Page 43 of The Sin-Binder’s Fate (The Seven Sins Academy #1)

I lift a brow, amused by how quickly she’s gotten worked up over something she doesn’t understand yet. “Because we can’t leave.”

She exhales sharply, gesturing at the pillar. “But you just said, ”

“I said the bond is cracking.” My voice is even, measured. “I didn’t say it was gone.”

She wants a simple answer. Wants me to tell her that if the pillar shatters, if the old magic finally gives way, the world outside is just sitting there, waiting for us.

But nothing about us is simple.

I sigh, dragging my fingers through my hair before I shift, turning toward her fully. “You don’t get it yet, do you?”

She frowns. “Then explain it to me.”

I smirk, but there’s no humor in it.

You asked for it, sweetheart.

“You bonded with Riven,” I say, slow and deliberate. “That changes things.”

Her breath catches, just barely.

I don’t let her interrupt.

“Once the bond is formed, it doesn’t just tie you to him, it ties all of us to you.” I lean in slightly, watching the way her throat bobs, the way she clenches her jaw like she’s fighting the weight of my words. “We’re bound now. You are the chain.”

She blinks, lips parting slightly, like she’s just now realizing how deep this goes. And I haven’t even given her the worst part yet.

I exhale sharply. “It’s nature’s way of keeping us contained.”

Luna’s eyes snap back to mine. “Contained? ”

I nod. “The second you tethered yourself to Riven, you made it impossible for us to leave you behind.”

She shakes her head, confusion flickering behind her gaze. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense,” I correct, voice softer now, almost mocking.

“You think the world would survive if we were loose? That we wouldn’t tear through it the way we do everything else?

” I watch the way her fingers tighten in her lap, the way her breath deepens.

“The bond keeps us from running rampant. It pulls us to you. Holds us here.”

She’s quiet.

I smirk. “You didn’t just bind us, Luna. You leashed us.”

Her inhale is slow, shaky. Her fingers curl into the fabric of her skirt. “So you’re saying… if the pillar fell, if the bond was completely broken, you still wouldn’t leave?”

I shake my head, dragging my tongue over my teeth. “We couldn’t.”

She swallows, and I can feel the weight of the realization sinking into her bones.

If we go, she goes.

If she stays, we stay.

Even Lucien, who would burn the world before admitting he’s bound to anyone. Even Silas, who would tear through the fabric of existence to escape. Even Riven, who hates what’s happening to him.

We are hers now. And no matter how much we might resent it, no matter how much we might fight it, our instincts won’t let us go too far.

Luna shakes her head slowly. “That’s…” She doesn’t finish.

I huff a quiet laugh. “A fucking disaster?”

Her eyes flick up, and for the first time, there’s something almost wary in them. Like she’s finally understanding that this isn’t some academic lesson. This isn’t some puzzle she can just solve and move on from.

This is permanent. She is the center of our universe now. And no matter what happens, We will not leave her.

“What happened to the Sub-Sins?”

A muscle tics in my jaw. Of course she would ask. She doesn’t realize how deep that wound still is, how much blood was spilled over it. How much was taken.

I roll my shoulders, letting the weight of it settle before I answer. “They used to be part of us.”

She tilts her head slightly, brows drawing together. “Part of you?”

“The original group.” I exhale, dragging a hand over my jaw. “We were fourteen once, not seven. The Sub-Sins weren’t always outcasts. They had a place here, just like we did.”

Luna’s fingers tighten against the pillar. “Then what happened?”

I meet her gaze, letting the answer settle between us before I say it. “They were exiled.”

Her breath stutters.

I watch her absorb it, watch her lips part like she’s about to ask why, but I don’t give her the chance.

“They were too unstable,” I murmur. “Too reckless. Too… much.” My jaw flexes. “Not that we were any better, but they had no limit. No anchor. Not even a Binder could hold them.”

Luna’s brows pull together even further. “So they were just, what? Thrown away? ”

My throat bobs. I could tell her the truth, that it was worse than that. That it wasn’t just exile. That some of them didn’t survive what happened that day. But I don’t.

Instead, I give her the next best thing.

“The world decided it didn’t need them,” I say, voice quiet, even. “So it erased them.”

Luna inhales sharply, shaking her head. “That’s…” She doesn’t finish.

Because she doesn’t have to. I know what she’s thinking. That it’s cruel. That it’s unfair. That it isn’t right.

It wasn’t. It still isn’t. But that doesn’t change what happened.

She exhales, slow and unsteady, then turns her gaze back to me. “Are they supposed to bond with me?”

I blink.

Then, I laugh. A sharp, unexpected sound.

Luna jerks her head at me, her lips pressing into a tight line, like she’s not sure whether she should be offended or relieved.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “You don’t have to worry about that.” I drag my tongue over my teeth, watching the way her shoulders relax just slightly. “They have their own Binder.”

Her lips part, but the question is already forming in her mind before she speaks it.

“But they don’t have one right now.”

I nod. “Not yet.”

Luna stares at me, considering something, then hesitates before asking, “Would their Binder come from my family? ”

I tilt my head, letting my gaze drag over her, watching the way she clings to the thought like it’s a puzzle she has to solve.

“Yes,” I say simply. “Technically, she would.”

Luna swallows, her fingers twitching against the pillar. “I have a sister.”

I go completely still. She says it like she’s only just realizing what that means. Like she’s only now grasping that her bloodline, her existence, is more tangled in this than she ever could have imagined.

