When my eyes return to Sin, whatever hope I had has already been extinguished. There is no future for us after tonight. Even if I convince the other realms to fight, I know I won’t be leaving this castle alive.
He stares back at me with a broken expression, his eyes momentarily flitting to the exit doors, as if he’sdesperate to escape with me. Instead, he takes a shuddering inhale and tenderly cups my cheek. I lean into his embrace, needing lifetimes more of his touch.
“There is nothing I wouldn’t give to free you. I would burn all the realms if it meant you were free.” His fingers draw small, soothing circles on the small of my back.
My breath catches at the thought of leaving all this behind.
“But you don’t need me to save you, kitten – you never have,” he continues, and as he says it, there’s a fire in his eyes that burns into mine.
I frown, not understanding. Even if I succeed in sparking a rebellion, when I refuse to bind myself to Leon, he will either take over my will completely or kill me outright. Either way, I won’t survive him.
Sin leans in closer, his lips once again brushing against my ear. “There are no chains that can hold you. You aren’t stuck here.”
His answer only deepens the confusion swirling through my already drained mind.
I’m so tired – tired of failing, of not being enough.
I tried to save myself. But I failed. They’ve shattered me beyond repair. I can’t fight this.
Can’t he see it? The best I can hope for is that my death will inspire others to fight, and that they’ll be strong enough to fix what I couldn’t.
Sin takes in my defeated expression, and his own hardens. “Don’t you dare give up,” he says in the same tone he uses when we train.
Unable to argue, I glance around the room, then back to him, as if to ask, ‘how can I possibly fight against all of this?’
It’s too much, and I’m not enough.
Sin’s eyes narrow a fraction, and he presses his forehead to mine. “Stop letting them think they’re stronger than you.”
His words light the faintest hint of a spark, somewhere deep in my chest. Sin believes I can do this. And even with the weight of the universe pressing down on me, I let that small flame grow.
The man I love believes in me, and right now, that’s enough.
I don’t second-guess myself. I reach for him.
Sin meets me halfway, and our mouths crash together in a desperate tangle of desire and yearning. Neither of us holds back. We kiss as though the world around us is ending, and this moment is the only thing worth remembering.
When we pull away, it’s to the sound of scandalized shouts and clanking metal as guards flood the hall. Need is shouting something, but still, Sin doesn’t look away from me.
There’s an easy confidence in his voice, like he’s telling me the most obvious thing in the world when he whispers, “Fight back, kitten.”
Chapter 28
Vivian’s Point of View
Rule twenty-eight:The answer is, without a shadow of a doubt, cannibalism.
Faster than I can blink, Sin sweeps me behind him, placing himself between the guards and me. The motion snaps me out of my bubble, and I watch in horror as my worst fear becomes a reality.
Sin is about to face off against the Council’s guards, completely powerless and unarmed.
A scream gets caught in my throat, just as a hand twists in my loose waves. Pain lances through my skull as I’m yanked off my feet.
“You stupid whore,” Leon hisses, dragging me away from the mayhem.
Sin turns, and murder flashes through his gaze when he sees Leon’s hands on me. Frantically, I point to the door, begging him without words to save himself.
They can’t take him. He needs to escape.
