Page 78 of The Last Strike

“You will never get away with this,” Asher said, shaking his head. “Never.”

“Of course I will. Who is going to rule in your absence, Asher? Alistair?” Khalil laughed. “He won’t stand up to me! He sold me the ruins. And what about that bitch of a girlfriend? She can’t rule, can she? You should’ve made her queen when you had the chance. Then again, she would be a very good gift for one of my men.”

Khalil couldn’t hear what James Thomas said under his breath, but he was sure it was,Don’t.

Khalil had Asher on the ledge now and all he had to do was push him over. If Asher attacked him, he could shoot him in self-defense and not look bad in the eyes of the Santinian people when he took control. His men were wearing cameras to prove it. There would be no fight that anyone—the Bennetts included—could put up.

“Asher, surrender,” Luang said from beside him. “It is a better fate ... the best outcome for your kingdom.”

“I will not surrender!” Asher shouted viciously. His eyes never left Khalil’s, and his body grew more rigid by the second.

Khalil took a step forward, his weapon pointed at Asher. As he did, he caught the slightest movement of James’s lips, but he couldn’t possibly have been speaking to Asher.

Now, he mouthed, and this time Khalil knew it was no mistake. Adrenaline spiked through him and he spun on his heel at the sound of a silencer. His men fell behind him like dominos, and it took Khalil a second to realize Luang’s weapon was no longer aimed at Asher.

Khalil was looking down the barrel of Luang’s gun.

“Luang, what are you doing?” Khalil asked incredulously. “This is a mistake,” he growled. “I will kill you.”

“No, you won’t, and neither will your men at my feet,” Luang said with a smirk. Khalil didn’t need to look to know they were all on the ground. How? There was no one behind them.

“What are you doing?” Khalil asked again, slowly, buying some time to work out a plan.

Luang smiled. “What I always intended to do: help lure you to Santina. Did you really believe I would ally with you? You have bullied every kingdom in your path and attacked my people with sarin! I will not stand and watch you destroy my region—my neighbors, my friends. Your arrogance disgusts me,” Luang said, all but spitting on him. “You killed my friend and had the nerve to think I would partner with you to destroy his son and his kingdom. We have been playing an act from the second we walked into this building just in case your men were watching us. How does it feel, Khalil, to be betrayed? Did you ever wonder how your dying wife felt when she was taking her last breaths, and you whispered in her ear that you’d needed a test subject for the latest poison you were testing?”

Fury lit up his veins and he lunged for Luang.

The sound of gunfire echoed through the room and flames burst in his chest. Khalil fell to the floor, clutching his chest and gasping for breath.

Khalil roared in anger. “You will die for this. You will die!”

Asher

“Shut him up!” Victoria yelled as she walked toward him, her weapon raised. She fired a shot into Khalil’s back, and indeed he did shut up.

She stood over him and looked between Asher and Luang. “Well done, team.”

Asher looked over the dead bodies, but he didn’t feel any sadness for them.

Luang stepped forward, extending his arm. “It was a pleasure, Asher. I think that’s the first time Khalil has ever truly been fooled. You were right—his arrogance got the best of him.”

Asher shook his hand. “Thank you, my friend.”

Luang nodded. “As long as you uphold your father’s values, my allegiance is always with Santina.”

Asher smiled, turning to Victoria. “And thank you to you too. It was a huge risk coming here today. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to repay you both.”

“This is the most fun I’ve had in a while,” Victoria said with a guilty grin.

“We still have the problem of Nicholas,” Luang reminded them.

Victoria shrugged. “Not really. He’s as dead as his father outside this room. He walked around the corner and all but bumped into me. I thought he was there to kill me, so I shot him.”

Luang tilted his head, seemingly bemused. “Nice work, Queen Victoria.”

She chuckled. “I am a queen of many talents,” she said playfully as she looked over the room. “Ugh. Who is going to clean up this mess?”

Asher looked to the ornate walls that now looked like some kind of abstract art display. Blood splatter coated them.

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