Enchantment (68 page)

Kerrigan
stood
overhead
and
bent
down
to
help
his
friend
up.
“What
the
hell
happened
?
” Kerrigan
demanded.
“
Why
didn’t
y
o
u
transform
to
get
awa
y
?
”

“Uh,
y
e
a
h
,
tried
to,”
Str
y
k
e
r
sputtered,
spitting
sand
out
of
his
m
outh. “Meeka,
do
y
ou r
e
m
ember what
y
ou were
doing
to
Str
y
k
e
r
?
”
Kerrigan
asked.

“I
had
convinced
m
y
s
e
lf he
was
my
enem
y
.
I
could
feel
the
flames beginning
to
grow
inside. The
m
ore
I
thought about
the
evil
creature, the
larger
the
fla
m
es got.
They
had
to
come out.
Then Str
y
k
e
r
went
f
l
y
i
ng
through
the
air,”
Meeka
explained.

“Oh,
I’ve been
on the receiving
end of one
of those
throws.” Kerrigan teased, pressing
a ki
s
s to
her
t
e
m
ple.

“I
couldn’t
stop.”
Meeka
wiped
at
a
stray
tear.
“He
wasn’t
dead;
I
wanted
him
dead.
When he stood,
I
took
his
weapon
and
s
hield.
Oh,
God,
Kerrigan,
I
couldn’t
stop.
I’m so
sorr
y
.
He kept threatening
to
hurt—”
She
slapped
a
hand
over
her
m
outh,
her
e
y
es
filled
with
horror
as
s
he glanced
from
Catz
to
Kerrigan
and
back.

Str
y
k
e
r
took
a
deep
breath
and
looked
into
M
eeka’s
e
y
es.
“She
had
total
control
over
my
m
ind
and bod
y
. I
w
a
s
her puppet
on
a
string.”

This
ti
m
e,
Catz
ju
m
ped
into
the
conversation.
“Now
y
ou
kn
o
w
w
h
y
she
will
alw
a
y
s
be
in danger.
Meeka
is
a
walking
weapon.
Why
wouldn’t
so
m
et
h
ing
evil
want
the
t
y
pe
of
p
o
wer
she ha
s
?
”

* * * *

Fear
gripped
Kerrigan,
forcing
him
to
stand
and
turn
awa
y
.
H
ow
could
he
protect
her
w
hen
s
he
could
ve
r
y
w
ell
have
enough
power
to
defeat
hi
m
?

“Hello?
You
gu
y
s
are
talking
about
m
e
like
I’m
not
even
here.”
Meeka
waved
a
hand
at the
m
.

S
wallowing
his
e
m
o
tions
and
the
pain
in
his
heart,
he
turned
to
help
her
up
from
the
bench.

“Meeka,
y
o
u’
r
e
still
shivering.
W
h
y
don’t
y
o
u
go
clean
up
and
change
back
into
y
o
u
r
clothes. Catz
will
go
with
y
o
u.”

“Still
ordering
m
e
around,
I
s
ee.”

Kerrigan
gave
an
exasperated
sigh.
“No,
Meeka,
I’m
not
tr
y
i
n
g
to
order
y
o
u
around.
I
j
u
st thought
y
ou
might
be
m
ore
co
m
fo
r
tab
l
e
in
y
o
u
r
regular
clothes.”
He
pa
l
m
ed
her
face,
his
th
u
m
b tracing
over
her
cheekbone.
“
G
o
on,
get
changed.
Please.”

“Is
there
any
drinking
water
in
there
?
”
Meeka
gave
him
a
hopeful
look. “You
bet
there
is.”

Meeka
walked awa
y
,
speaking
to him
over her
shoulder.
“
I
hope there’s plen
t
y
of
water. I’m thirst
y
.”
Stifling
a
y
awn, she
continued
with
Catz
at
her
side.

Str
y
k
e
r
still sat on the bench.
“
Kerrigan,
y
o
u
don’t know what
y
o
u
have on
y
o
ur
hands
here. She
’
s
a
ticking
time
bo
m
b.”

