by Lana Kole
This was Sekhmet’s handiwork, releasing her violence and rage upon the humans for dismissing the gods like they had been.
Another flash—an image of Ra, with pure regret stamped in every feature and line on his face. He devised a plan to trick Sekhmet, to punish her for her unacceptable actions. This had gotten out of hand, Ra never intended for it to go this far. The blame for all these deaths lay in his hands, but he intended to get even.
She was too powerful to stop head-on, so to appeal to Sekhmet's blood thirst, he colored beer the perfect shade of crimson to match the flowing blood. Pouring it out, he waited until Sekhmet drank her fill. When she was drunk off the heket, he swooped in.
The scene flashed, and Maya saw Ra standing with another woman as they spoke. Sekhmet was nowhere to be found.
“You did what?” the beautiful woman whisper yelled, as if their conversation was private.
“You heard me, Bast. I stuck her in a secret little pocket of time. No one will find her there, and she can’t cause any more harm.” Ra beamed at a job well done, his confidence radiating like the sunlight.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Ra? Leave her all alone?” Pity burned in the gaze of the benevolent woman, Bast, who Maya deduced to be Bastet, the goddess responsible for her men's powers.
Ra waved her concern away. “She'll be fine. Sekhmet will find some way to entertain herself, and besides, it’s not like I stuck her in a shack. She’s in what was supposed to be my safe haven, my place to get away from all the drama. Instead, I had to give it to her. She should be grateful, no one’s going to bother her there.” He sighed, as if mourning his private little getaway, and pulled Bastet close, laying a chaste kiss on her lips.
But she pulled away, asking one last question. “How long do you plan on leaving her there?”
Ra seemed to think for a moment, weighing all his options before he grinned. “As long as it takes her to cool off. I don't know, a few thousand years?”
Bastet rolled her eyes, and she started to protest yet again, but Ra distracted her, yanking her to him and taking her mouth with unbridled passion. A breathy moan left her, and he drank the sound from her lips.
“Now that the crisis is averted, I seem to have extra time on my hands. Shall we use it wisely?”
Poor Sekhmet obviously forgotten, Bast nodded before Ra grabbed her hips and lifted her until she could wrap her legs around his waist. Her gown was slit high on each side, so she had no problem entangling herself with him as he carried them to the bed.
Suddenly feeling awkward, Maya rolled her eyes to the ceiling, twiddling her thumbs and humming loudly to cover the sounds of their make out session.
She spoke aloud. “Okay, time for a new vision, I don't want to watch god and goddess porn! Please and thanks!”
It seemed there was more for her to learn from this vision however, as Ra pulled back, leaning up off Bastet to conjure something from thin air.
“Wait, Bast, I have something for you.”
The dark-haired beauty beamed, her cheeks flushed from where she lay on the bed. “You got me something?”
He simply nodded as he opened his hand and let a necklace dangle. On a thick, golden chain hung a giant amethyst gem, with gold curlicues framing and wrapping around the beautiful, glimmering stone. A gasp left Bastet's lips as she cradled the amulet in one hand, sitting up to get a better look at it.
“Ra... Oh my goodness. This is beautiful.” Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears as she beamed up at the god.
“I had to find something worthy of my love.” He delivered another sweet kiss, and Bastet's thumb caressed the face of the stone.
“You're so sweet to me. But I know you. It's not a simple amulet. Tell me, what does it do?”
Ra nodded sheepishly. “You know me well, merwet.” He tapped the face of the stone with his finger. “This I had created as a backup plan should Sekhmet ever escape. I know you're worried, so I made this for you to give you, Peace of Heart. Should she ever find a way to release herself before I do, just crush this up, slip it in a beer, and have her drink it.”
Bastet narrowed her eyes. “Why? I will not be responsible for killing her. If that's what this is for, I don't want it.” She shoved the beautiful gem back at him, but he curled her fingers around it and pushed it to her chest gently.
“No, this will simply turn her mortal temporarily, so we can properly detain her. That's all, I promise.”
