Page 60 of Iblis' Affliction
Slater didn’t approve. After all, people were arrogant and stupid. This meaningless show off could cost Talha his life, yet achieved nothing. Master was careless again, and any clean attack would now result in a blood-thirsty blade being driven under his ribs.
Lips twitching, Salik roared, trying to stab Talha’s eyes with his fingers. His other hand flying forward in a mix of a jab and stab. The metal clanged as Talha dodged and captured Salik’s blade with the sawback of his own knife. Shoulder going down, Talha wrung Salik’s hand. The knife, wrenched from weakening fingers, landed in the mud.
Moving with impressive speed, Talha painted Salik’s chest in red with a few easy strokes. The cut he left under Salik’s arm glowed with flooding red. Slater scrunched his face, realizing that Talha severed his tendon as the arm hung loosely. The remaining hand jolted in the air begging for mercy, as Salik mumbled something.
Squeezing the handle in his hand, Talha finished the final attack with a straight punch to Salik’s massive nose. Blood bursted out as the man swayed on his feet. Eyes rolling up, he stumbled back before slumping down in the mud.
Talha gushed out the air, raising his eyes to the sky flickering above the thick foliage, before he picked up Salik’s knife. Concern hardening his mouth, he gave the weapon a long, scrutinizing look, before tucking it behind his belt.
Running his clothed hand down his bleeding chest, Talha wrestled a signal gun out of the thigh pocket of his cargo pants and fired in the air. After putting it away, he collected his bow and the quiver, grabbed Salik’s foot, and hauled him back the way they’d come.
Slater jumped to the ground, his hands shaking with adrenaline when he crawled after his master. About seven minutes later, he caught a glimpse of his naked, mud-covered torso. A motionless body sprawled on the ground by Master’s feet.
Huffing with effort, Talha hooked Salik under his arm and seated his motionless form against a tree. Lifting Salik’s hands, he pulled a small spool of fishing line out of one of his belt pockets.
Slater couldn’t see the transparent cord, but he saw Salik’s hands swell with decreasing circulation. Heavy folds formed around the places the cord bit into his flesh, making his pink hands look like tied sausages.
Hunger gnawed at Slater, making him wish Talha would hurry up and finish. He hadn’t eaten properly in three days and now was starving.
When Salik’s hands were tied, Talha drew out his knife. Pressing the tip beneath Salik’s ribs on his right, Talha drove the curved side into the flesh.
Salik convulsed, shrieked, and thrashed against the tree, kicking the ground beneath him as Talha’s hand kept digging the blade into the wound. Slater swallowed, watching ‘shark teeth’ tear through the flesh, coming out crimson. When Master yanked the knife away, a massive, bleeding wound gaped in Salik’s stomach.
The ground beneath Salik came to movement, and Talha stepped aside, revealing his victim was seated on a huge anthill. The ruined colony bled out with live black streams that instantly attacked the invader.
“No, Reis, I beg you!” Salik slurred, his feet kicked the anthill which only maddened the giant black ants. “Please.”
“I promised to feed your liver to ants. I have to keep to my word, because no one will respect a man who doesn’t respect his word. Isn’t that right?” Talha wiped the knife against his pants before sheathing it.
“No, Reis, I beg you.” Salik’s legs beat against the ground in a useless attempt to shake the insects off. Mesmerized, Slater watched Salik’s mud-covered body turn black under the living carpet.
“I’m afraid, I can’t help you. You betrayed me, yet, I was merciful. I offered you an easy death. Twice. You rejected it. Twice. Now you will die in agony, and ants will feast on your liver.” Raising his voice, Talha added, “I don’t forgive betrayal. No one can hurt my family and walk away.”
Goosebumps erupting, Slater feasted on Talha’s emotionless face.Cold and cruel, Master is so hot.
“Reis?” someone called, as people cut through the bushes using knives. Two men, then two more. Slater retreated into the shadows, watching them approach Talha and Salik. Someone gagged and turned away.
“Oh my… You okay?” Dinçer cringed, giving Talha’s wound a long look of concern, then glanced at Salik, disapproval darkening his face. “Was it necessary?”
Ejder stood behind Talha with his eyes wide as he watched the maddened man writhe in panic. Salik’s hoarse panting mixed with squeals as his eyes flared with whites.
Talha stepped away from his victim. Noticing his brother’s pallid face, he cupped Ejder’s eyes before U-turning him.
“Yes, it is. It’s time to set an example. Anyone who harms my family will die a horrifying death. People should remember it well.” Glancing over his shoulder, he added, “If you feel sorry for him, you can stay. If he doesn’t die by the night, you can finish him.”
SUCCUMBED TO BOILINGmagma of awakened emotions, Slater barely registered the road back. He wished for Master to come home sooner, to experience that cold, cruel dispassion directed at him as Master would order him to suck his cock.
The footfalls echoing through the mansion brought his every cell to attention. Controlling his emotions became hard, nearly impossible, yet, he steeled himself. Sprawling on Talha’s bed, he kept crunching a long tulumba stick. His hand froze halfway to his mouth when the bedroom door flew open.
Disheveled after a long drive, Talha still looked hot. He carried that titillating smell of blood, dirt, and pine.
“The syrup is dripping,” Talha said, placing a dirt-covered bow on a small wooden stand. “Make sure you change the sheets before you get the hell out of my bedroom.”
He took a step toward the bathroom, but stopped, facing the reaper. Expression puzzled and dark, he drew the knife from behind his belt and tossed it on the bed.
“You left it in the forest.” Slater’s cheek twitched, as a wide grin stretched his face. Lust blazing through him with all-consuming fire.
Talha wavered for a moment before disappearing behind the doors.
