Enchantment (82 page)

“Take
y
o
u
r
time.
The closet is
over there.
When
y
o
u
open the door,
j
u
st speak out loud
w
hat
y
o
u
w
ould
like
to
wear,
and
it
will
appear.
The
ill
u
m
i
n
ated
lights
along
the
floor
will
direct
y
o
u back
up
to
the
dining
roo
m
.”
His
s
m
i
l
e
m
e
l
ted her
heart
as
he
turned
and
left.

“Meeka,
perhaps
I’ll
leave,
too.
I
could
use
a
nap
before
supper.”
Catz
y
a
w
ned.

“Thank
y
o
u,
Catz.
Thank
y
ou
again
for
y
o
ur
support
toda
y
.
I
could
never
have
done
it without
y
o
u
.”

“You
don’t
give
y
o
urself
enough
credit,
Meeka.”
Another
large
y
awn
escaped
Catz
as
she also
exited
the
roo
m
.

Meeka
walked
to
the
vani
t
y
and
grabbed
a
towel.
The
pool
w
as
s
o
inviting.
S
he
untied
the straps
around
her
ar
m
s and
leg,
and
then
undid
the ski
m
p
y
top and
slid
out
of
the
bott
o
m
s.

War
m
th
enveloped her feet as she
stepped
in. Leisure
l
y
,
she
slid
the rest
of
her
bo
d
y
into the welco
m
ing water
with
a
sigh
of
conten
t
m
e
n
t.

Her
m
usc
l
es
began
to
relax,
and
the
thu
m
p
of
her
heart
slowed.
Reclining
back
against
the warm
rock,
she
breathed
a
sigh
of
relief.
F
or
the
m
o
m
e
n
t,
s
he
resolved,
she
w
ouldn’t
think
of ho
m
e,
or
fami
l
y
, or
an
y
t
h
ing—not
even
Kerrigan.

* * * *

The
scent
of
food
pulled
her
from
the
light
doze
she’d
fallen into,
and
she
sat
up
gasping.

O
ops.
Don’t
want
to
be
late
for
dinner.

The bath
brush
didn’t surprise
her
when
it
floated
across
the
room
to
the
pool.
She
scrubbed the
dirt
out
of
her
hair
and
washed
aw
a
y
all
the
traces
of
grime
left
on
her
bo
d
y
.
The
floral- scented
s
oap
r
e
m
inded her
of
s
weet
peas.

Q
uick
l
y
,
Meeka
dried
herself
off
and
wrapped
the
towel
around
her
bod
y
.
The
hairbrush
on the
vani
t
y
stared
at
her.
Meeka
picked
it
up,
and
as
s
he
started
brushing,
the
brush
auto
m
a
ti
c
al
l
y took
over.

W
h
a
t is
it with
brushes
a
round
here?

Meeka
didn’t
co
m
p
l
ain;
brushing
her
hair
w
as
a
big
j
ob.
The
brush
kept
brushing
until
her hair
was
near
l
y
dr
y
.

Meeka
studied
her
reflection
in
the
m
irror.
Her
hair
hung
in
glorious
w
aves
down
past
her hips.
She
decided
to
leave
it
down,
and
walked
over
to
the
closet.

W
h
a
t
will I
wear?

The
door
opened
to
reveal
several
full
-
length
m
irrors,
and
glittering
gold
and
silver
lights. “So
m
et
h
ing
s
ophisticated,
but
se
x
y
,
”
she
said.
“
A
red
dress,
low
cut,
scoop-backed
and
tied around
the
neck.
Not
too
short.
Flir
t
y
.”
The
dress
appeared,
hanging
in
the
closet.
It
was
perfect, just
as
she
i
m
a
g
ined
it
should
be.

S
o
me
m
agic
should
be
enjoyed
unquestioned.

She
slipped
the
dress
on,
applied
s
o
m
e lip
-
glo
s
s,
and
left
the
roo
m
.

Meeka
followed
the
lights,
s
m
i
l
ing
when
she
realized
K
errigan
had
been
telling
the
truth. Pa
u
sing
to
admire
the
paintings,
s
he
sighed,
stopping
at
the
beautifu
ll
y
framed,
colorful
large dragon
f
l
y
i
ng
through
the
s
k
y
.

Meeka
would
know
those
e
y
e
s
a
n
y
w
here.
Even
in
dragon
for
m
,
Kerrigan
w
a
s
stunning. Cautious
l
y
,
she
ran
her
fingertips
over
the
painting.
Closing
her
e
y
es,
she
could
al
m
ost
feel
the
s
nake
-
like
softness of shining scales caressing her
skin. When she
heard a
deep, seductive
gr
o
wl,
s
he
pulled
her
hand
aw
a
y
.

Did she
just
s
ee
the
e
y
e
s
blink?
The
pull
w
a
s
s
o
strong.
Meeka
resisted
the
urge
to
place
her cheek
up
against
dragon’s
cool
bod
y
,
but
instead,
turned
away
from
the
picture,
shaking
her head.
Ridiculous.
She
was
s
o
desperate
for
h
i
m
,
she
was
m
aking things
up.