“Did
she
real
l
y
stop
y
ou from
changing
into
the
gargo
y
le
?
”

“Yes,
she
did!
There
w
a
s
nothing
I
could
do
to
escape.
I
s
aw
the
look
in
her
e
y
e
s,
Kerrigan. She
w
a
sn’t
the
sa
m
e
person.
S
he
wanted
m
e
dead.
If
y
ou
and
Catz
hadn’t
stopped
her
when
y
ou did,
I
believe
she
could
have
d
e
str
o
y
e
d
m
e.
Then
s
he
would
have
hated
herself
forever. Regardless
of
her
power,
she’s
got
a
tender
heart.”

Kerrigan
didn’t
know
h
o
w
to
respond.
What
was
he
going
to
do
with
her,
and
w
h
y
was
he the
one
chosen
to
protect
he
r
?
By
the
sounds
of
it,
she
didn’t
need
protection,
but
he
m
ig
h
t. Could
she
control
m
ore
than
one
person
at
a
t
i
m
e?
If
s
he
w
ere
back
on
Upper
World,
w
ould
s
he still
have
her
p
o
wers?

H
ow
the hell
am
I
going
to
deal
with this?

Str
y
k
e
r
final
l
y
stood
up
and
slapped
his
friend
on
the
back.
“I
have
s
o
m
e
s
uggestions,
if
y
o
u’d like
to
hear
the
m
.”

“Let
‘em
fl
y
. I
need
all
the
help
I
can
get.”

“Well, first, I
think
she
needs
m
ore
practice.
We
still don’t
know the extent of
her
strength. I w
a
s
tr
y
i
n
g
to
funnel
her
hatred.
N
o
w,
we
know
how
that
went,
but
can
s
he
use
her
powers
when
s
he’s not in a state
of
fu
r
y
?
And what else can
she do?
M
y
biggest
w
or
r
y
is she
m
ig
h
t
actua
ll
y be able
to
control
m
ore
than
one
creature at
a
t
i
m
e.
N
ot
even
the
army
of
garg
o
y
l
es
would
be
able
to stop
her.”

“It’s
my
fear,
as
well.
But
I
don’t
know
h
o
w
to
disarm
her.
What
would
happen
if
this
evil force
did
get
a
hold
of
he
r
?
Could
they
p
o
ssib
l
y
use
her
as
a
w
eapon
of
m
ass
destruction
to destroy
Enchan
t
m
e
n
t,”
Kerrigan
speculated.

“You
kn
o
w,
I
have
to
point
out,
on
l
y
w
hen
I
threate
n
ed
Catz…and
y
o
u
…did
s
he
start
to throw
dead
l
y
fla
m
e balls.
Perhaps
y
ou need
to
distance
y
o
u
rself
from
her.”

Kerrigan
ground
his
teeth
at
the
very
idea,
his
m
ind
racing
with
tangled
ideas.
“
H
ow
am
I
s
upposed
to
acco
m
p
lish
such
a
task
w
hen
she
needs
protection
?
”

“H
o
w
about
we
place
the
m
a
j
ori
t
y
of
the
gargo
y
l
e
s with
her
at
all
t
i
m
es.
You,
as
well.” “Agreed.”

“I
think
we
s
hould
train
with
her
dai
l
y
to
explore
her
powers.
The
m
ore
control
she
has,
the better. I hope.
A
re
y
ou
okay to help
assist again? I understand
if
y
o
u’re
not willing
to
chance it.
I will
be
there,
and
s
o
will
Catz.
Her
animal
has
the
m
ost
influence
over
her
actions.
Meeka respects
her
above
all
others.
The
cat
is
an
ace
in
our
pockets.”

Str
y
k
e
r
laughed.
“What
do
y
ou
take
m
e
for?
I’m
not
going
to
let
so
m
e
chick
kick
my
ass. What
w
ould
the
garg
o
y
l
es
think?
They
saw
h
o
w
she
total
l
y
knocked
the
crap
out
of
m
e
tod
a
y
. They
have
to
know
I’m
not
going
to
back
d
o
wn
from
a
challenge. Besides,
I
don’t
believe
M
eeka will
co
m
e
unglued
again.
S
he’s
s
m
art.
I
think
s
he’ll
learn
to
control
the
powers
she
has.
She
w
on’t
confuse
an
innocent
with
evil
again.
She
tru
l
y
is
re
m
ar
k
able,
y
o
u kn
o
w.”