Chapter 2 PHILIP LUTHER

Prince Ash and his men were led by Grace and Mark to a room on the top floor of the hospital. Grace directly led the men into it and they followed behind her cautiously of making too much noise. Prince Ash held his breath when he saw the girl lying on the hospital bed. He couldn't take his eyes of off her. She looked very peaceful but there was a light crease on her forehead. She was only wearing a sports bra and short pants exposing most of her body. The first thing he noticed though was not her feminine parts but her compact muscles.

She wasn't muscular, far from it but as a member of he Kranio who dealt with many people who trained themselves with the desire to be an apex fighter, he could see the explosiveness hidden behind her smooth skin.

His eyes moved to her face and although it was partly bandaged covering her forehead, and her head was shaved to a low military cut, her beauty shone through gripping his heart. He was a young man with power who had many girls by his side, he had seen all kinds of models and beautiful girls but not once had he felt this way before a person. The beauty of this girl was different from most, she seemed like a person so distant that she could not be defiled. It was an odd feeling considering she was currently lying weakly on a hospital bed.

"Now you have seen her" Grace's voice brought him back to reality and he turned to her with a pitiful smile. What would come would come no matter what he said now, he was certain that the Sallie would not let this go lightly.

"I will take care of your boys here and send them to you when they are better. You did come with a private jet right?" Grace asked Prince Ash who nodded. As for mark, aside from being stunned by the looks of the girl he saved, he was also confused by the change in Grace's tone. He had served in the military in the past so he could sense the power in Grace's voice, she was someone who had gotten used to giving orders! Besides, did she mention a private plane? She ran a small hospital in this city, how could she have connections with someone who owned such a thing?

"Take Mark and the girl and leave the country." She ordered Prince Ash.

Shock appeared on Prince Ash's face. She was going to let him off just like that? Taking these two out of the country wasn't a big deal. He had been afraid she would ask for the jet, it would delay his stay in this godforsaken country. Feeling grateful at her leniency, he bowed lightly at her.

"Wait what?" Mark was not in the same loop as Prince Ash. Why was he leaving the country?

Grace pulled him out of the room into the lobby for a more personal talk.

"What's going on?" Mark asked her once they were a distance away from the room.

"In the reception down below, some people were making calls when you mentioned the girl. That means someone is looking for her and that person has the power to employ my workers. I need you to leave until I know who it is, after I take care of it, you can return" Grace explained the situation to Mark.

"But what about you?" Mark frowned.

"No one dares to harm me here. I have much to tell you but first take the girl away" Grace smiled fondly at him.

Mark hesitantly nodded and retuned her smile, it was the last time he would ever look into her eyes because in the next moment he collapsed into her arms shot twice from behind. Panic flashed in Grace eyes but it was quickly replaced by coldness and fury. She drew her weapon and shot down the two men who just appeared.

At the same time, Prince Ash and his men hurried out of the girl's room to see what just happened with their guns drawn. When they saw Mark's body on the ground, they knew trouble was about to strike this small city.

"Take the girl" Grace turned to the Prince Ash and ordered but her tone was cold and lifeless.

Knowing it better to listen and say nothing at this time, Prince Ash ordered his men to move. The carefully removed the needles connected to her veins and one of the men carried her in a bridal style. They were familiar with the hospital so they knew the back door to carry the girl through.

After losing two men, Prince Ash was able to bring the unknown girl away from the hospital and with his SUV he took her to the airport leaving Grace behind. He wasn't worried about her because he was confident that she could take care of herself.

What Prince Ash was unable to wrap his mind around was the identity of the person so crazy to attack the hospital of a woman who he did not even dare to raise his head against. Although he almost got into a fight with her earlier, it was for the sake of his men's life. By the rules of their world, that was understandable, but from what he could see earlier, those attackers were after the girl and they attacked the hospital without much thought.

"They killed two of us" Prince Ash muttered, his eyes flashing coldly. He wasn't planning on letting this go even if the Sallie chose to. He had almost taken Mark because he assumed Mark was spying on them and he had done that for his wounded men who were sent into the hospital just before he arrived. Now he had lost two more, healthy and functioning men, there were not simple gun men, they were people who trusted their lives to him while offering him their service and he lost them not to a fight against enemies or for profit or against the law but to some small random people he knew nothing about. It was a difficult pill to swallow.

"Let's get the girl to safety first" another of his men advised and Prince Ash nodded. Regardless of his grievance, now was not the time to defile the Sallie. Even his father couldn't afford to do that.

***

Meanwhile in the hospital, the police arrived much quicker than the attackers had calculated so they all quickly escaped but as she watched them go, Grace's eyes flashed dangerously.

