” he murmurs, tilting his head, “here you are.”

She stills. It’s not just a statement. It’s a fact. She exists. And that changes everything.

Lucien steeples his fingers, watching her carefully.

“The Sub-Sins weren’t banished to keep them from reclaiming power.

They were removed because the world couldn’t survive them.

” He exhales, slow and measured. “You think we are dangerous? You think our power is something you should fear?” His voice lowers. “We are contained.”

Lucien leans forward slightly, the weight of his presence pressing into the space between them. “They are not.”

The words settle, cold and sharp.

Luna’s jaw tightens. “And I’m supposed to believe you? That the seven of you, ” she gestures toward us, then shakes her head. “You’re the only thing standing in their way?”

Lucien’s expression flickers. “No, Luna.” He watches her closely. “We’re the only thing they fear.”

I see the moment it clicks into place, the way her pulse jumps in her throat, the way she presses her knees together as if grounding herself.

Lucien tips his head. “Because they cannot die. And neither can we.”

Luna exhales sharply. “That’s impossible.”

Lucien leans back, exhaling through his nose. “You keep saying that. And yet, the world keeps proving you wrong.”

I smirk slightly, watching her process that.

She wants to argue. She wants to tell him that this is ridiculous, that no one is truly immortal.

But she doesn’t. Because some part of her knows, this place, this power, these creatures she’s been thrown into, nothing about it follows the rules of the world she used to understand.

Lucien watches her, his gaze unwavering. “The Sub-Sins cannot kill us. They’ve tried before. And they will try again.” He exhales. “But if they cannot destroy us… they will seek to control us.”

Luna shakes her head slightly. “How?”

Lucien taps a single finger against the desk. “With you.”

The storm groans outside.

Luna’s lips part, her shoulders tightening. “You said before that I was supposed to bind you. That my blood, ” she hesitates, exhaling roughly. “That I was meant to control the Sins.”

Lucien inclines his head. “And if you can, so can he.”

Her face pales. She doesn’t speak at first. I see the way her mind spins, the thoughts crashing into each other, the way her breath comes faster, shallower.

Lucien waits.

Then, finally,

“If you can’t die…” She exhales sharply, fingers curling against her skirt. “Then why does he need an army?”

Lucien lifts a brow, as if pleased by the question. “Because even if we cannot die, we can be weakened.”

I roll my shoulders, flexing my fingers absently. “And numbers will do it.”

Luna’s gaze flicks between us, still uncertain. “What kind of army?”

Lucien’s expression darkens.

I exhale, crossing my arms. “You ever heard of Wraiths, Binder?”

Her eyes narrow slightly. “Not the kind you mean. ”

Lucien hums, tilting his head. “Then allow me to educate you.”

Luna swallows, lips parting slightly.

Lucien’s voice is smooth, even, but there’s something colder beneath it. “Severin has spent years, decades, constructing an army from the remnants of souls that should have passed on.”

Luna stiffens. “Remnants?”

Lucien nods. “Fragments of the dead. Echoes that refuse to fade.” His fingers drum lightly against the wood. “He takes what should be nothing and makes it something.”

Her face tightens, dark eyes flicking toward me as if to confirm it.

I smirk, but there’s no amusement in it. “We’ve fought them before.”

Lucien’s gaze flicks toward the window, watching the storm. “The last war on these grounds was not a war between humans.” His voice drops lower. “It was a war between what should never exist.”

I tilt my head. “Wraiths are not flesh and blood. They are hunger. They are the absence of life.”

She shifts, fingers curling against the arms of her chair. “And you can fight them?”

Lucien exhales. “We have before.”

Her pulse stutters. “And you won?”

Lucien’s gaze flicks back to her, unreadable. “We survived.”

Lucien watches her carefully, assessing the way her jaw tightens, the way her breath drags unevenly. Then, slowly, he leans forward. “And now?” His voice lowers, almost gentle. “Severin has had centuries to perfect what he started. ”

Lucien lets the weight of it settle. “They will come, Luna. And when they do, they will not stop. Not until we are bound, or you are dead.”

Lucien lifts his glass again, swirling the liquid absently before speaking one final time.

“You can either prepare, ” his eyes flick to her, cold, sharp, “or you can become another body in the snow.”

She’s not getting it. I see it in the way she sits, her back too straight, her hands curled into her lap, her breath pushing out slow like she’s forcing herself not to react. Like she’s absorbing all of this, but still holding it at arm’s length.

Lucien watches her from behind his desk, fingers laced together, expression unreadable. He’s waiting for her to catch up.

