Enchantment (108 page)

“Did
I
say
that?
M
y goodne
s
s!
I
don’t
kn
o
w
what
ca
m
e
over
m
e.”
Jager
place
his
hand
over his
m
outh
sweet
l
y
.

“I’ve
never
heard
y
o
u
r
swear
before,
M
rs.
Beaver.
A
re
y
o
u
real
l
y
s
ure
y
o
u’re
oka
y
?
Would
y
o
u like
m
e to carry
y
ou
to
the hous
e
?
”

He
looked
up
at
the
garg
o
y
l
e.
“
N
o,
real
l
y
, I
am fine.
I’ve
just
got
a
bit
of
a
headache
toda
y
.”

When
he
final
l
y
reached
the
front
door
of
the
Beaver’s
ho
u
se,
he
took
a
deep
breath
and turned
the
doorknob.
Thankful
l
y
,
nobo
d
y
was
there
to
greet
hi
m
.
He
dropped
the
bags
at
the
door and
continued
down
the
hallw
a
y
past
a
few
roo
m
s.
So
this
was
how
the
wealthy
lived.
It certain
l
y
w
asn’t
Thalius’s
m
arb
l
e
m
ansion, but
it
w
a
s
ve
r
y
nice,
indeed.

By
n
o
w,
Thalius
should
be
at
the
fake
store
to
take
Padd
y
’s
sedated
bo
d
y
back
to
his dungeon.
J
ager
had
other
things
to
occupy
his
m
ind.
How
was
he
going
to
find
M
eeka?
Where
w
ould
Kerrigan
be
keeping
her?

Jager walked
through
to
the
kitchen,
finding
no
one. He
figured
Meeka
w
ould
be
in Kerrigan’s
home,
but
where
was
the
entrance?
He
continued
to
scour
the
ho
u
se
until
final
he found
a
back door.

This
m
ust
be
it.

He
opened
the
door
and
looked
d
o
wn
into a
tunnel.

Bingo.

He
paused
brief
l
y
,
practicing
w
hat
he
was
going
to
s
a
y
if
he
ran
into
Kerrigan
or
another
m
ember
of
the
fa
m
i
l
y
.

The
long
tunnel
led
to
a
heavy
m
e
tal door.

Shite!

The
door
had no
doorknob. Jager
cursed
silent
l
y
,
and
then
noticed the
s
quare
m
e
t
al panel off to
the
right
of
the
door.
He
examined
it.
It
m
ust be
so
m
e
kind
of
identi
f
ica
t
ion
device.

He
hoped
to
hell
the
s
pell
was
good
enough
for
this.
H
e
placed
his
ve
r
sion
of
Padd
y
’s
paw flat
against
the
cold
m
et
a
l.
A
florescent
green
light
started
at
the
top
of
the
panel
and
slid
all
the way
d
o
wn.

Click.
Thunk.
Click.
The
door
popped
open.

O
h,
y
e
s
!
He
was
good!
He
could
a
l
m
ost
taste
success,
in
the
form
of
Meeka’s
sweet, delectab
l
e
bo
d
y
.
Of
course,
he
had
absolute
l
y
no
intention
of
listening
to
Thalius’s
threats.
The sick
old
bastard
could
use
her
for
w
hatever
he
wanted
after
Jager
had
his
reward.

He
followed
the
stairs
up
to
a
landing,
w
hich
had
m
a
n
y
large
halls
going
in
all
directions, both
up and
down.

Kerrigan’s
house
w
a
s
known
to
m
ost
folk
as
the
castle
in
the
trees.
It
stood
like
a
fortress from
the
outside.
Only
fami
l
y
ever
gained
access
into
the
Enforcer’s
ho
m
e.
H
ow
he
wished
he could
see
the
bastard’s
face
when
he
realized his
house
and
Meeka
had
been
co
m
pr
o
m
i
sed.

He
s
hook his
head,
bringing
hi
m
self
back
to
the
task at
hand. He didn’t
have t
i
m
e
for
selfish da
y
d
r
e
a
m
s.

Apparently,
Kerrigan
isn’t
scared
of
stair
s
.

Jager
took
the
first
hall
and
went
up
and
down
a
few
flights
of
stairs.
Did
the
j
erk
have
no co
m
prehension
of
what
beaver
legs
were
all
about?
This
bo
d
y
form
w
a
s
not
conducive
to
stairs. The
tail
w
a
s
alwa
y
s
in
the
w
a
y
,
and
this
fur
coat
m
ade
h
i
m
m
uch
too
w
ar
m
.
Frustration
washed over
hi
m
.
He
turned
around
and
went
back
the
w
a
y
he
had
c
o
m
e,
hoping
he’d
find
a
clue
if
he tried
each
doorw
a
y
.