"His condition has stabilized but..."

Grace turned to the doctor who was reporting to her and glared intensely at her.

"Is he awake? If not will he wake up? That's all I need to know" she asked sternly.

"He is stable but we don't know when he will wake up" the doctor replied feeling a little apprehensive of this woman. She was the sole owner of the hospital but none of them knew anything about her before today. They only now realized that she had a really terrifying identity, it was one thing to be wealthy but the source of ones wealth was a sensitive subject.

Grace did not know what this doctor was thinking nor did she particularly care about it. Right now, her eyes were fixed on the police men who were walking towards her.

"So?" she asked coldly.

The older police man hesitated to reply but he knew better than to involve himself in this matter. It was not something the police could handle.

"The Luther's" he replied and Grace nodded to him before leaving.

The Policeman watched her leave and for a moment he feared she was going to wreck chaos on this small city's underworld lord. He would be happy if she did because then the police would get to take the credit. But she didn't go in the direction he expected her to, her car seemed to be headed for the airport.

A week passed and nothing happened in the city which caused everyone in the know to relax. Everyone except one man.

"Sir, we're here" the driver, a young girl with a mohawk haircut turned to Phillip Luther in the passenger seat.

In the back seat, a man in his advanced years, the same man from the office who sent people after the girl Mark rescued raised his head from the documents on his laps. He looked really elegant and refined even his grey hair and beard portrayed charm instead of an advanced age.

He opened the door of the sedan for himself and got out. The car was parked in front of a quiet and simple looking coffee shop. With a confident gait, he walked forward and the doors opened on its own when he reached it. Inside the shop were people quietly having their morning coffee and some snacks or the typical junk food. However, from the quality of wood to the quality of clothing on the shop's guest, it was quite obvious that they were all elites of the society.

Philip Luther looked around until he found a simple looking walking stick with a gem on it resting by one of the tables. He slowly approached doing his best not to disturb the other guests with his presence or footsteps. When he reached the table, he simply sat down across from an old man with wrinkles on his face and hands with which he was holding a news paper. There was a striking resemblance between the two men that anyone would see very clearly if they looked, but at this moment no one was paying attention to either of them.

The older man looking to be in his eighties put down the paper and stared silently at Philip who was across from him.

"Do you know what you did?" He asked, despite his age, his voice was powerful and demanded respect.

"I know this matter has caused a problem but it was just a small hospital and there were no civilian casualties" Philip tried to defend himself giving the older man in front of him a confused look. He didn't understand why he was called here today over this issue.

"So you really have no idea who owns the hospital or whose people you have killed?" the older man asked again squinting at Philip.

"No Sir" Philip shook his head. Although his words were submissive, his tone only contained respect and not a hint of submission. He didn't think there was anyone in the country who could challenge the Judge family, although he had changed his name from Judge to Luther, his blood could not be changed. He had nothing to fear in the country, that was the privilege his heritage gave him.

"Do you know what kind of existence the Kranio is?" The old man asked, picking up the newspaper he had put down once again.

"We shouldn't have anything to do with them, they are a Mafia organization, but they operate from Everston" Philip began to feel apprehensive at hearing that question. Did this have anything to do with the Kranio?

"Then do you know who the Sallie is?"

"No?"

"She is the daughter of a very dangerous man, I don't know what he is called because we have no right to get involved with him but I know that he supplies weapons for the entire East Continent. The weapons we use come from middlemen who work for him. And even our government Vharlad depends on his legal company for the military's weapons. The hospital you attacked belongs to his daughter, the Sallie or Princess. In the attack, you killed a man she was interested in. Now this is what's really bad about this, the Sallie was chasing this man, but he had no interest in her or even any idea that she had interest in him. I don't know much about relationships but I do know that the loss is many times worse than if he had been her boyfriend, at least that's how she would see it. Do you know now what you did wrong?"

Philip Luther was frozen in his seat, he didn't know what to say now. If what he just heard was the truth then there was no chance he would survive to live another day! He didn't think a person so powerful would let him go. Perhaps the reason he was still alive was that the Kranio and this Sallie person where fighting over who would kill him first.

Seeing the panic in Philip's expression, the older man felt very satisfied and nodded.

"Through some inside source, I learned the reason you are still alive. The man didn't die, that's a lie they invented to justify their vengeance on you. I'll take care of them if they come, it will cost much but there is no better choice. For now, what you must do is exercise caution or I might not be able to save you a second time." The old man, picked up his cane and supported himself to rise. Behind him, a few men rose from their tables and followed behind him as they left the shop leaving Philip who was still reeling from shock and fear behind.