Sucker Punch (First Fangs Club #3) - Kristen Painter Page 0,30
needed moving out of the way. It didn’t.
She stood by the wall and watched the flurry of activity as equipment was unpacked and set up according to Dr. Fox’s orders. Jerabeth showed up, too, with her own supplies.
Donna inched out of the room, feeling very much like she was in the way. She was almost out when Temo caught her eye.
“Boss, I meant to tell you Neo said anything you need, just call. I didn’t go into details.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“She said she’d get the girls together in a heartbeat. I think she was making a vampire joke. Not sure. But anyway, she’s ready to help.”
“I knew she would be.”
He smiled. “She’s all right.”
“Yes, she is.” Maybe Donna would call her after all. Couldn’t hurt to let her know what was going on.
A new thought came to her. It absolutely could hurt. How was she going to tell them about the daytime raid on the fae stronghold without exposing her immunity to UV light? She needed a plausible explanation for that.
It seemed like a new problem awaited her around every corner.
Charlie poked her head in. “Governor?”
“Yes?”
Charlie’s brow furrowed. “Queen Artemis is on line one in the office for you.”
“Let me guess, she’s not calling to wish me good luck on the raid either.”
“I don’t know. But that wouldn’t be my guess, no.” She frowned. “Sorry.”
Donna took a deep breath. Maybe she’d broken some unknown rule and would be relieved of her duties as governor. That would solve a few problems. And create more. No, she needed this job. At least until Rico was safe and Rixaline was no longer in danger.
Then she could quit. Or resign. Or step down. Whatever governors were supposed to do.
She went straight to the office, shut the door behind her, and picked up the phone. “This is Governor Barrone.”
“Hello, Belladonna. I got your email. I understand things have escalated between you and the fae.”
A new and interesting wave of emotion overcame Donna. One that suddenly left her feeling fearless and unable to give a flying fig what the queen thought. “I wouldn’t say that exactly. ‘Escalated’ implies there was already something going on, and I really had no beef with them. Taking the FBI agent hostage, however, was an act of aggression, plain and simple.”
“Because you gave the dhamfir sanctuary.”
Donna rolled her eyes, but that did nothing to change her mood or keep the edge from her voice. “Are you suggesting I shouldn’t have done that?”
For a moment, Artemis didn’t respond. Perhaps she was surprised by Donna’s tone. Or that Donna wasn’t backing down. Or maybe she was more on Donna’s side than Donna realized. Although Donna wasn’t so sure about that. Artemis wasn’t the enemy, but Donna wasn’t about to call her a close friend either.
Regardless, she didn’t wait for the answer. “I’m a mother, as you know. I wasn’t about to turn a child back out onto the streets, where she was being hunted by our deadliest enemy with plans to use her to track down more of us. Taking her in was the kindest and best decision for all involved.”
Artemis cleared her throat softly. “You are certainly not Claudette.”
“And for that you should be grateful.”
Chapter Eleven
Donna realized instantly that her response had come off a little flippant. Her words were absolutely true, though. The previous governor, who was also Donna’s sire, hadn’t apparently been all that interested in doing her best. As a sire, she’d been pretty lackluster too.
Despite all of that being true, Donna did a little damage control. “I just mean to say that I care about this position. I’m not taking this job lightly. I want to help the people I serve in whatever way they need.”
“No reason to be defensive, Governor.” Artemis sounded amused. She was nearly impossible to read at times. “Claudette was…Claudette, and there’s no denying that. I simply wanted your take on the current situation. I assume you have a plan?”
“I do. But it might be better if you don’t know what that plan is. That way, you have plausible deniability if things go wrong.”
“I can’t do that. I’m responsible one way or the other. So I need to know what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it. I would venture a guess you will not be returning the girl to the fae.”
“That’s correct. I’m just going to rescue the agent and do my best to make Dredward understand the mistake he made in targeting someone I care about.”