Chapter One
"There. Is that any better?"
Tahira wiggles the fingers on her injured hand. Although the wound has been strapped together more tightly, the movement sends a twinge of pain through her arm.
"A little, thanks."
Darrus grins and packs the rest of his medical supplies in his backpack. Them running into each other had been a coincidence, but she knows why he's no longer with Merry and their group—the rival faction to her brother, Seth's.
"Good thing I managed to pack a bunch of supplies before..." His sentence trails off and his eyes go glassy, as if he's remembering.
She already knows the answer but asks the question anyway. "Before what?"
He clears his throat. "We got overrun by mummies a few hours ago. We hadn't seen any in the area for ages, so we wrongly assumed we were safe. We let our guards down." He stands up and swings his backpack over his shoulder. "Most of us were infected. The rest ran off in different directions. Luckily Fawn, Eddy, and I were doing a stock of our medical bay. Once we heard the screams, we knew what happened."
She swallows hard, trying to dispel her feelings of guilt. "I'm sorry."
He shakes his head. "What about you? Did you find your group?"
"Yes, but they kicked me out and then got attacked. Mummies."
Memories flash through her head of the hawks dive bombing her to save Horus. The god has a vendetta against her, as she is Ra's chosen one. Bastet, the goddess who has been assigned to guard her, was supposed to tell her more before they got separated. The last time they had seen each other, the cat goddess had been in rough shape. Her body was covered in wounds, and she was missing an ear. Tahira dreaded to think what all those wounds would look like in her human form.
She suppresses a sigh, knowing Bastet still hasn't turned up.
Bastet promised not to leave her, and she knows she wouldn't break that. So, her not being here already means something has happened to her. Tahira's stomach flips with the thought, as the goddess could be in pain somewhere.
Or captured by Set.
The sha god is very much in favour of the virus that is sweeping through humanity. He wants it to gain power, along with Horus and Anubis. Bastet had said that he was greedy, but cowardly. Never willing to get his paws dirty.
"Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to help?" Fawn's snap brings her out of her thoughts.
She stands up, twiddling her thumbs sheepishly. "Sorry, what do you need me to do?"
Fawn copies her in a high-pitched, mocking voice. "I need you to tell us how much food you have here."
"Oh. We have quite a few cans of stuff left. I didn't take it all to my group."
"We?"
She hadn't realised that she had referred to herself and Bastet. "Yeah... You, me, Darrus and Eddy?"
"You can call me Russ!" Darrus calls from upstairs.
"Don't get snarky with me. I know that's not what you meant. Who else is with you?"
Tahira stumbles on what to say. There's no way she can tell them that a goddess is looking after her; they'll think she's gone insane. So, she sticks as close to the truth as possible, with a few modifications.
"I have a cat," she blurts out.
Fawn immediately bursts into a fit of laughter, clutching her torso. "A cat? You have a pet in the apocalypse?"
Her face heats up. "Yes! What's so funny about that?"
"You're stupid! You shouldn't be sharing your resources with some mangy animal!"
Her anger starts to flare. "She's not mangy!"
Fawn copies her in that same mocking voice. "You're sharing resources that are hard to come by, with a cat?"
"She's my friend!"
"She'd eat you alive if she could."
There's a sigh and the thudding of footsteps upstairs. Darrus then comes down the stairs, his brow furrowed. "Enough, Fawn."
"You heard her! She's looking after her cat instead of eating it."
A horrible thought hits her. "You hunt cats?"
Darrus' face falls. "Only if necessary. We tried to catch one by the school, but it got away."
Her heart thumps in her chest. There's no mistake; it can only be Bastet.
What did they do to you?
"I'm telling you, I got it!" Eddy shouts from above. "There was a blood trail and everything!"
"It's a good thing it got away since it looked sick," Darrus retorts.
"Bastet isn't ill." She tells them as calmly as she can. "You probably haven't seen her around here."
