Enchantment (74 page)

“What
other
power
did
s
he
exhibit
?
”

“What
the
fuck
else
is
there?
She
al
m
ost
fried
m
e.
Listen,
Thalius,
if
y
ou
w
ant
to
do
the
job
y
o
urs
e
lf,
send
m
e back
to
T
o
m
bs.”

Thalius
thu
m
ped
his
cane
on
the
ground
in
thought.
“Just
don’t
m
a
k
e
a
n
y
m
ore
m
ista
k
es. We’re
going
to
have
to
think
of
s
o
m
e
thing…and
soon.”

“What’s
the
hur
r
y
? I’d
rather
do
the
job
real
careful
and
not
get
caught
b
y
Kerrigan.”

A
sinister
little
laugh
e
scaped
Thalius.
“
O
h,
I
think
I
have
the
perfect
plan
for
both
of
the
m
, Jager.

* * * *

The
two
bent
their
heads
together,
their
m
u
t
ed
voices
drifting
a
w
a
y
from
the
warrior
hidden in the edge of
the trees. Kerrigan would want to
know
the plan, but it didn’t seem like
l
y he
could get
close
enough.
The
gargo
y
le
looked
back
at
the
m
eadow
and
then
launched
hi
m
s
e
lf
in
the
air and
disappeared.

Chapter
T
w
enty-
Tw
o

Meeka
knew
training
wouldn’t
be
easy
after
a
sleepless
night.
She
gritted
her
teeth
and looked
at
her
reflection
in
the
m
irror.
At
least
her
breasts
were
secure
l
y
held
in
place
as
s
he
bent to
place
the
leather
band
on
her
thigh
and
secured
the
knife.
Th
e
y
couldn’t
have
m
ade
the
stupid pieces
of
leather
any
s
m
a
l
ler,
could
th
e
y
?

Toda
y
,
Kerrigan
would
be
training with
her
and
St
r
y
k
er. She
couldn’t
bear
it
if
she
hurt
hi
m
. Night
m
ares had
kept
her
up
all
night
as
visions
of
hurting
or
killing
Kerrigan
clouded
her
m
ind.

“Catz,
I
don’t
feel like
a
warrior
tod
a
y
, I
feel
like road
kill.
And
I
look
it.”

“Don’t
be
sil
l
y
,
Meeka.
You
are
w
hat
y
o
u
are—a
w
arrior
w
ho
looks
like
a
princess,”
Catz protested.

Meeka
longed
to
explore
every
inch
of
eve
r
y
hall.
Th
e
y
went
up
another
flight
of
stairs
and d
o
wn
a
long
wide
corridor
with
arched
ceilings.
Was
there
no
end
to
this
hous
e
?
H
ow
m
a
n
y stairs and
halls could one
m
ansion
have? A bright
light shone ahead, and Meeka
heard the
grunts of
exertion
and
hear
t
y
laughter.
A
pprehension
took
hold
of
her.
I
m
a
g
es
of
the
steamy
kiss
of
the night
before
flooded
her
m
emo
r
y
and
dulled
her
senses.
He
w
anted
her.
The
hunger
and
lust were
screaming
from
h
i
m
.
It
would
be
ph
y
si
c
al
l
y
i
m
possible
for
her
to
stop
thinking
and drea
m
ing of
hi
m
.
H
ow
she
wanted
h
i
m
to
give
in
to her.

Her
pace
slowed.

She
dreaded
another
day
filled
with
hi
m
.
W
h
y
was
he
so
hot-and
-
cold?
Did
it
have
s
omething
to
do
with
his
dragon
for
m
?
O
ne
instant,
he
was
caring
and
kissing
her,
and
the
next, he
turned
to
stone.
Ice
-
cold
with
no
e
m
otion.
She
just
didn’t
get
it.
His
ki
s
ses
told
her
he
w
anted her…
but
w
h
y
,
then, did he
alw
a
y
s
stop?
S
he didn’t
b
u
y
his excuse about
not wanting to take
her virgini
t
y
.
Eventual
l
y
,
he
had
to
send
her
back
to
Earth.
S
he
w
a
s
so
confused,
her
head
hurt.

E
m
barras
s
m
e
n
t
aside,
Meeka
stepped
acro
s
s
the
threshold
and
into
the
bright
roo
m
.
It
was
s
o
bright,
she
s
quinted and
raised
her
hand,
tr
y
i
n
g to
refocus her
e
y
e
s. When she
brought
her
arm back
d
o
wn
to
her
side,
she
found
herself
staring
at
the
large
field,
and
on
the
fringes,
what appeared
to
be
a
jungle.
O
bvious
l
y
,
m
agic
had
benefits.

Meeka’s
e
y
es
cased
the
area
from
side
to
side,
and
when
she
eventual
l
y
looked
up,
she found
s
he
w
a
s
staring at
huge
vines
and
a
cano
p
y
of
tree
branches.

Could
be
useful.

O
nce
again focused
on
the training field,
s
he
s
pied two
warriors standing
armed to the
nines. Kerrigan
and
Str
y
ker.
St
r
y
k
er
was
gorgeous—no
doubt
about
it—but
Meeka
couldn’t
tear
her e
y
es away
from
the
warrior
beside
hi
m
.

Like
St
r
y
k
er,
he
w
ore
on
l
y
a s
m
all piece of
leather
to cover his
m
anhood.
Beautiful
couldn’t describe
his
bod
y
.
H
e
was
a
poem
begging
to
be
written.
Tanned
from
head
to
toe,
every
part
of his
body
de
m
anded her
attention. Eve
r
y
part
of
him
had
been
trained
to
perfection.

Hard
cords
of
m
uscle
stretched
down
his
legs,
supporting
his
w
a
shboard
sto
m
ach
and p
o
werful
pecs.
Shoulder
-
length
black
hair
hung
careless
l
y
around
his
face.
His
e
y
e
s
were startling.

Str
y
k
e
r
and
Kerrigan
were
speaking
to
her,
and
she
hadn’t
heard
a
w
ord. Her
cheeks
fl
a
m
ed.