Page 10 of Looking for Seth

I blinked at the screen, hardly believing the words on it. Was that really all it had taken to convince him to come? I wasn't going to question it too much when I was ultimately getting what I wanted,

My phone buzzed, drawing my attention back to the screen.

My heart skipped a beat. I knew it wasn't good to get my hopes up about where this could lead, but I couldn't seem to help it. I wanted this to be the real deal.

"What are you smiling at?" Bastet asked as she entered the room.

"What? Nothing."

She raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing me. "Do you want a drink?"

I nodded, relieved at her decision to change the subject. I wasn't sure why I didn't tell her about Seth, but I just needed a little longer to figure out how I felt about it.

"Who was here?" I asked, partly to distract myself. "It didn't sound like Ptah."

"Tamesis, do you know her?"

I shook my head.

"I think she's the goddess of a river in England. I'm not sure exactly what or where, she didn't say."

"What did she want?"

"To adopt a cat."

"Huh, you've been getting a lot of people coming to do that."

"I guess a lot of gods want a companion, and I'm a great place to get them. And it isn't as if I'm short of new arrivals. I have more cats than ever."

I chuckled. "That's true." They seemed to multiply faster than ever now that she was in the god realm. At least I'd insisted on her using a lot of the space by the edge of the oasis so there was room for them all.

As if to prove my point, a dark grey cat with beautiful dappled black markings sauntered into the room and examined each of us in turn.

"Are you new?" I asked the cat, certain that I hadn't seen her before.

"Oh, you won't get an answer out of her," Bastet said, setting a glass of wine down in front of me. "She doesn't seem to want to say anything. Won't even tell me her name."

"So she is new?"

She shook her head. "She's been with me for years, but she seems to be more present now we've moved. Maybe it unsettled her." She sat down opposite me and leaned back in her chair.

"Maybe." I picked up my glass and swirled it around, inhaling the heady scent of the red wine she'd picked. She had excellent taste when it came to the beverage.

"Ptah's been talking about trying to find Seth," she said.

I sat up straighter. "What? Why?"

"Because they were friends," she responded. "I think he wants to know that he's doing okay."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked, despite the fact I was planning on bringing Seth to a place where both Bastet and Ptah would be anyway.