I lean back against the stone, dragging my gaze over her. “That doesn’t mean she’s the Sub-Sins’ Binder.”

Luna shakes her head. “But it could be her.”

“Or it might not be,” I counter smoothly. “It could be someone further down the line. A niece, a granddaughter.”

Her lips press together. “No.”

I arch a brow.

She inhales sharply. “It can’t be. I’m the last. Me and my sister.”

Something heavy settles between us. The last of her bloodline. Just her and a sister she probably never thought would mean anything more than family.

I exhale, watching her carefully. “Then if it’s not her, it’ll be her children.”

She doesn’t speak at first, doesn’t breathe, her mind racing through the possibilities, through what that would mean.

“What if she doesn’t have any?”

I grin, slow and sharp. “Then it dies with you.”

She swallows hard, her pulse quickening against the delicate skin of her throat. “And if I- ”

She stops herself.

I smirk, already knowing what she was about to ask.

“If you get pregnant?” I supply, tilting my head.

She gives a small, sharp nod.

I huff a quiet laugh, rolling my shoulders. “Not gonna happen, sweetheart.”

Luna’s eyes narrow slightly. “Why not?”

I lean in, letting my voice drop to something lower, something rougher. “Because we’re immortal.” My gaze drags over her slowly, savoring the way her breath quickens. “And we can’t conceive.”

Her lips part slightly, her fingers curling against her thigh.

“None of us,” I add, letting the weight of that truth settle between us. “Not the Seven. Not the Sub-Sins.”

She stares at me, her breath coming faster now, her hands tightening around the folds of her skirt. “Then what happens when you die?”

I smirk.

“We don’t.”

She’s thinking about what that means. About what it means for her. About what it means for us.

I can feel the weight of whatever’s turning over in her head, the way her fingers tighten against her lap, the slight part of her lips like she’s caught between speaking and swallowing the words down.

“What happens if I die?”

Her voice is steady. Too steady. Like she already expects the answer to be worse than she wants to hear.

I tilt my head, watching her. “To who?”

She exhales sharply, dragging her gaze to mine. “To you. ”

I roll my shoulders, stretching my arms over the back of the bench like the question doesn’t dig under my skin. Like it doesn’t remind me of a reality none of us want to face.

Fate is cruel, but it’s not careless.

I shrug. “Then it makes another.”

Her brows furrow. “Just like that?”

I nod. “Just like that.”

Luna shakes her head, her pulse flickering fast beneath the delicate skin of her throat. “But you said my bloodline is the last, ”

“And if you die before one of you produces another heir,” I say smoothly, “then fate will make sure it happens somewhere.”

Her breath catches.

I smirk, dragging my tongue over my teeth, watching the way the thought takes root in her mind. “Your sister will have to have kids. And if she doesn’t, then somewhere further down the line, someone will.”

Luna’s hands curl into the fabric of her skirt. “But you said you can’t die.”

I hum, tipping my head back against the pillar. “Not naturally, no.”

Her eyes snap to mine, sharp and searching. “Then how do you die?”

My lips curl. “Painfully.”

She doesn’t look away. “How?”

I hold her gaze, letting the air stretch between us, thick and charged.

Then, I exhale slowly.

“There are ways,” I admit, watching her closely. “But not many.”

Luna swallows hard, dragging a hand through her hair. “And if-” She hesitates, shaking her head slightly, like she doesn’t want to say it out loud .

I arch a brow. “If what?”

She inhales sharply. “If one of you does die… then what?”

I smirk, slow and sharp, tilting my head. “Then fate replaces us, too.”

Her breath stutters.

I lean forward, elbows braced against my knees, voice dropping to something softer, darker.

“We are the sins, Luna. We have always existed, and we always will. If one of us falls, another rises. It’s the ebb and flow of time, of balance, of us.

” My eyes drag over her, watching the way her pulse kicks up. “You’re part of that now.”

“You make it sound so… inevitable.”

I huff a quiet laugh. “That’s because it is.”

She stares at me, her body wound too tight, her fingers twitching slightly against the stone beside her.

I watch her breathe through it, trying to put the pieces together, trying to make sense of something far bigger than herself.

Her voice drops to something almost fragile.

“So I don’t matter.”

I go still, my grin fading. She’s not looking at me anymore. Her gaze is fixed on the pillar, on the deep etchings that have held us here for centuries, her fingers tracing over the sigils like she’s trying to feel their weight.

Trying to understand what she is to us.

I exhale sharply, shifting. “That’s not what I said.”

Her lips press together. “But it’s what you meant.”

I roll my jaw, watching her closely. “No,” I murmur. “What I meant is that fate will always make sure we exist.” A pause. “That doesn’t mean you don’t matter.”

She looks at me, something sharp and searching in her gaze. “Then what does it mean? ”

I drag my teeth over my bottom lip, considering. Then, I lean in, just enough that our knees brush, just enough that she can feel the weight of what I’m about to say.

“It means that this, you, us, whatever the hell is happening here, isn’t something that can be undone.

” My voice is quieter now, deliberate. “You are the last of your bloodline. If you die, someone else will be born to take your place. But that doesn’t mean we can just let you die.

” My gaze flicks down to her mouth, then back up, watching the way her breath shudders slightly.

“Because until that happens, ” I tap my fingers lightly against my knee. “you are ours.”

I smirk, slow and deliberate, dragging my tongue over my teeth.

She asked what would happen if she died. But the real question hanging in the air now, the one she doesn’t want to say out loud, is what happens if she lives .