Page 76 of Iblis' Affliction
“Haven’t you said I have nothing to pay you with? “Talha rolled his eyes, finding himself in a painfully familiar situation.
“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you do. Get rid of Slater, and I’ll serve you well. You won’t regret it. “
“What made you change your mind?” His pulse remained steady as he hurled his upper body to the side, attempting to shake the reaper off, but failed. Resting back, he heaved a sigh. “Would you get off, please? I don’t have the energy to wrestle with you…”
“The way you look at me. There is no pity in your eyes, and you don’t search for words. I like it. Also, you are deliciously immoral, yet, you keep your word, don’t you?” Talha laughed, wondering what was wrong with these rippers. Who fucked them up so badly, that they were so twisted? “Don’t laugh. Unlike Slater, I can be anything you want me to be. I grant wishes, Reis. In bed too. Do you know what it means?”
“Trouble?” Gathering all the strength left in his body, Talha shoved him aside. “Anyway, are you reapers or whores? Why are you so eager to spread your legs for me?”
“What do you mean, why?” On his knees, Savas arched his black, perfect brow. “Right now, I’m just a ripper for you. You don’t care if I die or live. But if you sleep with me, it will get personal. If we bond, my failures will be yours. You will take care of me as something that’s yours.” A frown clouded his features. “This is why you can’t abandon Slater after everything he has done, isn’t it? This is why I know you are sleeping with him.”
“Okay, I don’t know what’s going on in your head, and, honestly, I’m too fed up with one reaper to want to deal with another. As you said, I have nothing to pay you with. I have already sold my soul to the devil.”
“Your loss.” Savas’ expression didn’t change, as he shuffled away and slipped off the bed. “He can’t be loyal, but I can. If I leave now, I won’t offer it again.”
“Go, ripper. Don’t kill anyone, don’t get seen, and don’t forget to erase the security footage.”
“Whatever…” With a smirk, Savas picked up the fridge.
“Savas… If I were you, I wouldn’t offer this deal to anyone else.”
With a smirk, Savas left the room.
That night, Talha slept like the dead.
SLATER GROANED, TEARING HISeyes open, but instantly closed them, shying away from the painfully bright daylight. When he tried again, the bluish room he didn’t recognize drifted before him, sucking on his stomach. Nauseous, Slater groaned again.
He tried to speak, but something held his tongue pinned down, and only a low whisper broke out from his mouth. Lifting his hand, he fumbled over his face. Fingers, finding a plastic device in his mouth, tugged on it; something rubbed against the back of his throat and a vomiting spasm hit him with a coughing fit.
Tears rushed out of his eyes, as his mouth overflowed with sour saliva. A vicious pain sprung beneath his right rib, making him writhe.
Gasping for air, he cast aside the long tube slick with bile and saliva, blinking through tears. Staying still for a moment, he couldn’t remember ever feeling this broken, as every muscle seemed to solidify.
Where is Slater?The heavy thought barely moved in his cotton-filled head. He tried to call for Master, but his voice failed him, and only a croak vibrated in his chest. His mind, slowly coming around, remembered the street fight, the mosque, and Master’s escape. His angry words and the bloody kiss.
Trying to calm his breathing, heclosed his eyes, listening for his body to speak to him. His legs responded, but something unpleasant held the index finger of his left hand. The effort drained him of strength, but he lifted his hand and peeled the finger clip off.
A piercing noise perforated his head, forcing him to roll to the side in an attempt to get up, but he choked on air when a white pain wiped out everything, even the noise. Someone pulled him back, and within a moment, many hands covered his body, that he felt like vomiting. He hated being touched by people who weren’t his master.
Hands forming fists, he squinted, concentrating on a mono-colored object among the sea of blue scrubs—an orange pen. Without thinking, he grabbed it and stabbed forward, but his attempt drowned in the air. His limbs felt weighted and his digits weakened as someone gripped his palm and tugged the pen out of his grip.
“No, you can’t move.” The voice sounded familiar, so did the green glint of the glasses, but Slater couldn’t remember where he’d seen the man. “You aren’t ruining my beautiful stitchwork.”
“No… Slater needs to see Master. Slater needs to tell Master…” He pleaded before something tiny pierced his inner elbow. Utter bitterness syringed into his mouth as the room plunged into darkness.
“IN CASE YOU ARE CURIOUS,he woke up,” Miraç’s voice, coming from the phone, sounded pleased.
“I’m not,” Talha said, but his pulse doubled its rate in excitement.
“He called for you, tried to break free, pulled the endotracheal tube out of his throat, and even attempted to stab a nurse with a pen,” Miraç kept going, ignoring Talha. “We had to sedate him.”
“I said, I don’t care.” Stabbing his canine tooth into his lower lip, Talha killed his smile. Despite Miraç’s concern that the blood loss might affect Slater’s organs or brain, the reaper seemed to be almost back to his usual self.
His chest lightened as if an invisible weight lifted from his shoulders, easing his breathing.Why the fuck am I happy about it? This fucker will die anyway… I can’t forgive him. I can’t pretend that nothing happened, neither can the Hale Family.
“I’m transferring him into a private room, where I can keep him sedated for a week. Then I’ll take him off morphine. By that time, he should be healed enough to walk carefully.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Talha squinted as he entered the bathroom and switched the lights on. Turning left, he looked in a tall, mosaic mirror. His usually olive skin wore a grayish, ailing hint, black circles outlined his bloodshot eyes, and healing cuts and bruises covered his face. He sighed, feeling no better than he looked. Instead of relief, the night had brought exhaustion and rigidity into his limbs. His head already missed the softness of the pillow, but he didn’t have time to rest, as the conference would begin in five minutes.
