She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew)

Chapter 412

In the late August afternoon, Athena was lounging under a beach umbrella on Solmaris coast, enjoying a cold drink, when her phone rang. Then, she answered, "Hello?"

"Ma'am, we have some trouble-the crew of 'The Last Blood' has been kidnapped by terrorists!" The voice on the other end sounded tense. "They are livestreaming the whole thing on YouTube now. The views are skyrocketing; it's blowing up online."

Athena's eyes narrowed as the caller continued. "The government has shut down all official news about it and deployed military forces to Gringger City and Wyomarlo City, where the film was set. It's a rescue mission.

"It seems the terrorists were after Zayn, but he wasn't with the team. Frustrated, they hijacked a supply truck, drugged the crew, and took everyone hostage. Now they're demanding Zayn show up in Wyomarlo within two hours, or they'll start executing hostages every five minutes.

"The livestream has only been up for a few minutes now, so I don't think anyone has had the chance to inform you yet."

Athena stayed calm and opened YouTube, pulling up the live feed. "Got it. Keep an eye on things and update me if anything changes," she said, hanging up.

She didn't need to search it up. The livestream was front and center on the YouTube homepage, drawing everyone's attention. She clicked on it.

The video showed rows of crew members kneeling, hands tied behind their backs, with a wall behind them. More than a dozen guns were pointed their way. The camera didn't show the terrorists, only their gloved hands gripping guns and machetes.

The terrorist's voice crackled through the video, speaking in Osceiton language, chillingly calm. "We've got over 300 'The Last Blood' crew members right here. What you see on screen is just a small sample of our hostages."

He continued, the hint of a sinister smile almost audible. "Zayn has 100 minutes to get here, or we start beheading.

"One every five minutes, twelve an hour. With over 300 people here, we've got plenty to keep us busy all day. Just the thought of it makes me feel... thrilled."

His laughter echoed darkly as he added, "And by the way, we've set up explosives everywhere. Just one of them will take everyone out, including us. So, I'd suggest the officials hand over Zayn without any funny business."

the tense quiet, broken only by a few soft cries from the hostages. But a terrorist

sounds revealed the sound of those terrorists eating and drinking,

broadcast on but looked away toward the nearby shoreline. Her mom and dad were holding hands, watching Josie play in the water, splashing around

her laptop and her phone, and called Rufus. He was chatting with

briskly toward the hotel, Athena filled him in. "The Last Blood' crew has been taken hostage. I'm heading back home to deal with it. I

about these terrorists. Just to be safe, stay in Uroterin and find a few more

leave, you should head out too. Make

to Uroterin with Rufus and Daniel to act as

Josie absolutely wowed the

her to the palace, gave her a special medal, and praised her for her singing

had spent the last week in Yundara before heading

I will take care of Josie and the rest. I

handling all of

more practical, grabbed what

her parents and told them about the lab situation. They did not seem to suspect anything, just reminding her to be careful and to call when she got there. Athena then called Harry. "Go to the underground warehouse at the lab, grab the most advanced, portable weapon, and get

eldest brother to check on

probably swamped with the situation. Calling him now would just add to his

Zayn had been through plenty of these types of battles

away. "Athena, everything good over there

asked, "You heard about the production team being kidnapped, right? "I've already got Mom, Dad, and

Zayn's security base to keep them out of harm's way. Maria is driving your car to pick up Arthur so they can