Page 25 of Twisted Sins

He didn’t attack her right away like she thought he would. Instead, he went towards one of the low tables at the side of the tent.

He was dressed the same way she had seen him the first time in black clothes and dark brown beads. The metal accessories he had worn during the ceremony were missing. The only constant was the three white horizontal lines along with ash covering his face.

Seemingly ignoring her, he began undressing. He removed the brown beads, arm bracelets, and necklaces and placed them carefully on top of the table. And then, he shed the black tunic, exposing his upper body.

Shock gripped her, seeing his body without any grey ash. His tanned skin appeared golden brown in the dim lighting and was covered in several marks that appeared to be from injuries. But what caught her absolute attention was the huge tattoo on his back. Even in flickering light, she could see the large tattoo of an eagle with open wings covering the entire span of his broad shoulders.

The movement of his back muscles made the eagle seem almost alive, with its eyes watching her and its open wings moving as though in mid-flight.

Pushing away her fanciful thoughts, she held her breath as he turned, and she saw more injury marks and tattoos circling his upper arms and chest. There weren’t any large tattoos, but she could see something written around his upper arms. His massive chest held the image of a lotus flower on top of his heart, along with some texts written under it.

She sucked in a deep breath. She had always been indifferent to tattoos, neither liking them nor hating them. But the tattoos on the demon made her feel terrified.

It’s not the tattoos. It is the man.

The demon was terrifying even when she didn’t get to see his tattoos. And the demon was currently turned towards her and watching her silently.

“Y-you need to let me go,” she said.

She knew he didn’t understand what she said to him, but she still wanted him to hear her speak, to show that she wasn’t terrified of him.

“I-if you don’t let me go, my brothers will hunt you down and kill you.”

There was no reaction on his ash-covered face.

Knowing she couldn’t remain hidden in the shadows and the demon could easily catch her, she slowly stepped out. His grey eyes lowered, taking in her clothes.

She had changed out of the Kabali clothes and worn back her pink cropped top and cream linen pants.

“I am a Thakvar, and I don’t belong here.”

His grey eyes glittered while he was listening to the Thakvar name.

Her heart thudded as he began to move, and she tightened the grip on the knife she held at her back. But he didn’t come towards her. He went to the low table where the food was kept.

He opened the lid on the tray, and his hard jaw clenched seeing the untouched food.

He probably thought she was deliberately starving herself to die, which would mean he would miss out on getting her portion of the Thakvar inheritance.

He looked at her and began coming towards her.

“Stop!” she yelled.

When he continued to come, she pulled up the knife in front of her and held it in a threatening manner.

“I said stop!”

That didn’t stop him either.

Sucking in a deep breath, she raised the knife and held it to her throat. “Rudra, stop!”

This time, he paused.

“If you come near me, I’ll kill myself,” she said in a warning tone. “The Thakvars will have no reason to give you my inheritance. And they will decimate you and your clan.”

His grey eyes glittered within his ash-covered face.

“Tam hums manlam mam ornayi thikri dhani…gvanni,” he commanded.

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