Fawn raises an eyebrow. "She has a name too? Why not put that much energy into looking after your group instead of some ratty animal?"
"That group kicked me out twice. They don't care about me. I know that Bastet does."
Fawn scoffs. "Unbelievable."
"Enough," Darrus snaps. "Not everyone hates animals as much as you do."
"I don't hate them. I just see them as food that hasn't been cooked yet."
Well, you're not cooking Bastet.
Fawn meets her gaze for a few more seconds before turning away. "I'm going to do a food check."
"Eddy is doing it upstairs. Tahira moved all the edible stuff up there."
Fawn rolls their eyes. "Whatever."
Once they're out of earshot, Tahira relaxes. "What's her problem?"
"Their problem," Darrus snaps. "Use their correct pronouns if you want to get on their good side."
"Sorry."
He nods once before following his companions upstairs. She sinks into the barstool she sat in earlier and twiddles her thumbs.
Maybe it isn't a good idea to share my food with them.
Bastet had told her not to trust others, especially after the way her brother’s group treated her. She knows that deep down, when Darrus and his friends discover what she is, they'll treat her the same way. Gingerly, she lifts her scarf slightly to touch the grooves in her neck left by teeth marks. Once they see that and realise she hasn't changed into a mummy, they'll treat her like an outcast, like everyone else.
I'm not letting that happen.
Once she adjusts the scarf to hide most of her neck, a tapping sound catches her attention while she begins to follow Darrus upstairs. She turns towards the noise, which resembles claws tapping on a window. A cat with brilliant bronze fur sat on the other side. Its golden eyes seem to stare into her very soul.
"Bastet!"
She rushes over to the window and throws it open. The cat immediately jumps in, her golden collar glittering in the light from the fire in the kitchen.
"Ra! I'm so glad you're safe," the goddess purrs, kneading the floor with her front paws. "I was so worried."
"You needn't have been. I'm fine."
It's then that footsteps upstairs make Bastet's ears prick. "Who is in here?"
"Three people. I've met them before. They don't know about my... affliction."
Bastet flattens her ears. Tahira compares the goddess to her old self, with soft silver fur. She's obviously the same type of cat she was before, but just a different colour. The fact that Bastet has two ears again is also throwing her off.
"You didn't mention when you came back that you would have a new body."
Bastet's pink tongue rasps over her chest. "I wasn't expecting such a big transformation."
"You look nice. Better with two ears."
Bastet purposely flicks one in response. "The humans upstairs. Friendly?"
"So far."
"Hmm. For now."
"Do you want to go?"
Bastet tastes the air. "Have they got the food?"
Her heart sinks. "Yes. They discovered it pretty quickly."
"No matter. We'll find more. Collect the things you have; we need to leave. Now."
"Is it Set?"
The goddess shivers. "No. I just don't feel safe around so many humans. Especially with the way your kind treats you. We need to find somewhere safe to cross over. Sekhmet was summoned by Set, and I don't know what's happened to her."
Sekhmet is the lioness goddess she met briefly when the two of them rescued her from Horus. The lioness had been a bit blunt, but apart from that, she was quite friendly.
"There might be another empty building around here somewhere."
"Tahira? Who are you talking to?" Darrus' voice rings out from above.
The sound of footsteps makes her panic. "Bastet, run!"
"Why? Humans can't hear what I'm saying, only you. I'm just a regular cat to them."
Tahira scoops the goddess in her arms, making her yowl in alarm. "It's not that I'm worried about."
To her horror, all three of them have come down at once. Fawn's eyes light up upon seeing Bastet wriggle in her arms.
"You brought us dinner? How kind of you." They sneer.
"Dinner?" Bastet hisses. "You will not consume my flesh, you insolent mortal!"
"Jesus, she's a loud one," Darrus jokes, taking a step forward.
Tahira instantly takes a step back, turning her body slightly to obstruct Bastet's bronze fur. "You're not having her."