Bastet still appeared suspicious, but she glanced down and the pretty stone seemed to sway her. Ra interrupted before she could ask another question. “There's something else too.”
A single, perfectly shaped eyebrow lifted in response, signaling Ra to continue. He grinned as he said, “It also controls time. That is its main purpose, however, I added the tweak for Sekhmet as a two for one deal.”
Ah. So that's how this came about. It all started with Sekhmet.
“Ra… I can’t keep something so important around my neck. That’s a blatant dare for someone to steal it. But thank you for the jewel. It’s beautiful.”
Bastet tried to hand it back to Ra, but he once again closed her fingers over it. “No, this is for you. Give it to your High Priest if you must, but it is yours. I can’t think of someone more perfect to hold on to it.”
A soft smile curled her lips as she held the jewel to her breasts.
Maya thought of her three, handsome, sweet, caring men, with the cloud hanging over them. She thought of Amir, so controlled, yet ready for some form of intimacy. Of August, ready to take care of her, yet afraid to cross boundaries. Asher, who, beneath the casual flirting, seemed to need something more.
Maya thought of all of them forced into a cat form, forced to miss out on decades of their own lives. A slow, bubbling fury brewed within her.
It's going to fucking end with Sekhmet too.
Maya’s eyes jerked wide with new understanding. Boat balanced in her hand, she paused her weaving. She was pleased to look down and see that the tapestry was closer to being finished, as half the cats’ bodies were completed. Gently, she placed the boat down, leaned back, and stretched. Her neck ached, and pinpricks trailed up and down her spine, telling her she’d sat leaning over for far too long, lost in the vision.
Pulling her phone from her pocket, she checked the time and saw that it was prime bar time, 10:30 on a Friday night. It would be busy downstairs, but Maya wanted to share the information she’d learned.
Rushing to the apartment door, she swung it wide to tell the men about her vision. The noise of the bar hit her like a wave, and in her haste, she almost tripped over the chain blocking access to her door. Trampling down the steps, she was careful not to fall in her excitement. Once she got to the middle step she froze, momentarily stunned. She would almost have rather eaten sand than be welcomed with the sight she witnessed.
It seemed her ‘girls’ night’ promotion went over well. College girls, everywhere, crowding the bar in droves as August and Asher worked the bar like pros, eating up the attention as if they were starving. Which, fine, like they had said, it’d been fifteen years since they’d spoken to another human. Fine.
But the way Amir leaned over a table full of senior hotties, hands braced on the back of an empty chair as he balanced it on its back two legs, she did not expect. His arms flexed with the force that he used to balance the chair, and when one of the girls reached out to stroke his bare arm, Maya saw red. The flirty grin that stretched his wide lips tugged at her heartstrings and made her furious all at the same time.
Instead of giving into her baser instincts and charging the girl like a lioness claiming her mate, Maya forced herself to finish her trip down the stairs in a casual walk. She strode behind the bar and slammed her way into the cooled pantry to grab a bottle of wine.
I’ll just celebrate my fucking discovery by damned myself. Fuckers.
As she passed Asher and August, she patted them each on the back for a job well done and wished them a good night with a too-bright smile.
Then she spied the TV in the corner, facing the patrons at the bar. It was tuned to Jeopardy, an odd choice for the Friday night crowd. Arching a brow, she turned to August only to see an innocent look on his face.
He leaned close to speak in her ear over the noise. “It makes for a great drinking game. If they don’t know the answer, they take a sip or a shot… and I’m really good at it.”
Maya snorted, kissing him on the cheek in a moment of weakness. He could just be so damned cute! To respond, they turned their heads in sync so she could reach his ear. “It’s fine. Just make sure they all get rideshares. You’ll have to teach me your ways. I never know the answers.”
With a sly grin, he winked at her, a very Asher-like move. “I have plenty more to show you too.”
She blushed before leaving them to it, spying Amir again.
