King's Throne(13)

“After midnight. I’m sorry I had to go out. Dad wouldn’t take no for an answer. He knew how badly I needed a run and he had the Millers guarding you for the short while I was away. I knew you were out of the woods and sleeping normally. You’ve been asleep all day.”
“Sorry. I feel more alert now, but I ache all over.” He didn’t like admitting to his own weakness, but she was his doctor as well as the tiger princess. He had to give her the truth at all times. “Do you know where my phone is?”
“I think Cade might have it. I know there was some worry over the fact that it had been lost during the fight. If it’s okay with my dad, I can get you a spare. Dad keeps pre-paid burn phones available for emergencies up at the house, even though I’m usually on communications lockdown when I’m here. He won’t even let me call Ellie most of the time. He’s pretty obsessive about maintaining security here.”
She shrugged and sat at his side, perching on the bed while she ran the back of her hand over his brow to test his temperature. She then felt for the pulse at his wrist and looked into his eyes. The doctor was checking on her patient first and foremost, and Mitch enjoyed her gentle fussing.
“I guess it’s too late to call anyone right now. And I’m not sure what good it would do anyway.”
“And there’s the tricky question of saying where you are exactly. We can’t compromise my parents’ location. I hope you understand.”
“Honey, I’m a Royal Guard.” He saw the disappointment in her gaze and was quick to reassure her. “That means I guard our monarchs, no matter what. Your dad is still the Tig’Ra, no matter how much your uncle claims to rule in his place. And you’re the tiger princess. I could no more put you in danger than the Nyx. If your dad wants to stay hidden—if you want to stay hidden—then who am I to question the will of the Goddess-blessed white tiger?”
A smile bloomed over her face and he was glad he had put it there. And then she blushed a bit, charming him even more. “You know, I wasn’t raised with all that. I’m just Gina. I’m not a princess, no matter how many times you call me that.”
Mitch bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. He’d humor her wishes, but she would always be royalty to him—and to every other tigre d’or—no matter if she acknowledged it or not.
“I bow to your will, milady,” he murmured with a grin, knowing she’d take his words as teasing, even though he truly meant them. He would follow her direction for the rest of his life, if she let him. And that brought up another thought…
“Gina,” he began hesitantly. When she looked at him expectantly, he found the courage to continue. Never had he felt so timid before, but his future was riding on the next few moments. “I intend to resign from the Nyx’s service. If she still lives.” He looked away, ashamed of his weakness. He hadn’t succeeded in his job and he would live with the stain on his honor for the rest of his life.
“Why?” Gina interrupted his depressing thoughts. “You’re a Royal Guard. What else would you do?”
“I’m not sure,” he stalled, needing to find the right way to put forward his deepest desire. “But I know I’ve failed the Nyx and I will bear the shame of that failure. Her enemies know who I am now. Or, at least, they know my face. I cannot go back to her service, or those enemies might trace her through me. I’m a liability.” He acknowledged the grim truth at last. The life and job he had known were both over.
“They probably think you’re dead. Even an Alpha as strong as you are couldn’t have lived through that poison.”
“Not without divine intervention,” he agreed. “And it’s probably for the best if I stay dead to the Nyx’s enemies.”
“Then what will you do? Is there family you can return to?” She cringed. “I’m sorry. I remember you saying there was no one,” she apologized softly, seeming sad for reminding him of his lone state.
Tigers prowled alone sometimes, but family was everything. For Mitch, the Clan had been his family after his parents died, but he’d found friends and family of a sort among the panthers. Cade was like a brother to him, but he wasn’t a tiger, and sometimes their differences stood between them.
“I may be no good to the Nyx, but I still have my uses. I intend to offer my services to your family—to you in particular, princess—if you will have me.”
There it was. He’d laid his soul on the line. If she rejected him, he truly didn’t know what he would do.