Page 49 of Capturing Sin

I pursed my lips. “A demon on a hunger strike? Now I’ve seen it all.”

“Stop deflecting. Leave.”

“Fine,” I snapped, irritation sinking its claws into my chest, along with a dose of fear. If my uncle found out that I didn’t feed Sin today, I’d be punished with more than a little dizzy spell. “I’ll be back.”

“Looking forward to it,” he sneered, back to his prickly self.

For a moment, I could have sworn he was worried about me. Of course, he’d just be worried about his one constant supply of food. He was my captive, for fuck’s sake. Nothing more.

I already knew nobody would care if I actually died. It had been proven with empirical evidence the moment Leo and the rest of my team left me to die on the grimy floor of an abandoned warehouse.

With one last glare, I left the lab, heading off in search of the one place I could get food in hunter HQ.

I hadn’t brought lunch in, down to just breakfast and dinner for the past couple of days.

I grabbed my purse from the staff lockers, stuffing it into my lab coat pocket as I hurried up the stairs, buzzing my pass to exit the underground level. The general bustle of people reached me the moment I pushed open the heavy steel door, along with the wordless judgement of two guards.

“Jorah, Tim,” I said, nodding as I passed.

Neither returned the gesture.

I strode away, avoiding looking at the empty cage dominating the centre of the warehouse. I couldn’t handle seeing the bloodstains on the mat today.

Scurrying to the only open doorway, nestled between a few stacks of empty crates, I slipped inside, bracing for the worst.

The canteen fell deathly silent.

Chapter 20

Three teams of hunters sprawled around long tables, laughter dying off as their beady eyes raked over me.

Fifteen sets of eyes would be intimidating enough, but every person here was a trained killer.

Even me.

I drew my shoulders back, ignoring the rising hostility, and made my way to the short counter, holding covered metal dishes under heat-lamps.

The scent of roast meat was like a punch to the gut. Hunger scraped through my middle, hollowing out the already empty space. Saliva pooled in my mouth, and I had to swallow thickly as I met the careful stare of the woman in charge.

“Hi, Belinda.” I offered her a sheepish smile. “It smells delicious, as always. Can I have today’s special, please?”

She was already shaking her head. “Sorry, dove, your uncle said you’re not to eat here anymore. Real hunters only.” Her upper lip lifted in distaste at the clear insult to us in omega team.

A few sniggers broke out behind me, but I kept my chin lifted, a fake smile bolted to my face. “Oh, I didn’t realise they’d changed the rules today.”

I knew for a fact that Cara and Martin had eaten here together yesterday.

There wasn’t usually a big divide between the operational hunters and omega team. Those bloodthirsty lunatics usually saw our value.

I was just a shiny, new special exception.

The chef shrugged with an apologetic smile, but her attention wandered to the covered food as if she’d forgotten all about me already.

The urge to cry knifed through me.

I almost caved to the frantic need to rip off one of the metal lids and grab a handful of whatever was under it anyway.

But my uncle would not reduce me to a fucking animal.

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