Enchantment (135 page)

She
thought
of
St
r
y
k
er.
Meeka
realized
with
sadness
s
he’d
never
gotten
to
s
a
y
good
b
y
e
to hi
m
. He had trained her to fight, use her
powers, and
listen
to
her
intuition. She was not the sa
m
e Meeka
a
n
y
m
o
r
e
.
She
was
stronger
than
she
ever
thought
s
he
could
be.
She
wasn’t
scared,
but
she w
a
sn’t
w
hole,
either.
A
piece
of
her
soul
would
alw
a
y
s remain
in
Enchantment.

Chapter
Thir
t
y
-
Eight

In
a
sickening
scene
of
dé
j
à
vu,
ala
r
m
s
sounded
throughout
K
errigan’s
ho
m
e
with
strident insistence.
After
scanning
Enchantment
to
ensure
the
Cou
n
selors
and
Str
y
k
e
r
had
properly
dealt with
Jager,
Kerrigan
had
been
final
l
y
ready
to
retire
for
the
night—or
so
he
thought.

“Not again!”
He
s
wore
as
the
ala
r
m
continued
to
ring.
It
al
m
ost
didn’t
s
urprise
hi
m
.
His
dad had
been
with
him
all
night,
and
not
up
above
watching
over
Enchan
t
m
e
nt.
So
m
e
poor
ani
m
a
l
m
ust
have
fallen
into
the
water
just
beside
the
beaver
da
m
.

Even
though
Kerrigan
had
never
seen
the
beaver
d
a
m
or
Upper
World,
his
dad
had described
it to
him in
explicit
detail
m
a
n
y t
i
m
es.
The
picture
in his
head
was
s
o
vivid,
it
w
as
like he
had
actua
ll
y
been
there.

Kerrigan
was
on
edge.
He’d
had
no
sleep.
He
had
a
l
m
ost
lost
his
m
o
m
and
Meeka,
and
now he
had
to
deal
with
the
ala
r
m
.
Without
a
s
econd
thought,
he
headed
for
the
door
leading
to
his parents’
house.
The
hairs
on
the
back
of
his
neck stood
up.

I
n
stinc
t
ive
l
y
,
he
changed
directions
and
headed
to
the
bedroom
in
search
of
Meeka.
Sure
l
y the
ala
r
m
w
ould have
awakened her,
and
if not
her,
then Catz. Ti
m
e
see
m
ed
to
stop
as he
opened the
bedroom
door,
so
m
ehow
knowing
what
he
would
not
find.
His
sto
m
ach
rolled
over.
The bedroom
was
e
m
p
t
y
. Meeka
was
gone.

The
room
s
pun
while
he
tried
desperate
l
y
to
breathe.
He
couldn’t
endure
this
again.
His heart
w
a
s
pounding
s
o
hard,
he
thought
he
w
ould
explode.

W
h
ere
is
she?

I
m
me
d
iat
el
y
,
he
telepor
t
ed
to
the
pool
of
water
in
his
parents’
ho
m
e.
Todd
and
Paddy
stood at
the
edge
of the
w
ater.
K
errigan
looked
at
his
m
o
m
’s
weary
e
y
es,
and
Todd
dove
into
the
pool, quick
l
y
disappearing.

Paddy
looked
at
her
son.
“Is
s
he
gon
e
?
” Tr
y
i
n
g
to
find
his
voice,
he
whispered,
“
Y
e
s.”

Paddy
m
a
d
e
a
startled
gasp, covering
her
m
outh
just
a
s
Todd
and
two other
beavers
s
urfaced.
The
pained
look
in
his
father’s e
y
es confirmed
his
wo
r
st
nightmare.
She
was
gone.

“Did
she
live
?
”
Kerrigan
choked
out
the
question. Todd
nodded
his
head.
“Yes,
s
on,
th
e
y
both
lived.”

Kerrigan
had
never
kn
o
wn
s
uch
pain
could
exist.
It
felt
as
though
so
m
ebo
d
y
had
pulled
his heart
right
out
of
his
chest.
He
stood
staring
at
the
waterfall
for
what
seemed
like
an
eterni
t
y
.

H
i
s
m
om’s
m
outh
was
m
oving,
but
he
couldn’t
hear
her.
H
o
w
could
she
have
j
u
st
left? Turning
on
his
heels,
he
fled
the
room
without
a
w
ord.
He
didn’t
know
h
o
w
he
found
his
w
a
y back
to
his
den.
He
felt
nothing
b
e
y
o
nd
the
ache
in
his
heart. He’d
lost
his
soul.

He
pulled
the
top
off
a
fresh
bottle
of
S
wish
and
drank
deep
l
y
,
not
bothering with
a gla
s
s.

H
ow
could
she
go?
Does
s
he
think she
can
just
leave me
like
this?

A
nger
began
to
s
eep its
way
deeper
into
his
l
i
m
bs with
eve
r
y
s
wig
he
took.

In
the
far
corner
of
the
roo
m
,
he
heard
Str
y
k
e
r
appear.
Str
y
k
e
r
walked
cautious
l
y
over
to
w
here
his
friend
stood.

“Got
a
drink
for
m
e
?
”

Kerrigan
handed
him
the
bottle.
Str
y
k
e
r
took
a
large
gulp
and
handed
him
the
bottle
back. Kerrigan
leaned
heavi
l
y
on
the
fireplace
with
his
e
y
e
s
never
leaving
the
fla
m
es.