It took her a minute to recognize the emotion—jealousy. It didn’t sit right with her. Maya had never been the overly possessive, crazy jealous type. Granted, she’d only had one relationship to compare it to, but she didn’t think her reaction was normal and refused to show the other two just how much it bothered her. She’d jumped at the chance to have a night off from tending, and if that meant a sacrifice of watching her men flirt with other women, she’d just have to suck it up—her men? Not that shit again.
Shaking her head and trying to push aside the jealousy, she left the bar area gritting her teeth, ready to return to her quiet, peaceful, cat-man-free haven. If she happened to send the college babe a bitch glare from hell, it was purely by accident.
Right when she reached the stairs, Theo appeared from seemingly nowhere and yanked her to the back, through the kitchen, and into her office. His cat ears were crooked, what with all the dragging her by the arm. She chuckled at the irritated expression on his face, sparing a longing glance toward the stairs.
“They told me to leave you alone, but you’re open game since you finally came downstairs. Now, sister, tell me who the hell those male models are that you hired for tonight!”
Her snickers turned to outright, gut-clenching laughter as she doubled over, placing the bottle of wine on the desk to avoid dropping it.
When she came up for air, she had to wipe tear tracks from her cheeks. “Oh, Theo, they aren’t models. They’re… friends of mine.”
Theo stepped back, hand to his chest in shocked outrage. “Friends! You tell me about once a day that you don’t have any friends.” Throwing his hands up in exasperation, he flicked a lock of hair out of his eyes and pointed to the bar area. “I leave you here alone for the night on Valentine’s Day night, and I come back the very next day to find three sexy Adonises in your bar. Do you take me for an idiot?”
Maya kept her lips sealed. She knew he was far from done, especially as he started pacing. “I mean, Amir is grumpy, but Asher is the flirt of the night. I swear that man could give classes on how to earn tips. August is sweet, too, but quiet. He’s good at remembering the bar menu items though—I mean, he knows it better than me, and this is the first time I’ve seen him. And good god, don’t get me started on his geeky pop culture references. He brought up Star Wars three times in ten minutes. You!” He turned to her with another accusatory finger, and she grinned. “I’m so proud of you. Come here, baby girl.”
Theo pulled her close, fake sobbing his pride as he patted her on the back. “Did you finally learn how to take a dick?”
Maya gasped in outrage, pushing him away. “Theo! You’re awful.” She shook her head. “As a matter of fact, I haven’t slept with any of them.”
His eyebrows could have peeled off and flown away, they rose so high. Maya chuckled at the sight.
“You’re telling me that you’ve had these guys to yourself all day and haven’t taken advantage?”
When she nodded, his voice boomed through the office. “What the fuck is wrong with you! I’m three seconds away from texting Chris and asking if we can have an open marriage. What are you waiting for?”
Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and kicked a leg to the side, settling in for a long conversation as she lost her grin and grew serious. “Come on, Theo, you know I’m not like that. I don’t just jump into bed with people. Not after…” Maya trailed off, and a sympathetic look seeped into Theo’s ocean blue gaze.
“Oh, honey, I know. But it’s been what, three years? You need to let go of that asshole, and stop letting him hold you back.”
Maya clamped her lips shut, stubbornness welling up. Theo noticed the look on her face but still chose to continue, albeit with more caution. “Maya, I know he was a controlling dick and how important it is to you to maintain your own control. But look at it from a different angle. By holding yourself back from all the good things that come from a healthy relationship, he’s still got a hold on you. Even if he doesn’t know it.”
Her gaze snapped to him, the pity on his face too much for her to handle.
“I’ll think about it,” she said to placate him. She leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek, wishing him good luck for the rest of the evening, and retreating to her haven.
Passing another glance at Amir, she noticed he had moved onto a new table of college chicks and was flirting like there was no tomorrow. Her rage came flooding in again, and she stomped up the stairs.
As soon as she shut the door and threw the deadbolts to her apartment, the bitch fest was on. In her space, she could complain to herself in private, with no one to judge her. So, like any reasonable woman, she avoided the real issue and focused on something else as she trekked to her room.
