I chuckled and slapped his arm playfully. "Why would you barge in your own home?"
"For dramatic effect," he shrugged, before giving me a short, soft kiss on my cheek.
"Oh, my Goddess!"
Natha frowned slightly when he heard Zarfa's surprised voice. She looked at Natha with parted lips and hands on her cheeks.
"Oh, my Goddess--you are really Doc Nathanael!"
Natha tilted his head slightly at the sight of the girl, before making a pondering face. "Ah, you're that girl--what's your name again? Something with a C..."
"Cecilia," I told him.
"Right," he nodded. "So you really are her," he glanced at me with a smile on his face, stroking my grinning cheek.
But that was the end of his gentleness. The moment he looked at the Hero and his companions, the silver eyes were akin to a blizzard, and his hold on my waist tightened slightly.
