"Governor Graves, please... get up. What is happening? This has to be some kind of hallucination."
Hugo Shepherd stood over Lynn Graves, his face a mask of sweating confusion. He looked at the woman who, ten minutes ago, was the undisputed chief of Fairhaven, now crumpled on the floor like a discarded rag. "Has Ward lost his mind? He’s threatening you? And that talk about Brightmoor... you’re joking, right? The Gazette is already live. The Bureau of Appointments doesn't just 'delete' a public vetting notice."
He reached out a hand to help her up, his voice oily with a forced, nervous concern. He still hadn't processed the magnitude of the tremor that had just leveled his world.
"Get away from me!" Lynn roared. She slapped his hand away with a violence that made Hugo recoil. She scramble
