Enchantment (110 page)

Meeka
looked
d
o
wn
at
hi
m
.
“Hi,
Padd
y
.
I
was
just
going
to
a
sk
Kerrigan
if
I
could
go
visit
y
o
u
.
”
She
s
m
iled as
she
hurried
down
the
steps.

Perfect!
I’ll
just
play
along.

“Well,
I
thought I would come
see
y
o
u
.
My son
isn’t sharing
y
o
u
at all.”
He
m
o
d
est
l
y batted his
e
y
e
l
ashes.

Meeka
blushed
at
her
com
m
e
nt.
“
I
en
j
oy
visiting
with
y
o
u
,
too,
Padd
y
,”
s
he
final
l
y responded.

There
w
a
sn’t
going
to
be
a
better
opportuni
t
y
;
he’d
best
get
his
butt
into
gear
and
get
the
hell out
of
there
with
her
in
tow.
“
Threeo,
do
y
ou
think
I
could
have
a
m
o
m
e
nt
alone
with
Meeka? Girl
things,
y
ou know,”
Jager
a
sked
s
weet
l
y
.

Threeo
see
m
ed hap
p
y
to
obe
y
,
and
quick
l
y
disappeared
back
down
the
stairs.
Jager
turned
to the
uns
u
specting
Meeka.
“Sorr
y
,
Meeka.
I
real
l
y
j
u
st
wanted
a
chance
to
visit
with
y
ou
and
to take
y
o
u out
for
a
wonderful
treat.”

“You
want
to
take
m
e
out
for
a
treat…as in out
of
the
ho
u
se
?
”

“Yes,
y
e
s,
it’s
exact
l
y
what
I
w
ant
to
do.
Don’t
worr
y
.
I
just
saw
Kerrigan
a
few
minutes ago,
and
he
s
aid
it
would
be
all
right.
The
gargo
y
l
e
s will
be
guarding us,
an
y
w
a
y
.”

Jager
hoped
the
trick
w
ould
work;
he
didn’t
want
to
resort
to
other
m
ethods
so
far
from
the hut.
Besides,
he
w
anted
Thalius
to
be
in
the
dark
about
his
own
little
plan
for
Meeka—one
that required
s
o
m
e
close
personal
time.

A
n
anxious
tingle
swept
through
Meeka’s
l
i
m
bs.
She’d
rather
go
out
with
h
i
m
than
without hi
m
,
but
since
it
was
his
m
om…

“He
real
l
y
said
we
could
go
ou
t
?
Where
would
we
go
?
”

Al
m
ost
rubbing
his
paws
together
with
glee,
he
nodded.
“Yes,
he
said
it
would
do
y
o
u
good to
go
out
for
a
w
hile.
He
said
y
o
u
’ve been
stressed.”
He
watched
her
expressions
change.

“It
would
be
great
to
go
out,
Pad
d
y
. Where
are
we
going
?
”

“I
forgot a
couple
things
at
the
market
tod
a
y
,
so I
thought
y
ou
m
ight
want
to
acco
m
pa
n
y
me back
there.”

“Great.
J
u
st let
m
e go
tell Catz I’m going, and we
can
leave.
Y
ou know
her. She’ll worry
if I don’t
let
her
know
where
I
a
m
.”

Catz?
W
ho the
hell
is
Catz?
Fuck!

It
m
ust
be
the
other
creature
she’d
been
with
the
other
d
a
y
.
How
in
the
hell
w
as
he
going
to get
her
out
of
the
ho
u
se
without
telling ever
y
o
n
e?
With
the
force
of
a
bolt
of
m
agic, he brightened.
“
I
j
u
st
saw
Catz
with
Kerrigan.
Th
e
y
looked
to
be
deep
in
discu
s
sion
when
I
left the
m
.
Th
e
y
both
know
y
o
u
’re
with
m
e
and
we’re
off
to
the
m
arket
.
”
He
held
his
breath,
waiting for
her
response.

Meeka’s
brow
furr
o
wed
as
she
fr
o
wned,
and
she
was
silent
for
a
m
o
m
e
nt.
“Oh.
I
gue
s
s. Kerrigan
did say
he
w
a
s going
s
peak with
Catz.
I’m
free to
go, then. Lead
the w
a
y
.
I’m
d
y
i
ng for
s
ome
ti
m
e
out
of
here.”
The
beaver
grabbed
her
hand
and
led
her
out
the
w
a
y
he
had
co
m
e.
He w
a
s
sure
he
w
addled
faster
than
a
n
y
beaver
ever
had
in
its ti
m
e.

