Page 179 of Twisted Sins

Uma nodded. “Okay, I will.”

Nandini was relieved when Uma stepped out.

The other staff didn’t interrupt and only greeted with a nod while Nandini went up the steps. She was led into the room she had been to earlier.

As soon as she stepped in, the door was shut and locked. And then, the lever to the secret tunnel was pushed open.

With her heart thudding, she stared into the grey eyes.

“I’ll come with you willingly. But promise me that no one here will get hurt.”

Grey eyes bore into hers, but they were no response

Knowing there was no other way. She took out the small knife from near her waist and held it at her throat.

“Promise me you won’t hurt anyone here!” she demanded softly.

This time, the expression in the grey eyes changed. There was dark anger and fear that she might hurt or kill herself.

“I promise,” he said softly.

She put away the knife and met his eyes.

“Nandini…” he said softly in a tone that made her skin crawl.

Before she could say anything, something pricked the side of her neck. Even as she fought the darkness desperately, it enveloped her.

CHAPTER 55

It was a surreal moment for Tantra.

His Nandini lay in front of him, sleeping peacefully, only a few feet from him. He had only dreamt of being so close to her.

He would never forget the first time he saw her. She was sixteen years old at that time, the same age as him. She was visiting the Kabali region with her older brother. All Singoor clan heirs and heiresses were present that day, but his eyes were drawn only to her.

He recalled the incident when one of the heirs made fun of the heiresses, stating that heiresses should only aspire to be a powerful clan head’s wife and nothing more. But Nandini Thakvar challenged him, stating that Singoor had many female clan heads who were as capable as the male clan heads. The argument led to the heir claiming that heiresses weren’t capable of defending their clan. To prove the point, he challenged Nandini to participate in a horse race, archery, and sword fight. Nandini won against the heir in all.

She was called the Thakvar tigress since then.

He fell in love with her beauty and spirit. While other heirs vied for her attention, he observed her from afar. He noticed that she was fascinated by the lotus flowers native to the Kabali area, so he sent her lotus flowers on her birthdays.

His eyes swept to the side table beside the bedding. There was a bouquet of lotus waiting for her to enjoy once she woke up. He couldn’t wait to talk to her.

He was happy that she recognized him. Even though everyone who saw him in the Kabali mansion thought he was Rudra Kabali, she instantly knew who he was.

His heart raced that his Nandini didn’t forget him.

She had seen him many times at the Singoor temple. From the age of sixteen, because of her, he had spent significant time in the Singoor temple. He didn’t know when she would visit and didn’t want to miss any opportunity to see her. He convinced his father to allow him to train with temple warriors instead of the clansmen. He trained with the temple warriors and then waited for her with the lotus flowers.

He offered some to Goddess Shakti, praying he would see his tigress that day and ask for the courage to talk to her about how he felt. He gave the rest of the flowers to Nandini whenever she was there. Each time he saw her helping the needy at the temple and learning sparring from the temple protectors, his love for her grew.

Even though she accepted the flowers from him and was delighted, he never told her how he felt. He thought of making her his wife as per tradition.

But all of his dreams were destroyed because of one person.

Tantra let out a low growl at the thought of his father.

He recalled the day his father called him to speak privately about his future. He thought his father would discuss marriage and how the Kabali clan was expected to make an alliance with another powerful clan. He was excited because the Thakvar clan was as powerful as the Kabali.

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