She won’t. Not fast enough.

Finally, she exhales sharply. “What am I supposed to do with all of this?”

Lucien tilts his head, considering. “That depends.”

She scowls. “On what?”

He leans forward slightly, elbows braced on the desk. “On whether you intend to live.”

Her jaw tightens. “I am trying, ”

“No,” Lucien interrupts smoothly. “You think you are.”

She glares at him, the first real flash of anger breaking through her composure. “I don’t see you offering any solutions.”

Lucien lifts a brow. “I already have. Train.”

She scoffs, pushing back against the chair. “I am training.”

Lucien exhales, shaking his head. “No, Luna. You’re surviving.” His voice sharpens, threading with something colder. “There’s a difference. ”

She stares at him, dark eyes burning. “You put me up against Riven, ”

My name on her lips is sharp, raw. I smirk slightly, but she doesn’t look at me.

“And he nearly killed me.” Her voice rises, something unsteady slipping into it. “How the hell am I supposed to fight when I can barely breathe around him?”

Lucien lifts his glass, swirling the amber liquid without drinking. “Then you’re already dead.”

Luna stills.

Lucien sets the glass down. “The Wraiths will not let you breathe, Luna. They will not hesitate. They will not wait for you to find your footing.” His voice drops. “And neither will we.”

She shakes her head slightly. “You keep saying that. That I have to fight you, ”

“You do,” I cut in.

She turns toward me, eyes sparking. “And if I can’t?”

Lucien smirks, slow and deliberate. “Then there won’t be enough of you left for it to matter.”

She exhales sharply, a sound of frustration tearing from her throat. “That’s not an answer.”

Lucien tilts his head. “Yes, it is.”

Her hands tighten into fists in her lap. “You expect me to be strong enough to fight an army, ”

“No,” Lucien interrupts, his voice smooth, unwavering. “We expect you to be strong enough to fight us.”

Something flickers across her face, something raw. “You’re not making any sense.”

Lucien leans back, exhaling through his nose. “The Sub-Sins don’t want to kill us, Luna. If they could, they would have done it centuries ago.” His blue eyes darken. “They want to own us.”

She hesitates, pulse jumping in her throat .

Lucien watches her closely. “If they break through, if the Wraiths reach us, they will try to use you. To bind us. And if you cannot fight them, ” he gestures lazily between me and himself, “then you have no chance of stopping him.”

“You keep saying fight you,” she murmurs, something guarded in her voice. “But if Riven wanted to, he could kill me in seconds.”

I laugh, low and sharp.

Luna turns toward me, dark gaze burning. “What’s so funny?”

I push off the desk, rolling my shoulders as I step toward her. She doesn’t move, but I see it, the slight shift of her weight, the way her hands press harder against her knees. She wants to run.

I tilt my head. “You really think I could kill you?”

She swallows. “I know you could.”

Lucien exhales, almost amused. “No, he can’t.”

Luna flinches slightly, eyes flicking back to him. “What? ”

Lucien leans forward, elbows on his desk, voice smooth as glass. “None of us can.”

She looks between us, as if waiting for one of us to contradict him.

Lucien lifts his fingers, tapping against the wood in slow, measured beats. “You are a Sin Binder, Luna. Do you understand what that means?”

She shakes her head slightly.

Lucien exhales. “You belong to us.”

Her breath catches.

Lucien smiles, slow and edged. “Not as an object. Not as a thing. You are woven into us.” He tilts his head. “You are bonded to our existence. ”

She blinks rapidly, trying to keep up. “That still doesn’t make sense”

“If we kill you,” Lucien says, voice dipping lower, “we destroy ourselves.”

Luna’s lips part, but no words come.

I smirk. “Starting to get it?”

Her throat bobs. “But-”

Lucien lifts a brow. “You think that’s a gift?”

She stills.

Lucien watches her closely, gaze unreadable. “It’s a curse.”

A shiver works its way down her spine, but she fights to keep her expression blank. “So what?” Her voice is quieter now, but not weaker. “You want to kill me?”

Lucien chuckles softly. “No, Luna. We want to survive you.”

She swallows, gaze flicking to me. “And you?”

I tilt my head, considering. “I don’t want to kill you.” My smirk deepens. “I just want to see what you can take.”

Luna exhales shakily.

“You don’t have to win against Riven.” His voice is smooth, slow, dangerous. “You just have to last.”

She shakes her head slightly, something raw slipping through her voice. “And if I can’t?”

Lucien lifts his glass again, swirling the liquid absently before speaking one final time.

“Then you will never survive what’s coming. ”