Page 6 of Capturing Sin

Definitely not crying at work.

See? Fine.

“I can handle it,” I said, keeping my tone even despite the near waterworks.

It wasn’t that I wanted this job, exactly; it was that I couldn’t stomach the alternative.

He shot me a condescending look, one of his all-time favourite expressions. “If that were the case, then we wouldn’t be almost three weeks into you taking this position, and still without a single valid test result. Dr Smythe has seen those same compounds react to the blood and tissue samples she has taken. Might I remind you, Liliana, that you were the one who requested a transfer into the research division.”

He loved to say my name. It was one of those stupid little things that made him feel powerful. Or maybe he’d once read in a self-help book that it made people respect you more.

I nodded repeatedly, trying to project confidence. “Not just a result or two. I’m right around the corner from a breakthrough.”

There was zero chance of that.

Because I’d stopped running most of the tests they wanted after my first day playing scientist.

His flat look called me out for the liar I was. “The hunter prime will be kept appraised of your progress. Or, rather, lack thereof.”

Only years of practise stopped the fear showing on my face. Somehow, I managed a tight smile. “I understand. I’ll try harder.”

Martin smiled back. And it was as vicious as any demon I’d come across. “See that you do.”

Sensing we were done, I stood, leaving Martin to his silent gloating.

I strode from the room with my shoulders thrown back like I had nothing to fear. Closing the door firmly behind me, I let out a small breath, closer to a choked sob than anything, and checked my father’s watch. It was the only thing I had left of him, since my uncle, the hunter prime, had taken the rest of my inheritance for “safekeeping.”

The small crack in the glass aligned with the big hand like it was trying to hide the fact that I was officially late for my next scheduled appointment of the day.

“Shit,” I muttered, hurrying down the narrow corridor and swiping my pass to enter the last room on the right.

This place was a maze of secured rooms, most I didn’t even have access to, even now that I’d changed to the research division.

A thin woman hunched over a microscope, her loose-fitting lab coat splattered with vivid red marks. Greying hair was piled up into a high bun, similar in style to my dark locks. Where hers was neatly slicked into place, mine were a mess of loose wisps, a distraction of strands still falling into my face.

With my half-Thai heritage to thank for my five-foot-three skinny frame and baby face, most people thought I looked younger than my twenty-four years. My freckles and the recent switch from contact lenses to oversize wire-rimmed glasses only seemed to add to that, but I had nothing on Cara. She’d already hit retirement age and looked as unbending and unmarred as steel.

Cara didn’t bother to look up as I entered. The door clicked shut at my back, sealing me into a fresh hell.

“What took you so long?” she asked, not bothering to look up from the microscope she peered down. “Humanity isn’t going to save itself, Dozer.”

“Sorry,” I muttered, ignoring her use of the dumb nickname Jayce had started the whole hunter chapter using, and hurrying over to grab the samples from the fridge that I’d prepared with her yesterday. “My meeting overran.”

I furiously ignored the horror show twitching near the back of the lab.

Cara switched off the microscope and finally faced me, severe features pinching. She held her narrowed stare for another long second, where I fought not to fidget under her scrutiny, clutching the tray of samples.

With a huff, she slid down the cat-eye glasses from her head to glare at me through them instead. “If you don’t want to be here, go back to the other meatheads upstairs.”

A part of me had always wanted to be a scientist but not like this. I wanted to help make the world a better place: cure an incurable disease, uncover a breakthrough that reduced our impact on the planet, help us understand a rare animal species to boost conservation efforts. This bastardised version of long-ago crushed dreams was a cruel joke.

Yet I couldn’t face being an actual hunter anymore.

Not that this was much less horrifying. At least as a hunter, I’d given the demons a quick, clean death if I could. You didn’t blame the wolf for killing the sheep. It was their nature, instinct driving them. Or so I’d thought.

It seemed I’d underestimated their capacity for premeditated evil as much as their ability for good. They were like us in that way. Just people.

I stretched my lips into a brittle approximation of a smile, waving her off. “I’m happy right here.”

---