Page 5 of The Sin-Binder’s Fate (The Seven Sins Academy #1)

I don’t want to go. The second the summons comes, I know exactly what it’s about, and I want no part of it. But skipping a meeting with Headmaster Blackwell isn’t an option, not when he already thinks we’re a problem. Not when we’re already watching him play his hand.

So I go.

And the second I step into his office, I regret it.

Because she’s there.

I’ve been avoiding thinking about her, avoiding the way her presence has been digging under my skin since the second she arrived. But now?

Now, she’s right in front of me, and I can’t stop my gaze from dragging over her. She shouldn’t look like this. Shouldn’t make my fucking chest tighten. Everything about her is too much, too unfair.

She’s small, but not delicate. Soft curves and sharp edges, a mouth too full for someone who shouldn’t be speaking, lips parted just slightly, like she’s caught between confusion and challenge .

And her eyes.

Fuck.

Wide and darker than they should be, framed with thick lashes, lined with something sharp. They cut upward, locked on Blackwell, but they’re full of something unsteady, like she’s trying to make sense of whatever the hell she’s doing here.

And her hair. I don’t even care about things like that, but I notice it anyway, wild waves, dark and thick, like she doesn’t bother taming it.

She looks untouched. Untamed.

And that’s a problem.

Because I want to ruin her. I want to see her break. I want to see those lips part for something besides questions. I want to see her shake, to hear how she sounds when she stops trying to pretend like she has control.

My jaw clenches.

I should be focused on Blackwell. On whatever the hell this is.

But I can’t stop fucking looking at her. And when her gaze finally flicks to mine, I swear to fucking god, my whole body locks. Because she’s staring like she can feel it too. Like she doesn’t know what’s happening to her either. And I hate that I want to find out how much worse I can make it.

The moment Blackwell speaks, the whole room tightens.

“The seven of you will test her.”

My fingers flex. I knew it. I knew the second we were summoned, this wasn’t just some lecture. Blackwell never wastes his time with those. He wants something. And he just gave it a name.

I glance at the others, Lucien’s jaw ticks slightly, his expression unreadable. Silas leans back against the desk, his arms crossed, like this is all some boring inconvenience. Caspian looks way too entertained, which makes me want to put my fist through the nearest wall.

She’s staring at Blackwell like she doesn’t even know how to process what he just said.

“Test me?” she echoes, voice slow, careful.

Her dark eyes flick between us, looking for answers, looking for something to hold onto. She won’t find it. Not here.

Blackwell watches her with cold amusement, like he’s waiting for her to catch up. He leans back in his chair, fingers steepled. “You know what you are, don’t you?”

Luna’s lips part, but nothing comes out. She hesitates. That means no. She doesn’t.

I grit my teeth.

Blackwell exhales, his head tilting slightly. “You are a Sin Binder.”

Luna blinks. I see the moment the words mean nothing to her.

Then, she shakes her head, brows knitting together. “I don’t, what does that mean?”

Blackwell smiles. Not kind. Not warm.

“Your blood is designed to bind them.” He gestures loosely toward us. “The Seven Sins. The seven most dangerous creatures in this school. And you, my dear, were born to hold their leashes.”

Luna goes still. Her brows furrow deeper, like she’s fighting the words, pushing them away before they can take shape.

I recognize that look. Denial. It won’t last.

Blackwell leans forward slightly, voice measured, patient. “Your kind was wiped out a long time ago. Or so we believed.”

She stiffens.

“You are an anomaly, Miss Evernight. A rare thing. A dangerous thing. And now that you are here, we need to determine whether you are strong enough to do what you were born for.”

A sharp breath pushes past her lips. She shakes her head again. “No, I, this is… ”

Caspian’s slow grin cuts through the tension. “A lot?”

Luna’s eyes snap to him, dark and wide and uncertain.

His grin deepens. “It’ll get worse, sweetheart.”

I fucking hate that he calls her that.

She shakes her head again, taking a small step back, her fingers curling against the fabric of her uniform like she’s physically rejecting the words.

“I don’t, I don’t want to bind anyone,” she says.

I exhale slowly, biting down on the sharp edge of laughter. Like that fucking matters.

Blackwell’s lips twitch like he’s amused by her defiance. “That’s irrelevant.”

Luna’s breath stutters. “How is that, ”

“You were born to do this.” His voice is soft but unyielding. “And if you don’t, the bond will consume you.”

The color drains from her face. Blackwell sits back again, watching her absorb it. Watching her realize the weight of it.

“That,” he says smoothly, “is why we test you.”

She looks like she’s going to be sick.

“Because if you are not strong enough to survive them, ” his gaze flicks between us, “they will kill you.”