The
two
of
them
left
Kerrigan’s
house
and
m
ade
their
w
a
y
d
o
wn
the
tunnel
heading
to
the Beaver’s
ho
u
se
and
out
to
freedo
m
,
or
at
least
Jager
hoped
so.
The
door
at
the
Beaver’s
end
of the
tunnel
had
a
knob.
He
r
u
shed
her
through.
O
ne
door
left
to
get
her
through.
H
e
was practica
ll
y
running
to
the
front
door
of
the
house
w
hen
he
tripped
over
the
bags
he’d
left
at
the front
door.
Meeka
caught
the
beaver’s
s
m
a
l
l
ar
m
. “Pad
d
y
, are
y
o
u all
righ
t
?
”

“Stupid
me!
I
forgot
to
put
these
a
w
a
y
,
” Jager
said,
t
r
y
i
ng to
keep
his
voice
cal
m
. Meeka
began
picking
up
the
bags.
“
H
ere,
let’s
put
these
awa
y
. Then
we
can
go.” “N
O
!”

Shit
e
.

He
kept
responding
incorrect
l
y
.
He
grabbed
Meeka’s
hand.
“
N
onsense,
it
can
wait.
I
s
o wanted
to
m
ake
a
s
pecial
dinner,
and
if
we
don’t
hur
r
y
,
the
m
arket
will
be
closed.”
Jager
p
u
shed her
toward
the
front
door.

“Won’t
the
food
go
bad
?
”

“It
will
be
fine
until
we
return.”
Jager
ju
m
ped
around
Meeka
and
opened
the
door.
“
We’re going
to
have
so
m
uch
fun,
Meeka.
I
can
a
s
sure
y
o
u,
y
ou
will
have
never
done
an
y
t
h
ing
like
this before.”
J
ager
s
m
irked,
a
vision
in
his
m
ind drawing
a
shudder
of
arousal.

Suddenl
y
,
Meeka
halted,
looking
ala
r
m
ed.

“Whatever
is
wrong?
Are
y
ou
ok
a
y
?
”
Jager
s
y
mp
a
th
e
ti
c
al
l
y
tilted
his
head
to
the
side,
s
peaking
soft
l
y
.

Meeka
continued
to
look
around
suspicious
l
y
.
“Sorr
y
.
I
just
had
a
chill
run
up
my
spine.

So
m
ething feels
out
of
place.
Perhaps
it’s
because
Catz
isn’t
with
m
e. I
gue
s
s
I’m
just
not
used
to being
without
her.”
S
he
rubbed
her
ar
m
s.

Jager
closed
the
door
behind
her,
and
they
m
oved
d
o
wn
the
steps.
He
knew
the
garg
o
y
l
es
w
ould
question
h
i
m
.
This
would
be
the
m
ost
difficult
part—convincing
the
goons.
Once
he
and Meeka
hit
the
sidewalk,
sure
enough,
three
of
them
landed
in
front
of
th
e
m
.

The
largest
garg
o
y
l
e
approached
the
m
.
“
I’m
s
or
r
y
,
M
rs.
Beaver,
but
the
girl
is
not
allowed outside.
Both
of
y
o
u please
return
inside
i
m
me
d
ia
t
e
l
y
.
”

Shite!
T
his
had
better wor
k
.

“No,
no.
N
ot
at
all.
Kerrigan gave
m
e per
m
ission to
take
M
eeka
to
the
Market
as
long
as
y
o
u were
with
us.”

The
garg
o
y
l
e
spread
his wings and
spoke.
“
Y
ou’ll understand
if we
have to
wait to
clear this with
Kerrigan.”

Jager
could
barely
breathe.
“
I
fully
understand.
He
’
s
in
his
stud
y
.
We
spoke
not
long
ago. He
told
m
e he
had
a
very
i
m
por
t
ant
m
ee
t
ing
and
wasn’t
to
be
disturbed
for
a
n
y
reason.”

“If it
w
a
s
the
Enforcer’s
wish,
then
we will respect
it.
Y
ou and
the girl
m
a
y
proceed,
and
we will
follow.”

* * * *

Meeka
looked up
at
the
gargo
y
l
e
s
and s
m
iled.
S
he
needed
to learn
to
relax, and
she
s
houldn’t have any
problem doing
so
with
Pad
d
y
and
this
love
l
y
w
orld of
Enchantment.
It
would do
her
good
to
forget
eve
r
y
t
h
i
ng
for
a
bit.
N
o
parents,
s
pecial
powers,
training,
or disappointment
about
having
fallen
in
love
with
a
man
from
another
world.

S
o
…why do
I feel as
if
something
is wrong?

If
Kerrigan
believed
it
would
be
okay
for
her
to
attend
the
m
ar
k
et
with
his
m
o
m
,
she’d
trust hi
m
.
Besides,
the
garg
o
y
l
es were
watching
their
every
m
ove.