Enchantment (45 page)

Meeka
decided
it
was
b
e
st
not
to
question
him
further
tonight.
Ma
y
be
so
m
e
times
it
was
j
u
st better
not
to
know
eve
r
y
t
h
i
ng.
Things
that
went
bu
m
p
in
the
night
were
only
sca
r
y
if
y
o
u
were aware
of
th
e
m
.

* * * *

O
utside
Todd
and
Pad
d
y
Beavers
lodge,
he
sat
waiting.
J
ager
rubbed
his
hands
in
delight. What
a
feeling!
Invincible!
N
othing
could
touch
hi
m
.
The
powers
Thalius
had
bestowed
upon him
were
unlike
an
y
t
h
ing
he
had
ever
known.

He
felt
i
m
pervious
standing
invisible
in
the
front
y
a
rd.
W
h
y
did
the
old
creep
want
this
girl
s
o
bad?
Thalius w
a
s
a
sick
old
bastard,
but
there
m
ust
be
s
o
m
e
thing
else
of
great
value
here.

D
amn bugs
.

He
rubbed
and
swatted
his
head.

Perhaps
I’ll
try the
girl
out
before
I
pass
her
on
to
Thalius. Patience. First,
I
need
to
get
her
away
from
Kerrigan.

Cha
p
ter
Sixteen

Meeka
w
oke
to
a
heavy
heart.
She
just
wanted
to
go
ho
m
e,
but
there
didn’t
seem
to
be
any point
in arguing about it. A wonderful aro
m
a
floated
through the air, and her sto
m
ach
growled in respo
n
se.
S
he thought
of pancakes. At
the
s
ound
of laughter, Meeka’s allowed her e
y
es
to
flicker open.
N
ot
m
uch
sleep had
co
m
e
to her through
the night, and
s
he was certain
last night would be a
night
s
he’d
never
forget.

Catz
didn’t
appear
to
be
in
the
roo
m
,
and
the
door
w
a
s
slight
l
y
open.
M
eeka
stretched, ju
m
ped
out
of
bed,
and
put
the
robe
on.
She
heard
a
lot
of
voices
and
laughter.
S
heepish
l
y
,
s
he
m
ade
her
way
to the kitchen, which
see
m
ed
to be
the gathering location
in the ho
u
se, and
tried
to peek
around the
doorway
so
nobody
w
ould see
her.

N
ot
knowing
w
hat
to
expect,
the
scene
caught
her
off
guard.
Two
very
large
beavers,
her cat,
and
so
m
e
other
creature
s
he’d
never
seen
before
were
perched
around
the
island.
And
of course,
he
was
there,
looking
even
sexier
than
last
night.
He
and
Pad
d
y
stood
side
b
y
side
with aprons
on.

She
assu
m
ed
the
larger
beaver
m
ust
be
Kerrigan’s
father
and
Padd
y
’s
husband,
Todd.
Catz sat
on
the
island
with
the
m
y
s
t
e
r
y
creature.
The
kitchen
looked
like
a
batter
bo
m
b
had
gone
off. White
stuff
coated
eve
r
y
t
h
i
ng
on
the
island,
including
the
m
.

All
heads had turned
to
look at
her. Meeka
blushed
with e
m
barras
s
m
ent and
stepped into
the kitchen.

“I’m
sor
r
y
. I
didn’t
m
ean to
interrupt,”
she
said,
pla
y
i
n
g
with
a
lock
of
hair.

Paddy
gave
a
hear
t
y
laugh,
hur
r
y
i
ng
toward
her.
“Sil
l
y
girl.
We’ve
been
waiting
for
y
o
u
to wake.
Kerrigan
and
I
got
into
a
lit
t
le
dispute
with
the
flour,
and
of
course,
Threeo
was
j
u
st
a
bit too
excited.
P
oor
Catz
and
Todd
were
caught
in
the
cro
s
sfire.”
Pad
d
y
grabbed
M
eeka’s
arm
and led
her
to
a
seat
at
the
island
beside
the
other
beaver.

“Hello,
Meeka.
I’m
Todd.”
He
greeted
with
his
paw
reaching
out.

Meeka
let go
of
her
hair,
causing
it to
cascade
around her
body
like a
cloud.

“Hello.
It’s
nice
to
m
eet
y
o
u.
Thank
y
o
u
for
s
aving
Catz’s
and
my
life.
I
can
never
repay
y
o
u and
y
o
u
r fa
m
il
y
for
y
o
u
r hospitali
t
y
.”

Todd’s
e
y
es
followed
the
length of
her
bo
d
y
.
“
H
uh.
Tall. And
what
a strange
color
y
o
ur
e
y
es are.
I’ve
never
seen
such
a
thing.”

She sure
w
a
sn’t
expecting
his
state
m
e
n
t.
“Yes,
I
am
quite
tall,
my
hair
is
quite
long,
and my e
y
es are
an
un
u
sual
color.”

“Todd,
where
are
y
o
u
r
m
anners?
Y
ou
and
Kerrigan
are
acting
so
strange
these
p
a
st
couple da
y
s,”
Paddy
scolded.
“
Meeka,
I’m
sor
r
y
for
these
two
hooligans.
I
real
l
y
don’t
kn
o
w
what
has gotten
into
th
e
m
.
You
co
m
e and
sit
up
here
beside
Threeo.”

“Threeo
?
”
Meeka
tilted
her
head,
puzzled.

Kerrigan
hasti
l
y
stepped
in
to
m
ake
the
introduction.
“
Threeo,
this
is
Meeka.
Meeka
this
is Threeo.”

Threeo
stu
m
ped
toward
Meeka.
“Hi
Meeka.
It’s
nice
to
m
eet
y
o
u,
but
I’ve
alrea
d
y
m
et
y
o
u
.
Y
ou’ve
been
in
my
drea
m
s.”

“Oh.”
She
was
not
sure
h
o
w
to
take
this
revelation.

“Threeo tried to
tell Kerrigan
y
o
u
were
co
m
ing,
but
he didn’t
listen to
me. He
seldom listens to
m
e.
N
ot
all
my
dre
a
m
s
c
o
m
e
true,
but
I
knew
y
o
u
would
be
true.
Threeo
knew
y
ou
w
ould co
m
e.
I
real
l
y
am
quite
s
m
art.
Kerrigan
sa
y
s
Threeo
talks
too
m
uch.
I
don’t
think
I
talk
too
m
uch.
Do
y
ou think
Threeo
talks
too
m
u
ch
?
”