"Come on! I've been dying for something fresh to eat for ages!" Fawn growls, nudging Eddy's arm. "Haven't we, Eddy?"
Eddy nods wordlessly, scrubbing his glasses as if he can't believe that a cat is actually in the room.
"We won't hurt her," Darrus says, taking another step forward and extending his hand. "I promise. She's yours. We don't hurt pets."
"Yes, we do!" Fawn argues.
"I can see why you didn't want me to meet them." Bastet looks up at her. "They're savages."
She's glad the others can't hear Bastet in the way she can. "Shh, it's okay."
The bronze car wriggles even more, her claws catching on Tahira's bandage. "Are you treating me like an infant? I am a goddess!"
"Stop wriggling, you're hurting me," she hisses in reply.
The goddess finally seems to notice the bandage around her arm. "By the gods! What happened?" She grabs the arm between her front paws and holds it close to her body. "It smells like hawk. Did Horus do this?"
When Darrus creeps a few feet closer, Tahira takes a step back but hits the wall. There's nowhere else to go.
"Come on, Tahira," he says sweetly. "Nothing will happen to her."
It's then that he dives forward, knocking her to the ground. Her head smacks against the wall behind her, the impact dazing her. Bastet falls out of her arms and drops to the floor on her paws. Eddy leaps for her, but she expertly dodges out of the way.
"Get off!" she cries as Darrus sits up.
When he doesn't get the message, she kicks him off with her free foot. He stumbles back, clutching his stomach. Meanwhile, Fawn and Eddy are attempting to catch Bastet. The goddess sprints effortlessly around the room, getting within grabbing distance before slinking away. By their annoyed grunts, Tahira can tell they're getting tired.
"I'm sorry, Tahira," Darrus wheezes. "But we need to eat. We won't hurt you, promise."
"Your promises mean nothing," she spits back at him.
There's a yowl of alarm as Fawn grabs Bastet by the tail. The bronze cat goes into a frenzy, latching onto the closest limb—an arm. Fawn screeches and lets her go. By the time Eddy gets there, the bronze cat has pelted towards the kitchen.
"After it!" Fawn screams.
Tahira is faster and reaches the kitchen first. She pulls both doors shut and stands in front of them, shielding them with her body. Fawn doesn't even bother to talk; they immediately throw themselves at her. The two of them go down in a mass of scratching and screaming. Eddy and Darrus rush over to pull them apart, panting from the effort. Both refuse to let go. Instead they claw at each other's skin. Fawn goes for her bandage, peeling it off to dig their nails into the inflamed flesh underneath. Tahira screams as the sharp nails dig into her sensitive skin, drawing blood. Fawn is suddenly yanked away, and the red-hot pain retreats to a dull throb.
"Fawn!" Darrus yells, holding them by their hair.
Fawn manages to pull away with a scream: "I want that cat. That bitch can't just waltz in here and have whatever she wants!"
Tahira pulls herself to her feet, patting the bandage back into place with a grimace. "This was my place first! In fact, all of you can get out."
Darrus' dark eyes go wide. "Tahira, please—"
"No. You can't just walk in here and abuse me or my cat. Fuck off. You're no better than everyone else."
"Then we're taking all the food!" Fawn hisses.
She picks up the nearest weapon, a shard of glass, and points it at the three of them. "Touch it, and there will be another fight; this one I will win!"
Eddy moves in front of Fawn to protect them, while Darrus throws his hands up in surrender. "You're right. This isn't working out. We'll go."
Tahira doesn't wait for them to start moving. "Then go. And don't come back."
Eddy holds Fawn back as they try to go for her once again. Tahira stays perfectly still to stand her ground, tilting her chin up slightly to look taller. She won’t let these people intimidate her into letting them stay.
"I'm sorry," Darrus finally blurts out.
