Page 32 of Capturing Sin

I paused.

Violence swirled higher in the air as the hunters nearby latched onto the drama unfolding. They scented fresh meat. A new victim to be sacrificed on their bloody altar.

How quickly they forgot.

I’d been forged in this cage, and others just like it, long before most of them learned demons weren’t just scary stories meant to keep sinners in line.

My test subject got in another good hit, swiping his claws up Roane’s arm. But Harper was already there, taking her price in blood with a long slash through his chest.

The demon hissed, jerking back with a ferocious snarl and a slight limp, favouring his left leg. Blood poured from a huge gash in the right, soaking the grey trousers somehow still clinging to him despite numerous cuts in the fabric.

He looked feral. Raking bloodied claws through the air. His spiked tail jabbing. Fangs bared.

The two newbie hunters were a little battered, but it was nothing the rest of us hadn’t seen before.

The idea of holding a weapon, even the toothpick Leo offered, made my hands shake. They felt clammy, like blood already coated them, and I fought the urge to wipe my palms on my jacket.

But I couldn’t let Leo kill my test subject. I owed it to the one project I was taking seriously. My last act as a hunter before I disappeared forever.

Maybe then I could sleep at night, without screaming myself awake in the early hours, drenched in cold sweat.

This was for science.

At least, that was what I told myself as I stepped up to the cage’s secure door, shunning my ex and dropping my backpack and coat to the ground. I didn’t like fighting in my glasses, but at least my long hair was secured in a messy bun.

The fighters paused, glancing at me suspiciously while trying to keep each other in sight.

“Get the fuck away from my demon.” I cringed internally at the poor wording but kept a hard expression on my face.

He was mine in terms of science. That’s what I’d meant.

The demon smirked, a cruel twist of his split lips. The dark-grey shade made them look hard and cold, but I knew what their soft heat felt like against my skin.

I shook off the weird, intrusive thought.

Harper shot me a look of disgust.

I lifted my chin, fighting back a blush. “He’s my test subject,” I clarified. “And I need him in one piece.”

Harper snorted, wisely brandishing her weapon at the vicious blood demon, not taking her focus off him for a second. “We don’t take orders from omega team.” She raised her voice. “Boss, we ending this or what?”

“Kill it,” Leo scoffed behind me. “We’ll bring Dozer a new pet for her silly little games.”

I clenched my jaw and unlocked the cage, ignoring Leo sniggering at my back.

“Last chance. Both of you, leave.” I met Harper’s and Roane’s eyes, letting each of them see the cold, unflinching stare of my dark side. The one I’d needed to survive a lifetime of violence.

Harper laughed. Roane just shook his head.

“I don’t know who you are, lady, but you’re an idiot. You’re not even armed,” he said. “That beast is gonna tear your damn throat out, and we ain’t gonna stop it.”

Was it stupid to get into a fight ring with two armed hunters and a demon who hated you?

You bet.

But I stepped in anyway.

Adrenaline spiked, and yet my body loosened in anticipation of the oncoming violence. Calm clarity, which fighting always seemed to bring, slipped through me in a familiar wave.

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