Page 150 of Huntress

“Come now, Elspeth. I know we got off on the wrong foot before, and it will take time and effort from both of us to reach a place of mutual trust and understanding. I think, with some reflection, you’ll find we are not asking for anything unreasonable. Not only for your specific case, but to help the hunter organization as a whole. With access to your DNA, we can discover if you have any unrecognized family among the colonies and nests. Finding those with the potential to unlock even a portion of your strength would be a great help to us.”

“It’s all for the greater good,” Elsie muttered, picking up on his message.

“Exactly!” Cornick beamed at her like a proud parent.

Fletcher finished, pressing cotton to the site and slipping the needle out. “Hold that there for about 30 seconds. It’s a small hole, your body should heal it in no time.”

She labeled the samples, then walked to the door and handed them off to someone outside. Elsie’s brows knit together. How many people did they have waiting out there, ready to be handed some piece of her insides?

“What’s next? Food?” Elsie’s stomach grumbled.

“Persistent, aren’t we?” Cornick chuckled. “I’ve ordered that something be sent to your rooms when we’re finished here, don’t you worry. Next, we’re going to need a hair sample.”

“You want to cut my hair?” Her voice was flat; her eyes narrowed. Her hair was plaited into a hip-length braid, and that wasn’t changing any time soon.

“Goodness, no.” Fletcher smiled. She held a pair of tweezers and a clear plastic bag. “We wouldn’t dare. It’s in your file that your mother strictly forbade us from cutting your hair against your will. Instead, we’re going to pull a few strands. We need the follicles more than the tips, anyway.”

They were playing with semantics to get what they wanted. Saint took a step forward, a low growl in his throat, and the guards at the door reacted quickly, red dots appearing on her demon’s chest. Elsie put her hands up, leaning until those little dots landed on her instead.

“Relax. You can do it.”

“Excellent,” Fletcher praised. Cornick motioned to the guards to lower their weapons.

Elsie hissed as the first bunch of hairs were ripped from her head, eyes widening when she saw what “a few” strands looked like. She gritted her teeth when Fletcher moved to a second, then a third location for more.

“There, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” the woman asked, labeling the hair and tucking it away for safekeeping.

“Blood, urine, hair- what else could you possibly need? My tears?” Elsie snorted.

“We’ll be getting a different kind of sample, please remove your shirt.” Cornick looked from Elsie to Saint. “We are going to fully document the markings of your seal. The demon only stays if you wish it.”

“I already told you, he stays. No matter what.” She took her shirt off, folding it over her lap.

“Oh, it’s even better than Pax described,” Fletcher said when she saw the full seal for the first time.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Elsie demanded.

“He was your regular doctor as a child. Surely you didn’t think he’d let the opportunity go to waste?” Cornick snickered. He shook his head. “He trained under me years ago—such a tragedy, his loss. Pax had a bright and inquisitive mind. Under no circumstances would he get his hands on a specimen such as yourself and not thoroughly document everything.”

Bile built in the back of Elsie’s throat. Pax had done her yearly exams when she’d first arrived, but he’d left after only a few years. He’d always given her the creeps, but there was nothing abnormal about yearly health checks. Every soldier was required to attend their appointment.

Nobody had warned her that Pax was using it to harvest information on her, nor that he was sending her private medical history to Cornick of all people.

Cornick and Fletcher hovered over her, their faces inches from her chest and throat, drawing on blank papers on their clipboards. Unaware and uncaring of the turmoil inside her mind.

“Interesting. Notice how the runes almost disappear into the design here, and it isn’t a mirror image on either side?” Cornick commented. “The spell is woven so completely into each line, it’s impossible to glean the context for some of it.”

“The detail is phenomenal, but she managed to make it all come together in such a delicate, symmetrical leaf shape. Functional and eye-catching all at once,” Fletcher added, glancing up at Elsie’s face. “The goddess of death did you a kindness. I’ve seen some awfully crude seals over the years.”

“Is that so?” Elsie asked bitterly. “Is that your specialty? Studying seals?”

“Among other things, but seals are a special interest of mine. This one is incredibly well done.”

“Happy to give you the opportunity to study it.”

Fletcher looked up sharply at Elsie’s dry tone, but she didn’t linger. The older woman couldn’t care less about Elsie’s feelings on the matter.

When they finished drawing, Fletcher brought over the rolling cart, using the stainless steel tools to take precise measurements of each section of the seal, calling out each measurement for Cornick to write down. The whole process took a few hours.