| Dark Devotion |

12

A B H I M A N

Ira’s eyes widened in horror as she looked around.

“What is this…?” It came out as a whisper, and her panicked gaze met mine. The sight of her shaking in fear flooded my body with a hunger to spill every drop of the fucker’s blood.

“Enough. Let’s go.” I went to grab her to get her out of here when she suddenly gasped and put her hand up to her mouth and pointed behind me.

Shit. She saw it.

I blocked her view when she paled, her entire body trembling

. “Is that a heart?” She swallowed hard. “With my picture on?”

Ira swayed unsteadily before her eyes rolled back. I caught her in my arms before she collapsed to the floor. I held her small frame tightly against my body. My eyes were fixated on the heart that was hung by a knife with her picture on it. Clenching my jaw, I walked out with her in my arms.

“Get Janvi to the palace” I instructed Aditya.

On the way down, I frowned as I looked at her busted brow that was still bleeding. I tried to think of who could have been after her already. I knew being with me was a major risk, but these pictures started before I showed my interest in her.
Whoever it was, the scumbag would have wished he died before I got my hands on him. For every scratch on her body, for every misplaced hair on her head, he was going to get a hole drilled into him.
And that’s a fucking promise.

I parked the car in front of the palace.

“What happened to her?” Amaira looked in shock at Ira when I passed her.

I paid no attention to her and entered the room, gently laying Ira  down on the bed before heading to the bathroom. I filled the bathtub with water, rolled up my sleeves, and went back to her.

“You take her away for a couple of days, and she comes back like this? What happened bhai?” Amaira sat next to her, taking in the sight of blood smeared across her face and hands.

“I don’t know.” I clenched my jaw, not liking my own answer.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Amaira frowned.

“I’m looking into it. Get out and send Janvi up here when she arrives.” Amaira knew better than to push me right now and silently left the room.
I removed Ira’s dress carefully and carried her to the tub. I grabbed a washcloth and wiped away the blood that covered her face and body.

“I feel dizzy…” She mumbled, leaning against me as I continued to wash her.

“It will go away soon.” I assured her.

“Janvi’s here.” Amaira announced with a knock on the door.

“Who’s Janvi?” Ira tried to open her eyes, but the brightness of the lights caused her to squint and shut them once more.

“She’s our doctor.” I replied, almost smiling. Despite her agony and clouded mind, the mere mention of another woman fueled her jealousy.

I dressed her in one of my t-shirts and carried her to the bed again, placing her to sit against the headboard for Janvi to examine her.

“Okay, what do we have here?” Janvi placed her medical bag at the end of the bed and sat next to Ira to look at her. “How are you feeling?”

“Not good… I have a banging headache, an annoying ringing in my ears, and my eyes can’t really focus. It’s making me dizzy.” Ira blinked a few times when Janvi turned off her penlight.