Page 6 of Twisted Sins

But the riders caught up within moments. They didn’t stop and passed by the vehicles.

Nandini’s heart thudded as she looked outside the SUV window and saw a blur of black amidst the rising sand passing by the vehicle. Although the SUV was accelerating to the maximum, the horse riders easily outrode the vehicle.

The SUV driver kept repeating the word Kabali while visibly trembling.

“They are dressed like our soldiers, sir,” said the person on the walkie-talkie. “They could be the additional backup.”

Nandini didn’t understand the context of the conversation. Did the security mean they were her father’s clansmen joining the SUVs to guide them home?

Although she didn’t know much about the Singoor desert, she knew her father’s clan colors were red and gold. Not black. Her father had gifted her mother and her plenty of jewelry and accessories in those colors. Even the current security head was wearing a brooch showing an attacking tiger insignia in red and gold colors, which was how she identified him as from her father’s clan.

Then why did the security head think they were backup when the men were dressed in black?

“Are they some kind of bandits?” Rahul asked with panic in his voice.

“They are local clan people passing by. They are not a threat—” Before the security head could finish, the SUV came to a sudden screeching halt.

The six horsemen had stopped at a distance in the front, waiting. The eagles that had flown over the SUVs, now sat on the hands of those six men, proving those were trained birds. The largest eagle sat on the hand of the man in the middle.

The driver began to reverse once again, but the SUV began to shake and came to a stop.

“They have punctured the SUV tire, sir! It’s stuck in the sand!”

“Are they going to rob us?” Rahul asked in a panic.

A chill passed through Nandini. Even from the distance, the riders looked huge and menacing. They wore all black and held spear-like weapons in their hands. She couldn’t see their faces from a distance, but her heart raced when she saw them getting down from their horses. The eagles flew from the riders and once again came towards the SUVs.

“My God, they are coming here!” Rahul said.

“Bring out the smoke bombs!” the security head ordered. “That should scare them away.”

Nandini’s heart thudded harder.

She watched as a couple of security men from the other SUVs got down and then threw something towards the horsemen.

Smoke filled the air around them.

There was an eerie silence for a long moment.

“They must have been scared off,” the security head said. “Change the tire, and let’s get going—” Before he could finish, ear-piercing primitive shouts filled the air.

Goosebumps peppered Nandini’s skin.

The dark, primitive shouts that sounded like a war cry were followed by sounds of clanging metal. She couldn’t see anything as smoke filled the air, but the sounds coming chilled her to the bone. They were screams of agony.

“What’s happening?” the security head asked.

“They are attacking, sir!”

“Shoot them down! Kill all those savages!”

There were shouts, gunshots, and more screams of agony, but nothing was visible yet.

“The SUV's doors and windows are bulletproof, Miss Thakvar.” The security head said. “Remain seated while we tackle this… inconvenience.”

He then pulled out something and held it in his hand. It was a gun.

Nandini nodded, not saying anything. She knew it was beyond an inconvenience. It was an active danger.

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