Page 56 of The Last Strike

Her chest quivered and she held back tears. “I am trying to protect you!”

“I don’t need you to protect me. I need yoursupport!” he said, raising his voice to match hers. “I’m not choosing to die. I know it’s terrifying, but that’s exactly how I felt. You ... adjust,” he said, seeming to search for the right words.

Abi shook her head. “I’m going to take a walk. I can’t ... I need to think about this,” she said, turning to leave.

She expected Asher to call out to her, to tell her to stay and they’d talk it through.

But he didn’t, so she kept walking.

Asher

Asher’s eyes burned from looking at his email—days of accumulated email. And he had a matching stack of mail to open on his desk.

He slouched back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Abi hadn’t come back, and now he didn’t know where they stood. He’d supported her when she’d wanted to meet Lamberi even though Asher had wanted to chain her up and refuse to let her leave.

But Abi wouldn’t support him now that he needed her to do the same for him.

His phone vibrated and he grabbed it. Disappointment flooded his chest when he saw the message wasn’t from her.

But when he opened the message, it miraculously brought a smile to his face. It was a photograph of Alistair and his boy, lying on the couch, beaming smiles.

Alistair was happy for the first time in his life, and Asher knew becoming king would destroy that.

But he also felt guilty for burdening Abi with the responsibility. His mother would take it, but she was getting old and she had already spent the majority of her life sharing the burden of the throne with King Martin.

Asher tipped his head back, sighing. It was his responsibility to bear, and so he had to make sure he stayed alive.

He thought over the plan again and mentally brainstormed various options, but it all came back to the lure. Khalil would only cross over into Santina if he had proof Asher was there. No one else would be enticing enough.

It had to be done and he needed Abi to understand.

He tried to see it from her point of view. He knew she’d reacted out of fear, but if she didn’t support this decision, where would that leave them? He needed her unconditional support. She didn’t have to agree with him, just support him.

Asher groaned, closing his eyes.

He wanted it all to stop. He wanted to go back in time to when things were simpler, when he wasn’t king, but merely a prince. When he’d first met Abi, he would never have envisioned the challenges they would face. On their first date, their future was full of possibilities. He hadn’t even known she was a Bennett when he’d taken her to the ruins—

Asher paused.

The ruins were the answer to his problems.

He picked up the phone. “James,” Asher said.

“Asher,” James responded, sounding like he’d been woken up. Asher thought it was the first time he’d caught him asleep.

“Were the tunnels in the ruins destroyed in the attack?” Asher asked quickly as a new plan formulated in his mind.

“What?” James asked groggily.

“The tunnels underneath the Lithe Ruins. Are they still accessible?” Asher asked again, clarifying.

“Oh, some of them are okay, I think. Some of them—directly below the attack site—were destroyed. Where are you going with this?” he asked, sounding more alert.

“The ruins are the answer to our problems. That’s our meeting point for Khalil,” Asher said without a hint of doubt. “I’m going to tell him I will meet him at the ruins because there is a stone in the ruins that he must sign. It’s by the swimming hole and it has been signed by every King of Santina. It is a passage of ownership,” Asher said, realizing that he himself hadn’t even signed it. But he would soon—the night he met Khalil. “It’s a tradition more than anything, but it’s a reason to lure Khalil there, and we can use the tunnels to our advantage. Right?”

“Possibly,” James said, sounding less confident than Asher. “Let me go there tomorrow and examine exactly what is left, where the entry and exit points are and how stable the tunnels are. The last thing we need is for one of them to collapse and kill us all. But regardless, Asher, I don’t think Khalil will agree to meet you there. His security team will strongly advise against it. And he’ll rationalize that he can sign the stone when he takes Santina.”

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