CHAPTER 149

Whatever magic he possessed didn't seem to have any effect on her, thank god. She felt embarrassed by how eager the others were to please him, treating him like a celebrity rock god, or something. They seemed to fall over each other trying to make him happy, and if he wasn't so damned nice to everybody, she probably would have left out of disgust.

Still, when he had appeared on the roof, she couldn't help but notice that his hair was perfectly styled, and the wind on the roof ruffled his shirt in a manner that highlighted the muscles in his chest. Even mother nature was falling over herself to make him look good, and she snorted at the idea.

"It really is appreciated," he said. "I'll admit, I get stuff done much faster without having to explain myself to him, so you've been a big help to me. But that's not why I'm up here."

"Oh?" She smirked and turned around, but was surprised to see that he had removed his shoes to walk along the edge right behind her. "Aren't you afraid you'll fall?"

"Used to be. Heights don't bother me anymore."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How did you get up here, anyway?"

"Climbed up," he answered. "Abella told me you were here and offered me a lift, but she has a habit of demanding certain favors from me afterward."

Kisa snorted again, then looked away. Indeed.

"Anyway, the real reason I came up here was because of Zel's ceremony tomorrow. She's becoming the official chieftain of the whole herd, and she invited some of us to come and take part."

She had no interest in the centaurs other than to watch them out in the front yard as they worked. If nothing else, they had been entertaining to observe. "Why do you think they want me there?" she asked, then scampered up the roof to hop onto one of the turrets.

"They didn't request you specifically." Mike stood just below the turret now. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go with me. There's supposed to be dancing and music, and I thought you might enjoy getting out of the house for a bit."

She stopped on the edge of the turret, then turned around. "What kind of music?"

"I have no idea," he told her, then turned to look over the yard. "It's really pretty up here."

She scowled, ready to tell him that the roof was hers. Abella usually kept to herself, which meant that other than Death, it was one of the only places she could be alone. However, she bit her tongue.

"Anyway, if you wanted to come, I wanted you to have a heads up so you can pick out a dress or something. Tink is making a dress for herself and offered to make you one, too."

"Tink...is going?" The idea of Tink going too brought up a weird feeling in her chest. Though some of her memories had returned, they were sporadic and rarely made sense. Her love-hate relationship with the goblin was something she struggled to understand, and this was one of those times. It shouldn't matter to her that Tink was going, but for some reason, it did.

"She is, but mainly because I told her she needs a break. She's had to rewire the entire house and upgrade the circuit box, which hasn't been done since it was first installed sometime last century. She's trying to put more safeguards in as a result of Quetzalli's mishaps so that she doesn't have to keep working on it. Apparently the wires have melted in some places, and if the house wasn't magic, she's fairly certain a fire would have been started. I think we could all use some downtime. Oh, right. Speaking of wires..."

He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to her. She took it from him and saw that it was an electronic device with a touch screen and a pair of earplugs.

"It's the latest iPod," he explained. "It's kind of like a phone, but it's for playing music. I went ahead and loaded a bunch of stuff on there and started a Spotify account for you, which is a way to listen to new stuff. The record player is fun and all, but you can use the wireless earbuds to listen to your music wherever."

He gave her a brief rundown of how everything worked, and she tried her best to follow. She had been asleep for so long that the latest technology was like magic to her, but the touch interface seemed simple, and she was able to get the earbuds to fit in her ears with a little bit of help. She was pleased to hear the stream of tunes when she hit play, but then paused the music.

"What's the catch?" she asked him, suddenly suspicious.

"There isn't one. I know you like to dance is all, and the wireless buds will make it easier for you to dance wherever you want. Oh, but be careful not to lose them. I had trouble getting those ones. Apparently, there's a bit of a shortage."

She looked at the iPod and then back at him. "No, really. There has to be a catch. You want something, don't you? Give me a gift, make a small request, make me feel like I owe you something."

He shook his head. "Nope. As Caretaker, I'm supposed to make sure everyone is happy and healthy, or at least that's my take on it. I don't even know you that well, but I have noticed that you love music and like to be on your own. This way, you can do both. Anyway, I need to get downstairs. I promised Jenny a game of checkers." He walked away from her and toward a corner of the roof where he was able to drop down a level before climbing onto a drain pipe and going the rest of the way down.