Page 138 of Us Defiant Few

Khalani trembled, her jaw slack.

“You can’t be real. I watched Takeshi rip off your head. You should be dead!”

Was it all a figment of her imagination?

She closed her eyes, the voices of her wretched past ringing once more. She saw Takeshi staring at her like he’d never known her. Winnie holding the photo of her in the Chief’s library.

Khalani felt her brain splitting. She didn’t know what the truth was. The difference between fiction and reality was no longer a straight line. It all blended together, and she was unraveling with it.

Make it go away.

Make it stop.

But when Khalani opened her eyes, those evil blue eyes were still staring at her. He tilted his head, studying her erratic twitches.

“Losing your mind, huh? That was always the problem. I could never seize control without you dying in the process.” Alexander tutted, and he reached out to graze his finger along her cheek. “But you were always my favorite.”

“Get your hand off me!” Khalani screamed, nearly tipping the chair as she tried to pull away.

At the shrill sound of her voice, the others jolted awake, startling when they saw the Governor.

“What the fuck?” Adan exclaimed in a raspy voice. “How is he alive?”

“Where the hell are we?” Derek looked around, lost in a daze.

“What…what’s happening?” Serene murmured, still groggy.

Brock pulled his attention away from the Governor and he took a deep breath, visibly calming when Serene finally opened her eyes.

The Governor was still touching Khalani’s face when Winnie shouted, her voice sharp as broken glass.

“Get away from her, you piece of scrap!”

Alexander Huxley’s calm demeanor cracked. He turned his cold gaze to Winnie, slowly rising to his full height.

“What did you call me, human?” he asked, taking gradual, predatory steps toward her.

“Winnie called you a piece of—”

Slap!

The Governor backhanded Winnie across the face.

Screams burst throughout the room.

Khalani pulled against the restraints, fury erupting inside her. She gnashed her teeth, straining to break free and kill him over and over again. But this time, she’d dismember his limbs and spread the Governor across every corner of the planet.

“You disgusting creatures never understood respect or learned your place. But you will.” Alexander Huxley calmly adjusted his suit as he backed away.

Winnie didn’t cry or make a sound. She was still hunched over, but when her eyes lifted, her gaze burned with a promise of revenge.

Khalani scanned the room, searching for a way they could break free. A dozen soldiers waited nearby with loaded guns. With them standing guard, it’d be nearly impossible to escape.

But Brock slightly shifted his weight.

Ever so carefully, he drew a small blade from his back pocket.

Khalani’s pulse raced as she glanced back at the men, but their focus was locked on the Governor, waiting for his command.