Enchantment (61 page)

“We’re
leaving
in
ten
m
inu
t
es.
I’ll
meet
y
o
u
and
Catz
back
upstairs.
Threeo,
show
them back
up
when
th
e
y
’
re done.”
K
errigan
turned
on
his
heel
and
left
the
roo
m
.

Stunned,
Meeka
could
on
l
y
stare
at
him
in
disbelief.
“Who
died
and
m
ade
y
o
u
such
an
ass,”
s
he
m
utte
r
ed
after
hi
m
. Her
e
y
es
widened
when
he
paused
to
glance
at
her
before
walking
awa
y
.

She
sighed.

D
amn
him.

J
ust
when
she
was
getting
rea
d
y
to
hate
hi
m
,
he
had
to
put
on
the
coc
k
y
,
lopsided
litt
l
e
grin. Still,
his
overbearing
attitude
irritated her,
and
she
glared
at
his
retrea
t
ing
figure.

Threeo
ju
m
ped d
o
wn
from
the
m
a
n
tle.
“We
should
go,
Meeka.”

Of
all
the
egotistical things
I've
ever
seen!

Meeka
recognized
her
inner
power
flaring
b
y
the
tingling
feeling,
which
began
in
the
pit
of her
sto
m
ach. She
w
a
s
starting
to
beco
m
e fa
m
i
liar with
the
s
ensation.

Meeka
and
Catz
followed
Threeo
up
a
series
of
stairs
until
they
were
in
what
m
ust
be Kerrigan’s
den.
It
rese
m
b
l
ed
hi
m
.
Dark
walls
co
m
p
l
eme
n
ted
the
s
wirling,
rich,
wine
colors
of leather
furniture.

H
ow dare he try
and boss her
around. She did not intend
to
m
e
ek
l
y ob
e
y her “host’s”
orders. She
paced,
fury
bubbling
beneath
her
flesh.

Hearing
hea
v
y
footfalls
co
m
ing
toward
the
den,
Meeka
took
her
stance
with
her
ar
m
s cro
s
sed.
Kerrigan
walked
through
the
door,
and
instant
l
y
,
she
forgot
her
anger.
He
hadn’t
even been
gone for
five
m
in
u
tes, but
there he
stood
in the
doorw
a
y
,
dressed
in
black leather
from
head to
toe.
The
leather
pants
he
wore
clung
to
every
delicious
m
usc
l
e.
H
i
s
e
y
es
were
stunning,
but gone
was
the
kindness.
His
s
houlder
-
length
wavy
black
hair
m
a
tched
his
dark
attitude. Dangerous
w
a
s
how
she’d
describe
hi
m
.
There
was
no
gentleness
in
w
hat
she
s
a
w.
He
was
hard all
over,
m
en
t
al
l
y
and
p
h
y
s
ica
ll
y
.

Get
a grip!

She
knew
m
ost
w
o
m
en
would
sell
their
souls
for
a
chance
to
be
around
a
m
an
like
hi
m
,
but
s
he
w
a
sn’t
going
to
be
one
of
the
m
.
S
he
refused
to
be
pushed
around.
S
he’d
had
enough.
Her father
had
pushed
her
around
all
her
life,
and
she
w
as
done
with
it.
She
would
decide
where,
w
hen,
and
what
she
would
do.

Lifting her
chin
a
litt
l
e, Meeka
stood
her
ground.
Resolute,
s
he
waited
i
m
pat
i
ent
l
y
for
him
to ask
her.
She’d
be
da
m
n
ed
if
she’d
j
u
st
follow
his
orders.

“You’re
going
to
acco
m
pa
n
y
m
e
to
the
Counselors’
Rea
l
m
,
M
eeka.
Are
y
o
u
ready
to
g
o
?
” H
i
s
tone
left
little thought
of
it
being
a
question.

“No,
I’m
not
rea
d
y
.
I’m
not
going
an
y
w
h
ere
with
y
o
u.”

The
m
uscle
twitch
in
his
j
a
w.
S
he
pr
a
y
e
d
he
wouldn’t
catch
the
squeak
in
her
voice
as
he studied
her.

“Not
an
option.
You
are
coming
with
m
e, so
I
s
uggest—”

“Real
l
y
. I
don’t
think
so.
I
don’t
want
to.”
She
flipped
her
hair
over
her
shoulder.

In
two
m
assive
strides,
K
errigan
towered
over
her.
Meeka
swallowed
hard.
For
once
in
her life,
she
found
it
a
disadvantage
to
be
so
s
hort.
Heat
e
m
a
n
ated
from
his
bod
y
.
He
w
as
s
o
close. H
i
s
anger
was
s
corching,
but
she
refused
to
be
int
i
m
id
a
ted.

“You
can
come
nice
l
y
, or
I’ll carry
y
o
u
.” He
cr
o
ssed
his
ar
m
s
and
clenched
his
teeth. “You
w
ouldn’t
dare!”