Enchantment (19 page)

He
w
a
s
astonished.

A
s
o
rceress.
Damn
it!

Kerrigan’s
e
y
e
s
narrowed,
his
thoughts
laced
with
a
threate
n
ing
undertone.
“I’m
leaving now,
but
you
should
probably
st
a
rt
s
peaking
to
her
about
this
world
and
what
she
will
soon see.”

He
returned
his
gaze
to
Meeka
and
spoke.
“
Y
ou
tru
l
y
are
precious.”
Dis
m
issing
her
and Catz,
he
turned
and
walked
aw
a
y
. The
door
opened
and
closed
without
his
touch.

* * * *

She
stood
stunned.
Who
did
he
think
he
w
a
s?
Meeka
stu
m
bled
to
the
door
and
tried
to
open it.
Of
course
he’d
locked
it.
Dizziness
overwhelmed
her
senses.
Defeated,
s
he
turned
her
back against
the
door
and
sank
to the
floor.

W
h
a
t
is
this
place?
She
had
never
seen
a
n
y
room
like
this.

Round—every
frickin’ thing
is
round,
just
like
the
bed.

It even
had
a
do
m
e
-
s
haped
ceiling.
Escape
from an
entrance
other
than
the
door
didn’t
seem p
o
ssible.

She
heard
Catz
ju
m
p
off
the
bed.
Lifting
her
head,
s
he
s
m
i
l
ed
w
hen
the
feline
w
rapped
its s
m
all
bo
d
y
around
her
legs.
She
looked
d
o
wn
at
Catz.
“
What
have
I
gotten
u
s
into?
What
w
ould I
have
done
if
y
o
u had
drowne
d
?
I
would
never
forgive
m
y
s
e
lf
.
”

“I
would
never
leave
y
o
u.”

Meeka looked
at her
with wide
e
y
e
s
and
s
hook her
head.
“
S
a
y
that
again,”
she asked, scared to
believe
w
hat
s
he’d
heard.

J
u
m
p
ing
onto
her
lap,
Catz
stared
at
her
with
unblinking
e
y
es.
“
I
said
I
would
never
leave
y
o
u
.
”

Meeka
covered
her
face
with
both
hands
and
took
a
deep
breath.
“I’ve
final
l
y
lost
my
m
ind. Did
I
fall d
o
wn
the rabbit hole? Catz, tell
m
e I’m drea
m
ing.
I have
to be in
a drea
m
.
I
wanted the fairy
tale.
N
ow
it
s
e
e
m
s
I’m
in
one,
except
the
prince
is
being
a
j
erk,
and
I’ve
lost
my
m
ar
b
les and
can’t
wake
up.”

“I
w
i
sh
I
could
tell
y
ou
this
is
all
a
drea
m
,
but
unfortunate
l
y
,
that’s
not
the
case.
The
m
an
is right;
we real
l
y can’t
go ho
m
e,
at
least
not
j
u
st
y
e
t
,
if
at
all.
The two
of us
have
alwa
y
s
been
able to
s
peak
to
one
another.
I
just
didn’t
s
peak
clear
l
y
or
vocal
l
y
.
The
ti
m
e
had
to
be
right.
N
ow
the time
has
co
m
e, and
we
m
ust
go
forward
with
y
o
ur d
e
sti
n
y
.”

“None
of
this
is
real.
None
of
this
is
real,”
Meeka
repeated.
“
What
are
y
o
u
talking
about? Catz,
y
o
u
’re
speaking
to
m
e
just
like
a
person
would.
Since
w
hen
do
furry
pet
critters
spea
k
?
H
ow
about
never
.
That
just
do
e
sn’t
happen.
Eve
r
y
t
h
i
ng
will
be
nor
m
al
again
if
w
e
can
just
go ho
m
e.”

“We
did
go
down
a
rabbit
hole,
so
to
speak.
This is
not
y
o
u
r world.
It’s
a
different
w
orld in
a different
d
i
m
ension.
You
are
not
dreaming,
and
I’m
sorry
to
cause
y
ou
s
o
m
uch
distress.”
Catz purred.
“
B
ut
ti
m
e has
run
out,
it
see
m
s.
Destiny
has
decided
to
start
the
party
ear
l
y
.”

In
disbelief,
Meeka
continued
to
stare
at
her
beautiful
green
-
e
y
ed
w
hite
cat.
Using
her hands,
she
p
u
shed
herself
up
and
stu
m
b
l
ed
back
to
the
bed.
Sudden
l
y
,
it
felt
as
if
so
m
ebo
d
y
had taken
a
sledgeham
m
e
r
to
her
head.
The
excrucia
t
ing
pain
nauseated
her.

A
ro
o
m
with
no
bathroom–
g
reat.
It
would
serve
the
pigheaded
male
right
if
I
threw
up
all over
his
floor.