With that, the three of them start collecting their backpacks. Eddy makes a move towards the stairs, but Tahira moves faster to block it. He holds his hands up and glares at her before backing off.
"You won't last long on your own," Fawn growls. "You're nothing but a stupid baby."
It's then that she recognises Fawn, someone who wasn't in many of her classes but was usually rowdy. Fawn, who went by Dawn at the time, bullied her relentlessly due to having a crush on her brother, Seth. He never paid them any attention, but that didn’t stop it. They were clearly taking advantage of the apocalypse to reinvent themselves.
She narrows her eyes. "I'm not letting you bully me like you did in school."
Darrus' eyes almost bug out of his head. "Are you serious, Fawn? Is that why you're acting like this?"
"She's nothing but a stupid baby. Doesn't contribute anything to society. Should have died at the beginning of the apocalypse."
Tahira keeps her mouth shut. As much as she wants to throw it back in their face that she had, she keeps quiet. She points towards the door once more with the glass. "Get out. Now there's definitely no chance of us getting on."
To her surprise, Darrus looks hurt by that statement. "We'll respect your wishes."
"Start thinking with your brain and not your dick!" Fawn sneers. "We should kill this bitch and take everything she has, right now."
"We're not going to."
Fawn shakes their head. "Fine. Have it your way. I give baby a week before she gets infected."
Her anger explodes out of her all at once. "Out before I stab you in the fucking neck!"
All three of them jump and start backing toward the door. Tahira follows them at a safe distance, ensuring the glass is always pointing at one of them. Eddy is the first to leave, dashing out before the other two can stop him. Fawn follows, mouthing 'baby' before disappearing into the darkness.
"I'm sorry, Tahira," Darrus explains. "I didn't realise that cat was so important to you."
"Yes, you did. But, like everyone else, you thought about yourself instead of my feelings."
He gingerly takes a step forward, but steps back when she jabs the glass in his direction. "I don't want to treat you like everyone else does."
"You already have. Get out."
"Not everyone is going to treat you like shit."
"So far, that's all everyone has ever done. Including you." She motions to the door with her free hand. "Out."
Darrus looks devastated that he can't change her mind but backs out onto the stone steps anyway. Tahira slams the door behind him and flicks the lock. Although there are still many other avenues they can use to force themselves in, at least they won't embarrass her by coming in the way she kicked them out.
"You were very brave, Ra," Bastet purrs from behind. "I didn't realise you were trying to save me from harm. Thank you."
"People think they can do whatever they want. That they can step over anyone they want. But I don't want to put up with that shit anymore."
Bastet brushes against her legs, looking up at her with her warm, gold eyes. "We'll wait a few minutes before crossing to the other side, just in case they decide to come back."
Her heart pounds at the thought. Getting rid of them had been jarring enough, but to keep them away if they decided to attack her? With three against one, they could easily overpower her. Worse, they could kill her and Bastet. Although the goddess would come back, she wouldn't.
She peeks out the nearest window, her heart dropping upon seeing them standing on the pavement. They seem to be arguing quietly, with how often Fawn stamps their feet or throws their arms into the air. Eddy, as always, stands there silently, just watching.
Bastet jumps onto the windowsill. "I don't like them."
"Darrus seemed okay, at first."
The bronze cat shakes her head. "No, I have a feeling. But I can't put my paw on it."
"What kind of feeling?"
"An... unsettling one."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It's not."
"You're doing a really good job of making me feel better, Bastet."
The goddess flicks her ear to show that she's heard her. The two of them watch the little group retreat down the street. A mummy is running after them, their growls echoing in the empty village.
Bastet sniffs. "Come, we've wasted enough time already."
Tahira watches the three of them flee further down the hill for a few moments before following Bastet up the stairs.
That’s it for this preview, I hope you enjoyed reading! Make sure you check out the Curse of Anubis series if you haven’t already. See you next week.
PS; don’t forget to check out this book bundle for new fantasy books:
