Free Sins of the Flesh by Caridad Piñeiro

little so you don’t hurt yourself.”
    Caterina warily tracked the movement of Mick’s hand as he slackened the ties. Then he surprised her by tucking his hand into hers, his touch compassionate, creating a sudden and silent understanding between them that dissipated the remaining tension in her body.
    She finally relaxed down onto the mattress and Mick nodded. “That’s it. Rest and get better. Maybe then you can go home, Cat.”
    Home
, Caterina thought, wondering at his actions. Baffled by the kindness he was exhibiting that was so at odds with what she had been experiencing lately. He hadn’t really reacted with fear at her strange blood and skin, which even had her scared.
    He didn’t release her hand as she continued to stare at him. His palm was hard and calloused, but the touch was light. Soothing as he covered her one hand with both of his and once again said, “Rest. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
    Somehow she knew he was capable of protecting her from others. But as she met his gaze and saw the continued puzzlement there, she sensed that he wasn’t sure if he could protect her from himself.
    “Will
you
hurt me?” she asked.
    His gaze darkened and became shuttered before he pulled his hands away.
    “Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

CHAPTER 9

    L iliana didn’t know who to trust with the blood sample.
    Certainly not her fiancé, Harrison. If he thought there was anything of value in the findings, he would be the first to broadcast them to the world in order to benefit himself. He cared nothing for family or friends, just himself, she had come to realize in the last few months when his demeanor had taken a turn for the worst.
    It only reinforced her belief that she had to find a way out of their relationship. For months now she had been contemplating it, especially as Harrison’s actions in private became more and more violent.
    As she entered the hospital lab after grabbing a few hours’ sleep in the doctor’s lounge, she spotted Dr. Carmen Rojas, a pathologist with whom she had become good friends. The two of them had helped each other through their boards and the mazelike routes of hospital politics.
    She hoped Carmen could assist her once again.
    Carmen lifted her head from the microscope where she had been examining a slide as Liliana approached. She held her arms out wide in invitation as she said, “Dr. Carrera. What brings you to my dungeon?”
    Liliana smiled as she came to stand by Carmen’s labbench, but her hand tightened on the test tube in the pocket of her white hospital jacket. She looked around the rest of the lab to make sure they were alone before she said, “If I said a science experiment, would you believe me?”
    “A science experiment? As in—”
    A deep furrow formed between Carmen’s manicured brows as Liliana extracted the glowing test tube from her pocket and held it up for Carmen to see. “Somehow a dollar store glow stick isn’t my idea of a neat science experiment, Liliana.”
    “You’ve got to promise this stays between the two of us.”
    “Seriously? You want me to keep a glow stick secret?” Carmen questioned even as she held out her hand and wiggled her fingers in a request for the tube.
    “It’s human blood.”
    Carmen gingerly took hold of the sample and brought it beneath a table lamp she had at her workstation. She placed the vial beneath the lamp and turned it on. In the beam from the lamp, the blood glowed more brightly than it had with the ambient light.
    Carmen punched another button, switching the regular incandescent light in the lamp to blue light. Beneath the blue light, the liquid in the tube phosphoresced into a much more brilliant yellow-green.
    “Cool. Is this what Harrison has been up to?”
    “This has nothing to do with Harrison. In fact, I’d rather he not know about it. Or anyone else for that matter,” Liliana cautioned, needing her friend to understand the importance of secrecy with the sample.
    Carmen peered at