The Lost & Damned 2 by Keira Michelle Telford

Author:Keira Michelle Telford [Telford, Keira Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 18126525
Publisher: Venatic Press
Published: 2012-02-28T03:00:00+00:00

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Alex and Maydevine stand side-by-side in the Governor’s office—the office that used to belong to Phaeden Rist. The Governor stands at the edge of the room, looking out over the city.

The new Governor.

Eleanor Grant.

“We’ve got much to talk about,” she states, turning to face the duo.

She looks as though she’s in her early forties, and she’s wearing a bold suit and impossibly high heels. An impeccably preened, strong and confident woman, her outward presentation is absolutely flawless. It mirrors an internal sense of dominance, achievement and imperium that she’s mastered over a lifetime.

“My daughter’s future?” Maydevine presumes.

The Governor allows a brief silence to gently hug the room, before she carries on as if he’d never spoken at all. “I’ll start from the beginning, so that I can be certain we’re all on the same page.” She leans up against her desk, facing them. “I’m aware that you’ve both suddenly come into possession of a very valuable thing.”

Alex and Maydevine share a look, neither one of them willing to speak up.

“A woman infected with CV2,” the Governor explains, watching their reactions.

They seem tense.

“This woman survived the infection,” she continues, “and at this juncture in the evolution of the virus, that’s really something quite unique.” She eyeballs them both. “So what is it that we’re calling this woman?”

Alex ventures an answer, albeit warily. “Jennifer McAllister.” His intonation rises at the end of the name, making it sound more like a question.

“Ah, yes, that’s right. I have her file right here.”

Alex and Maydevine share another look as the Governor reaches for the file. She begins flicking through the pages, for effect more than for the attainment of information.

“Born in the Sentinel District thirty-four years ago,” she summarizes. “Parents are deceased, no siblings. Not married, never was. She has no known relatives at all, in fact. Dubiously self-employed, so no real work records. Home schooled by a string of brief foster families, so no educational records that could be verified.” She tosses the file back down on the desk. “A very neat life.”

She waits.

She gets nothing from their expressions.

“Convenient, isn’t it?” She raps her fingernails against the edge of the desk. “Some might say it was rather unlikely.”

Still nothing.

Tired of waiting for one of them to give something up, she jumps to the crux of the issue. “This wouldn’t have anything whatsoever to do with an appeal I just denied for a banished Hunter, would it?” She flicks her eyes to Maydevine. “Your beautiful little daughter.”

Alex peeks over at Maydevine, who keeps his own eyes fixed unwaveringly upon the Governor. Sensing that Alex might be easier to crack than his would-be father-in-law, the Governor switches targets and pins all of her attention on him instead.

“What was her name again?”

Startled, it takes him a moment to answer. “Ella Cross, ma’am.”

“Ella Cross the Hunter. Silver, am I right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You lost your job for her. True?”

“Several years ago, yes.”

“Because you were unlawfully bedding her?”

The insinuation that their relationship was little more than a foolhardy pursuit of physical pleasure bothers Alex.

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