“That motherfucker. How dare he! Practically tells me he’s ready to bend me over the library shelves, and then flirts with all those college bimbos!”
Okay, technically, you’d be the bimbo, what with the dyed blonde hair and the bar job.
“You shut up!” Maya knew she was arguing with herself, but she no longer had her cats here to talk through her craziness. Her blood boiled as she grabbed her birth control pack and popped her nightly pill. Still bitching when she made her way back to the kitchen, she poured herself a nice, generous glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.
What are you so jealous for? You didn’t claim them, did you?
“What? No, that’d be ridiculous.” She scoffed. “Why would I—”
The door opened behind her, cutting off her tirade, and she whirled, a scowl firmly settled on her face. And not just at the precious red she’d just sloshed onto the floor.
No, her scowl was aimed at the man currently standing inside her apartment.
“Amir? What are you doing up here? I thought I locked that door!”
“What the hell are you so upset about?”
Maya was taken aback by his blunt words, and she sputtered.
Throwing up his hands, he advanced on her, stalking across the room like a predator, starting his own rant. “You seemed fine with us tending bar earlier, and you’re the one who came up with the idea for the girls’ night or some shit like that. So, imagine my surprise when August and Asher tell me you ran back up here with your tail between your legs because you saw we were letting off some steam. What the fuck, Maya?” He was so close now, his breath fanned across her cheeks as his nostrils flared with his anger. His fierce expression flamed something dark and sensual within her.
“I did not run up here with my tail between my legs,” were the first words out of her mouth, and she didn’t back away from him or clear the space between them. No, she would not back down from this.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. That’s what you got out of all that?” His palms slammed into the wall on either side of her head, paired with exasperation in his voice. His lips twitched.
Oh, hell no. He is not about to laugh at me.
“I heard the rest of it, it just didn’t warrant comment. You can do whatever you want.”
His dark brows arched, his hazel eyes glowing with mirth and challenge. “Is that so? So you wouldn’t mind if I went downstairs and kept flirting with that college Barbie?�
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Maya ignored the heart turning to dust in her chest. “Nope. I never laid a claim on you.”
A growl, dangerous, low, and sexy, rumbled out of his throat, the sound speaking to something deep within Maya. Her core clenched in response as he leaned even closer, and this time she did lean back. It was either that, or speak nose to nose. “Exactly. You can’t pout up here all evening.”
“I can do whatever the hell I want.” Maya realized how childish her statement sounded, but with anger flowing in her veins and Amir’s heat pressing into her, she couldn’t think clearly.
He leaned in close to her neck, his breath fanning across the pulse jumping against her skin.
“What is it exactly that you want, Maya?” He pulled back again, those molten sunshine eyes boring into her own.
Breath stuck in her throat, Maya reflected on Theo’s words. By holding herself back, by completely blocking herself off from any intimacy whatsoever—she only hurt herself, and gave that bastard more power over her.
Maya knew she would regret it if she let this fizzle out. With the heat between them rising, she did the only thing she knew to get her intentions across. Carefully, she sat her wineglass down behind her, then leaned in and crushed her lips to his.
As if Amir had been waiting for her to give in, he claimed her lips in a violent frenzy of pent-up passion. Pressing close, he reached up to frame her face with his hands, holding her still while he teased her lips apart with his tongue. Maya panted in the milliseconds their mouths parted and reached up to grip his forearms. Melting under the force of his kiss and the intensity of his enthusiasm, she dug her nails into his skin, branding him with half moons.
Good.
Maya wanted others to know he was hers. The thought fucking terrified her, it froze the blood in her very veins, but as Amir’s hands slid down to grip her waist and pull her closer, that fear melted away until only need remained.
Maya tugged at his shirt until he reached up to do that irresistible guy-thing, fisting the neck of his shirt and pulling it off in one swift tug. Sighing at the expanse of bronzed flesh bared to her greedy fingers, she traced the hills and valleys of his abs with a smirk. The heat from his skin was like a drug, and she needed more.
