Free Stalked (Rogues Shifter #2) by Gayle Parness Page B

by the new teacher who we think might be Brina.”
    “It could be worse. It could be trig.”
    “I like math. It makes sense.”
    “I did fine with most of it, but trig was hard.” We’d walked several blocks to a small park and took possession of a generic bench in the center of things. I sent out my mental fingers, but no luck at finding a fae.
    “So you graduated early?” Garrett asked.
    “A year early. I took a lot of summer classes and I skipped ahead. It got me out of the house." My diploma had come in the mail to Rob's house, sent by my adopted parents, the Crawfords. Garrett had framed it and put it up in my room.
    “Were you going to college?”
    “I was thinking about just going to the local community college. I was really happy living with Justin and Maggie and figured I’d take a year there and then transfer somewhere like UCLA or USC or maybe Berkeley.”
    “Rob made me get my GED , so I was thinking about enrolling in the local community college this fall myself. Maybe we could take a couple of classes together.”
    “That would be great.”
    After ten minutes of sitting and chatting, two shifter females came over to us. “Hi,” the blonde said. “Are you guys new around here?” She was petite, a little plump and very pretty, with perfect skin and large blue eyes, dressed casually in capris and a peasant shirt. 
    “I’m Sherrie and this is Bridgett.” She was eyeing Ethan like he was a Hershey bar. I took a whiff and smell ed cougar mixed with pine. I grinned at Ethan and he wrinkled his brow as if to say, what ? He couldn't tell she was another cougar.
    Bridgett was Sherrie’s polar opposite in looks and behavior. She was too thin, wit h dyed jet black hair and walnut brown eyes. She had a tattoo on her forearm of a phoenix rising from the ashes and a brass stud in her lip which might have made her edgy, only she was looking down at the ground like she was afraid to look us in the eye .She wore black jeans and a tank top which emphasized the thinness of her arms.
    “Hi. I’m Sam and this is my sister, Melanie“ Ethan smiled his warmest smile and Sherrie’s red aura brightened. “We moved here last week from Sacramento.”
    “So where do you live?” Sherrie was a curious little cat. I guessed that Gasquet wasn’t really a hotbed of new gossip, so we were possibly a dream come true for a bored teen.
    “Over on Oakcrest.” Rob had called to tell us that the house was all set up and that the key was under the planter.
    I was listening to Ethan and Sherrie chat but I couldn’t stop watching Bridgett. Her aura was a muddy yellow, which wasn’t too far from the Faerie gold a daughter of an Elder might wear. Brina could have disguised her scent to smell like a shifter. Bridgett stole a glance at Ethan when he laughed and then looked down at the ground again. I decided to see what I could find out about her.
    Very carefully I extended my mental probes in her direction and came smack up against a solid mental wall. I quickly p ulled back, but she’d already noticed. She raised her head slowly to look at Ethan curiously, then at me. Our eyes locked for a moment as we assessed each other. We both took in a slow breath. I smelled jaguar, but something else. Cheetah. Cheetah and the sharp smell of newly cut grass. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise when she caught my scent, but she shifted her gaze quickly back down to the ground. She was afraid of something.
    “Are you two taking a summer class? We’re in English History at 11:00.” Ethan was still talking to Sherrie, although he’d caught the looks tha t Bridgett and I had exchanged.
    “Not me, but Bridgett is taking calculus at 11:00. She failed and has to take it over.” Huh, some friend.
    I touched Bridgett's arm so she'd look at me. “I did really well in calculus. If you’re having trouble I’d be happy to help.” I wanted to learn as much as possible about this girl. If she was actually Brina in disguise, then she could change