She stares at him. Frozen. Disbelieving. Her lips part, but no words come out at first. She looks at Blackwell, then at us, like she’s trying to make sense of something impossible.

Then, finally,

“Sins?” Her voice is barely above a whisper, her brows drawing together. “What does that even mean?”

She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand what we are. What she’s been thrown into. I exhale sharply, jaw clenching. Of course she doesn’t.

“What do you know of the Seven Sins, Miss Evernight?” His voice is measured, a teacher prompting a student, as if this is some casual conversation.

Luna swallows. “Like…the religious ones?”

Blackwell smiles, slow and deliberate. “Not quite.”

He leans forward slightly, folding his hands on the desk, gaze locked on hers.

“They are not concepts,” he says. “They are not mere flaws of humanity. They are something far older, far more ancient. And for the last several centuries, they have been housed within them.”

He lifts a hand, gesturing toward us.

Luna’s eyes flick over us, scanning our faces like she’s seeing us for the first time. She doesn’t speak, but I see it, the way her breath picks up slightly, the way her fingers curl at her sides .

“The Seven Sins are forces of nature. They are instinct given form, hunger without restraint. Left unchecked, they would consume everything in their path. They have before. That is why, long ago, a means of controlling them was created.”

His eyes narrow slightly, like he’s assessing her. “A means that was thought to be long extinct.” Blackwell taps a finger against the desk, measured and slow. “The Sin Binder.”

Her breath catches, barely audible. I doubt she even realizes she does it.

I smirk. Good. Let her feel it.

She shakes her head, like she’s trying to shove the words away before they sink in. “That still doesn’t tell me what they are.”

“Lucien Virelius,” Blackwell interrupts smoothly, gesturing toward him. “Pride. His word is law, his will impossible to resist.”

Lucien barely reacts. His expression remains cool, unreadable. The only indication he’s listening is the way his fingers flex slightly against his arms.

Blackwell turns to Caspian. “Caspian Vael. Lust. His touch, his very voice, is an addiction you cannot recover from.”

Luna flinches slightly, her gaze flicking toward him.

Caspian grins. “You’ll find out soon enough, sweetheart.”

Her lips press together, eyes narrowing slightly.

Blackwell continues, like he doesn’t notice.

“Riven Kain.” His gaze lands on me. “Wrath. The longer he fights, the stronger he becomes. Pain does not weaken him; it fuels him.”

Luna’s eyes snap to mine, and for the first time, I see it. Something uncertain. Like she’s putting the pieces together. Like she’s realizing she should be afraid.

I lean forward slightly, letting my lips curl. She looks away.

“Silas Veyd. Envy.”

Silas barely moves, but his gaze is heavy, assessing.

“He takes what others have,” Blackwell says. “Abilities, strengths, gifts. And the more he covets, the longer he holds them.”

Luna’s throat bobs.

Blackwell turns his attention to the others. “Ambrose Dalmar. Greed.”

Ambrose smiles slightly, but his eyes remain flat, calculating.

“He owns whatever he touches,” Blackwell says simply. “People included.”

Luna draws in a slow breath.

“Elias Dain. Sloth.”

Luna looks at him, and Elias, ever unbothered, just tips his head slightly in acknowledgement.

“Time bends to his will,” Blackwell explains. “It slows, drags. The world moves as he commands it.”

Luna blinks. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

A low chuckle. Elias smiles.

“Wait until I use it on you,” he murmurs.

Her brows knit together.

Blackwell’s gaze shifts to the final figure in the room. “Orin Vale.”

Luna’s body tenses before he even speaks. Because Orin is watching her. Not the way Caspian is. Not the way Lucien does, like he’s above it all. No, Orin watches her like she’s already his. His arms rest on the chair, fingers flexing slightly, like he’s feeling something crawl beneath his skin.

Blackwell gives her no warning.

“Gluttony.”

Luna’s breath catches.

Blackwell’s voice is calm, factual. “He consumes. Everything. Power, life, energy. If it exists, he can take it.”

Orin tilts his head slightly, gaze still locked on her. “But I never know when to stop.”

Blackwell folds his hands again. “Now do you see, Miss Evernight?”

She looks at him, lips parting.

“Without a Binder,” he says, slow and certain, “they are unrestrained.”

His eyes darken slightly.

“And without them, you are nothing.”

The room locks. Something passes through her expression. Something wounded.

But she swallows it down. And finally, she whispers,

“…And if I refuse?”

Blackwell smiles. But there’s no kindness in it.

“You won’t.”

“You said something about tests?” she asks, voice uneven. “ What kind of tests?”