Page 155 of The Sin Binder's Vow

And I know what she sees. Me, standing still while the world pulses and churns and changes around me. Me, looking like I’ve been dropped from another era—because I have.

My hand twitches at my side, the urge to touch something,claimsomething, rising like it always does when I feel small. But I clench my fists instead.

“I look like an idiot,” I mutter.

Luna turns her head slowly, eyebrows lifting with exaggerated patience. “Youarean idiot.”

I shoot her a look, and she smirks. Shrugs. “But you’re wearing it well.”

I exhale through my nose. “You brought your sass all the way to town. How generous of you.”

“I brought my survival instincts,” she counters. “This place smells weird and there’s a sign in that bakery window that saysHaunted Goods: Buy One, Banish One Free.” Her mouth quirks. “What the hell does that even mean?”

I blink up at the sign. It’s hand-lettered in curling, chaotic script. Below it is a ghost sticker giving a thumbs-up.

“Marketing,” I say.

She gives me a look. “It’s cursed pastries.”

“That’s what marketingis.”

Luna snorts. “You’ve been out for five minutes and you’re already spiraling.”

She starts walking. I follow, because of course I do.

The air here is wrong. Not bad. Just…alive.And it makes my skin crawl with the knowledge that I am not. Not in the way they are. These humans—with their plastic bags and their mechanical laughter and their music spilling from open doorways—they think they’re living.

Luna stops in front of a glass storefront—dim, cluttered, a secondhand bookstore that still smells of ink and secrets even through the door. She peers in, and the light catches her cheekbone in a way that makes me want to do unspeakable things.

“This was a good idea,” she says quietly.

I narrow my eyes. “It wasn’t a peace offering.”

“I know.”

“I’m not apologizing.”

She turns toward me. “I wouldn’t believe you if you did.”

I step closer. Close enough that I can see the reflection of the street in her eyes. It moves too fast. Too sharp. And still—she’s steady.

“Then why did you come?”

Luna tilts her head. “Because I wanted to see how the world breaksyou.”

Her words are casual. Light. But they hit like a blade pressed to bone.

I let a slow smile curl my lips. “It won’t.”

She leans in, and I smell her again—smoke and magic and something deeper. “We’ll see.”

We step inside together.

And the bell above the door doesn’t chime.

Itscreams.

Luna