Reign of a King (Kingdom Duet #1) by Rina Kent

I gasp and quickly cover my mouth with both hands. Dad stops and spins around, planting his shovel in the ground.

For a moment, I think he sees me. I think he’ll come over and catch me.

I remain frozen in place, not making a sound. I don’t even breathe, but I can’t control the tears that slide down my cheeks and moisten my fingers.

The face of the man I call Daddy every day is the same. His features are the same, those deep blue eyes and that blond beard. Everything I see is Dad.

And yet…he isn’t.

And yet…he’s dragging the body of a dead woman. I want to go there and scream, ask why, demand he explain, but I can’t move, let alone go to him.

I remain planted behind the tree as I stare at the man I call Daddy. My father. My only family.

Instead, there’s a devil in his place.

Dad whirls around, and the woman’s head hits the ground, her hand lifelessly sliding behind her.

I think I’m going to throw up.

As soon as he’s out of view, I run back towards my bike. I trip, fall, and stand up again. My knee stings and hot liquid trickles down my shin. My heart is about to beat free of its confinements, but I don’t stop until I’m on the bike.

My legs quiver as I cycle through the forest Dad and I call our world.

His world is different from mine.

His world has duct tape and vacant eyes.

And blood. A lot of blood.

The need to puke my guts out assaults me again, and I nearly give in to it. But I don’t.

I drown in the sound of the bike’s tires and the crunching of the dry leaves and the fallen branches.

I don’t look behind as I pedal the fastest I can. No idea what I’ll do now. What if… What if Dad was helping her? What if —

I frantically shake my head at that thought.

The scene was clear. There’s no mistaking that no matter how I flip it.

I halt at the edge of the road, catching my breath. My nails dig into my palms and I bite my lip as more tears soak my cheeks.

Dad is…

No. I can’t say it.

I reach into my back pocket and retrieve my phone. Alicia. I need to call my sister. She’ll tell me what to do.

The phone doesn’t ring.

Damn it.

Wait. Now that I think about it, Alicia mentioned that her son, Aiden, is missing. Did something happen?

My thoughts jump all over the place, unable to stay in focus. The inability to think straight is paralysing. So much is going on in my brain and I couldn’t comb through everything, even if I tried.

All I know is that I need to get in touch with my sister. I need to make sure her family is safe, and I need her to tell me what to do.

My fingers hover over the number titled ‘Jonathan: Emergency Only.’ Alicia said to only call him if it’s a life or death situation and I’m unable to reach her.

This one definitely is.

My toes curl into my shoes as I hit the number and the phone rings. I haven’t met Jonathan even once since the wedding nine years ago. Alicia comes to visit alone and we usually keep up through calls. When I tell her to FaceTime, she says that’s for the younger generation, not her.

“Hello.” A strong voice brings me out of my reverie.

“H-hey…I…I’m…Clarissa…A-Alicia’s sister.”

“I know who you are.”

Oh. He remembers me. I don’t know why I thought I had to explain myself some more.

“I-is Alicia there? I’m trying to reach her and…”

“She’s dead.”

My heart nearly hits the ground for the second time today. “W-what?”

“The funeral is tomorrow. I expect you to be there.”

The line goes dead.

My heart follows soon after.

He…can’t mean what I think he does, right?

I call him again, but there’s no answer.

No, no, no.

I flip open my browser and search Alicia King. That’s what I usually do when I miss her. I study her pictures with Jonathan and their son on the internet from fundraisers and parties.

The results that enumerate in front of me aren’t of those joyful events, though.

‘Breaking News: Alicia King found dead after a tragic accident.’

‘Jonathan King is a widower after the death of his wife, Alicia King.’

‘An accident takes the life of Alicia King, Jonathan King’s wife.’

The first droplets of rain hit my screen and more soon follow.

My legs abandon me and I drop to the ground as I see the pictures of Alicia’s white car, the one she used to take me all over town with as we shopped and ate.

Then the images of a body covered in a white sheet appear.

The rain blurs my vision as I scroll through the articles, all from today.

Alicia is dead. My sister is dead.

No.

No…

Alicia. You can’t leave me.

She promised we’d see each other more often if I chose to study in a university in London once I was eighteen.

I was counting the days, crossing them off my calendar until I got there.

A sob tears from my throat as a sense of grief sneaks up on me quietly and grips me in its clutches. All our moments together play like a distant song at the back of my head, and the fact that I’ve lost her forever engulfs me in a wave of darkness.

A bleak world.

A strangled heart.