Maribeth was laughing, batting her ridiculously long eyelashes at Mitch when she suddenly became aware of Gina. She turned her head and caught Gina’s gaze, immediately stiffening and coming to her feet.
Hmm. Maybe Gina hadn’t done such a good job hiding her annoyance. She tried to dial it back, but it was much harder than she expected. The tigress was flaring her claws inside Gina’s skin, making her presence known in a way she seldom did. Gina guessed her eyes were glowing blue with the tigress’s annoyance too. Damn.
“Hi, Gina,” Maribeth turned her head slightly in a show of obedience though she was an Alpha in her own right. Still, she had always deferred to Gina, even when they were kids.
Such deference was one of the perks of being blanche that had always annoyed Gina, setting her apart from the other kids. But today, she was glad of it. How dare Maribeth make a play for Mitch? the tigress demanded silently, outraged. Gina’s human side felt both the tiger’s anger and a very human hurt.
Somehow, Maribeth seemed to see it all. She moved closer slowly, reaching out for Gina’s hand.
“It’s good to see you,” the other woman offered in a soft tone. “It’s been too long.”
“I didn’t know you were here,” Gina offered, still trying to rein in her spike of temper.
“I just got in this morning. Dad called us all home when you showed up with your…friend.” Maribeth’s gaze darted toward Mitch.
Now that was news. Gina hadn’t considered that Mr. Miller would call in reinforcements and start circling the wagons when Gina brought Mitch here.
“Sorry to put you to such trouble. It’s probably unnecessary.”
“Maybe not,” Mitch spoke finally, coming over to place a mug of coffee in Gina’s hands. It was a thoughtful gesture that made her tigress back down a little bit. He’d fixed her coffee just the way she liked it and she sent him a smile of thanks as he continued to fill her in on what she’d missed while in the shower. “Paul was telling me that there were some perimeter incursions last night. He and his dad were out checking the boundaries starting at about four a.m. They found a few tripped sensors and human-shaped boot prints.” Mitch frowned and Gina felt a pang of concern.
She knew her dad and the Millers had strung all sorts of motion, heat and even sound sensors all over the property. They had redundant systems and cameras everywhere. If anything bigger than a chipmunk entered their territory, they knew about it.
“It was near the entrance to our road,” Paul added. “Could’ve been just some kids out drinking on a country lane. There were a few cans and bottles in the ditch. We collected them and sent them for testing.”#p#分页标题#e#
Mitch nodded, apparently pleased at their uber-vigilance, though Gina thought it was overkill. Gina knew they did get kids around from time to time who were looking for an out-of-the-way place to have a kegger. There was no real reason to think last night’s perimeter breaches were anything out of the ordinary.
“What did my dad say?” Gina asked, suppressing her annoyance with Maribeth’s blatant come-on to Mitch in light of the new information. Even the tigress within her knew how to prioritize threats.
“Just to keep our eyes open for now. Our dad thought yours sounded as if he almost expected something like this.” Paul’s gaze pinned her. “What gives, Gina? What was the magic surge our mom felt yesterday?”
All eyes focused on Gina, including Mitch’s. Not sure how much to reveal, she looked at him, answering the easiest question first. “There’s a mage somewhere back in Mrs. Miller’s family tree. She’s more sensitive to magic than most shifters.”
Mitch nodded, apparently satisfied with the explanation, but the Miller siblings were still giving her questioning looks.
“The magic was…” How did she say this? How much should she tell them? She decided to hedge. “The magic was Mitch.”
Now the siblings turned their questioning glances on him. It wasn’t fair of her to have deflected onto him, but really, it was his life. His decision on what these people knew about him.
“I’m a Royal Guard,” he explained. “I was in service to the pantera Nyx, but my cover’s been irrevocably blown, so I’m no good to her anymore. Gina saved my life and brought me here. Since then, I’ve been recovering. And yesterday, I went up to the stone circle. The magic surge your mother felt came from up there.”
“It’s a powerful place,” Paul agreed, “but it usually doesn’t have that kind of effect on people on an ordinary Tuesday.” The statement was clearly an invitation to say more.