Page 35 of Capturing Sin

I swallowed thickly, looking away from the nightmare male.

A bloody heap of flesh and bone lurked on the canvas floor. I stepped over Roane’s body without inspecting it too closely, swallowing down bile at the evidence of the demon’s viciousness.

At least the other trainee, Harper, was still alive. She rocked herself soothingly on the other side of the large fight cage, blinking too rapidly, but she’d survive.

Who knew, she might request a transfer to omega team, sick of the violence like I was.

The demon opened the cage door I’d left unlocked and stepped out onto the warehouse floor.

A chorus of boos rained from the crowd. I let their displeasure wash over me, fixing my neutral mask in place.

Swooping down, I collected my bag, stuffing my discarded jacket into it. A small black remote mocked me from the inner pocket.

I swallowed a curse as my stupidity hit me.

The control for the demon’s collar was inside my bag. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have brought the damn thing into the ring with me.

I didn’t examine too closely why I was taking home the only defence I had against a demon trapped in the bowels of hunter HQ. Instead, I slipped it from the bag, gripping it tight.

The demon halted, and I almost walked into the deadly spikes protruding from his back. “Can I help you, blood bag?”

I stepped around the demon, already knowing what I’d find.

Leo blocked his way, a pistol aimed at the demon’s chest. His pale scars shone as my ex’s face flushed with anger, and I took a moment to relish his loss of composure.

Weighted gazes rested firmly on us, the crowd’s murmured rumblings providing a backdrop to the air of danger.

I stepped in front of the demon with my chin lifted, despite the itch that formed between my shoulder blades to have the predator at my back. “You told me to fetch my subject, so I did. You’d better run along now and collect what’s left of your recruits.”

The hunters might think of me as nothing but a spoiled brat, yet I was the one walking out of the cage in one piece.

Leo’s brows slammed low, a tick starting up in his jaw. “Your beast killed one of our own.”

I quirked a brow, ignoring the frisson of anxiety in my middle. “You could have stepped in at any time. Don’t act like I don’t know the rules of the ring. I beat your arse in there enough times.”

“But not anymore,” he snarled, eyes blazing with more emotion that I’d seen when I’d dumped his traitorous arse. “And don’t think I won’t tell the hunter prime about this.”

True fear bit me, closing fangs around my throat until I could hardly breathe. The demon stirred at my back, but he remained quiet.

“Go ahead.” I snickered, infusing my false laugh with very real derision. “Tell him how you jeopardised the vital project that he assigned me.”

Leo tried to hide a flash of uncertainty by holstering his weapon, knowing other hunters from the crowd would have theirs trained on the demon walking free.

My ex stepped in close, trying to intimidate me, but it was the low growl behind me that had unease prickling my nape.

Still, the bigger threat to my health was the man in front of me, not the monster lurking at my back.

“He hasn’t forgotten about your…unsanctioned leave. If you think you can pretend it never happened, think again.” He clucked his tongue. “Oh, the rage on his face when I told him what you’d done.”

I ignored the terror icing my veins, keeping my mask in place. I shoved forward, knocking my shoulder into him as I passed.

The heat and innate sense of danger behind me signalled the demon followed.

I half wished he’d shoulder checked my ex as well. Those wicked bone shards would give Leo something to whine about.

The guards at the door let us through without incident, and I led the bloodied demon down the stairs into the sublevel used for labs and containment. The security door closed behind us with a loud slam, and I jumped at the sudden noise.

Silence swallowed us like we’d stepped into a tomb.

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