Page 76 of Capturing Sin

A patron called out to Aurora, but she ignored them, eyes tightening as she leaned over the bar, bringing her lips closer to Sin’s ear. “Like I told you before, I haven’t seen him, but meet me out back in ten minutes and I’ll tell you what I know.” She glanced in my direction before turning back to Sin with a raised brow. “And those bruises and scars had better not be your doing, or I’ll make sure you feel each one as I copy them onto your flesh.”

My brows shot up. A demon was defending a human against their own kind?

I’d learned more about them tonight than I had in my last ten years as a hunter.

Sin grunted, waving her off with a dismissive hand. “I wish they were from me.”

She giggled, eyes bright. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Reaching beneath the bar, she grabbed a frosted glass already half-filled with a dark-red liquid and lifted a bottle of whisky from the back.

“No.” Sin shook his head, eyes darting to me for a second. “Straight for me.”

She quirked a brow. “Something you want to tell me about you two, hmmm?”

He shrugged with false innocence, deadly spikes drawing my attention.

She pursed her Cupid’s-bow lips but didn’t press, swapping the likely blood-filled glass for an empty one before upending the bottle for a generous free pour and expertly sliding the drink to Sin. I’d have slid it right off the edge of the polished counter and smashed the glass.

“What’ll it be, killer?” Her oddly warm gaze met mine.

I startled for a moment at the nickname before realising she couldn’t know what I used to be. Sin snorted, hiding a smirk in his drink beside me.

Swallowing nervously, I considered my options before deciding a little booze couldn’t hurt. Who knew what I’d need to do to escape Sin’s clutches. Liquid courage might be necessary.

“Sloe gin and tonic, please,” I said.

She turned, nimbly fixing my drink before placing it before me. Her claws were only a fraction longer and pointier than human fingernails. She’d painted them a black lacquer with fanged smiley faces that had my lips twitching.

“It’s on me. You’ll need it with that grumpy bastard.” She beamed at Sin. “Pay up, fang face.”

He rolled his eyes, handing over a few notes from his pocket before tugging me along by the tail collar as we plunged back through the crowded club. I sipped my drink, welcoming the fizz on my tongue before it burned sweetly down my throat.

A slender demon in a pinstripe suit stepped up beside me, eyes glowing as he took me in. Curved claws raked out. Before he could so much as scratch me, Sin was there, gripping the male’s wrist hard enough that I could hear the crunch of bone over the bass-heavy music.

Adrenaline lit my veins, sharpening the scene. I knew his type—a fear demon—just like the bastard test subject Sin had saved me from when he came back to kidnap me.

“Leave,” Sin growled. “Before I rip that hand off and gift it to her.”

The other male didn’t back down, ignoring the pain he must be in, along with Sin’s threat. “You into sharing, gorgeous? I can pay. I bet that little slut looks good on her kne—”

His words cut off with a choking sound. A line of red opened along his throat. Blood poured down his neck, staining his open dress shirt. Sin flicked his hand, splattering the hem of my lacy dress, mirroring the droplets he’d left from the bouncer.

The male collapsed to the sticky floor, hitting his knees and pitching forward.

A human squealed as the body smacked into their legs. His eyes widened on Sin, and he backed away, palms raised.

“You… I… What…?” I blinked at the dead body, now bleeding out on the raised edge of the sunken dance floor.

Sin tugged me behind him with his makeshift collar around my throat, leading us towards a corridor while I impersonated a fish.

I swallowed, finally finding my voice in a shouted whisper as he brought me into a quieter section. “Did you just commit literal murder on the dance floor!?”

A few couples lined the walls, making out and doing…other things.

Sin’s eyes locked on me like prey. He backed me up against the wall, caging me in with his body until he was all I could see. His tail unwound from my neck, replaced by his hand, the clawed tip of his thumb stroking over my skin until I shivered.

The scent of mandarin and leather, sweet yet masculine, invaded my senses, blocking out the nightclub’s cocktail of sweat, alcohol, and blood.

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