Page 16 of The Last Strike

“And now ...” Khalil came to stand behind Reed, his breathing visibly accelerated, his eyes wide and frantic. “Now he is going to pay the price. This is what happens when you attempt to assassinate the King of Adani and kill his people! This is what happens to those who attempt treason! Let this be a lesson, King Asher. I warned you, but you didn’t listen. Now Santina will pay the price for your foolishness.”

Asher couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, as the King drew a knife.

Khalil looked directly into the camera. “This is what happens to our enemies,” he said as he swiped a knife along Reed’s neck.

“No!” Asher yelled. He jumped to his feet, paced two steps, and leaned forward, his hands on his knees as he gulped in air—but his lungs didn’t stop burning. The ground swayed beneath him.

“It’s not him; Reed’s alive!” Jesse said quickly, rushing to grab Asher’s arm. Asher’s head snapped to him, but Jesse wasn’t looking at him—his eyes were far away and Asher knew he was listening via his earpiece.

“Reed’s vitals are stable. Samuel’s reviewing the footage. Reed has a scar below his left ear. It’s not him.” Jesse looked directly at Asher now. “It’s not him. Reed is alive.”

Asher couldn’t think. “Is the video fake?”

Jesse paused for a moment, then shook his head. “No, Samuel thinks it’s real. He killed someone else, someone made to look like Reed—whether they used a prosthesis, they don’t know yet.”

Asher straightened as the reality of what he’d just seen set in. “King Khalil just murdered someone on national television.” He ran his hands over his face. Fury rushed through his veins as the ground swayed beneath him again. “He knew the water supply had been poisoned. He knew what Reed was doing there.”

Asher’s phone rang and he wasn’t surprised to see it was Samuel.

“Samuel, what is going on?” Asher asked quickly.

“We’re not entirely sure, but it seems the king wants you—and the entire region—to believe Reed is dead. Why? A power play, maybe. He certainly used that to put doubt and fear into minds of Santinians. But my guess is that he wants you to think Reed is dead.”

“Why?” Asher asked. It would eliminate a rescue attempt, but Asher didn’t think that was the reason.

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll find out,” Samuel said.

“We need to find out fast. This man is a raging lunatic. He doesn’t care about his people or our region. All this man cares about is power!” Asher was so mad he was seeing red. “And I’m going to take it all from him.”

Abi

Abi dropped the plate onto the floor and shards of fine china flew in all directions—but she didn’t move. She couldn’t peel her eyes away from the television.

Asher!

She had to find Asher.

She ran from the kitchen as everyone stood around, seemingly numb. She looked back at the television to see a weather forecast. Had they really just gone from an assassination to a weather forecast?

Abi paused for a moment, wondering if she’d temporarily lost her mind and imagined it. But then she looked at the pale faces of her mother and her servant and knew she hadn’t imagined it.

“I need to find Asher,” Abi said, running from the kitchen.

She called his phone and he picked up immediately.

“It wasn’t Reed,” he said quickly. “The king assassinated someone, but it wasn’t Reed.”

Abi came to a halt then forced her feet to continue. “What? Where are you?”

“I’m heading to my office,’ he said, which was where Abi was headed.

“Okay, I’ll see you there,” she said as Asher emerged from a joining hallway.

She didn’t know what she expected to see on his face, but the way he looked at her caused her to slow her pace. Asher wasn’t scared; he didn’t even seem that alarmed. His eyes swirled with a fierceness she’d never seen.

Santina’s king was ready to fight.

He held out his hand for her and she ran forward a few steps.

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