A Little Rhine Must Fall Read Free

Piper:
     

 
    Chapter Two:
    Bastet
     
    “What are you doing here?” I spoke before it hit me that I hadn’t heard the cat say anything. At least, not in the traditional way.
    “What did you say, Hon?” Mark asked, still scratching Bastet’s head. It was Bastet. It had to be. What were the chances of there being two cats in my life that wore an earring? I’d met Bastet at the USB conference. She had surprised me, not only with her command of the English language (which you have to admit is rare in felines), but also her support for my membership application.
    :We came to see you, Piper: the voice in my head spoke again. Since I only saw one of her (which was quite enough), I assumed she was still using the “Royal We.”
    She went on, :We need to talk:
    I cleared my throat. “Umm, Mark?”
    He stood up, dislodging Bastet from his lap. She immediately sat up tall with her tail curled around her feet. Classic Egyptian goddess pose. Which made sense, since that was exactly what she was. I didn’t know everything she was capable of, but at the conference she had been responsible for maintaining a magic-free zone. I figured you had to be pretty powerful if you were the one who could cancel out thousands of magical abilities.
    :Why is this cat staring at us?: the voice, Bastet, asked. Otis was engaged in a non-blinking stare competition with her. He didn’t like to go outside and this was probably the first time he’d seen another cat in years.
    “He’s not used to strange cats,” I answered.
    Mark smacked my butt as he walked by. “I know,” he laughed. “I don’t think Otis knows what to make of her.” He headed to the kitchen and grabbed a beer. “How was the movie?”
    I was still stuck staring at Bastet. With the Synod calling for Cecily and goddesses showing up in my living room, perhaps there was something to start worrying about.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked again.
    “Huh?” Mark reappeared from the kitchen. “I’m getting a beer. Why?”
    :We told you. We came to talk to you:
    I looked uneasily at Mark. “Can you hear …?”
    He laughed. “I know, right?” For a second I thought he could hear Bastet talking and I prepared to flip out. “What a purr!” he finished. He scratched her under her chin. “This is one champion purr-er!”
    Now that I stopped to listen with my ears I could hear it too. A low, happy rumble. Otis gave a little meow and inched a little closer. His front toes were almost hanging over the edge of the coffee table.
    “I think he’s in love,” Mark said and gave him a friendly head ruffle. Otis shrugged it off and kept staring at Bastet.
    Mark set his beer on the counter, scooped up the girls, one under each arm, and headed for their room. “Come on ladies,” he said over the squealing, “tell me all about the movie while we get ready for bed.” They disappeared around the corner but I could still hear shrieks of laughter and banging furniture. Mark’s idea of getting the girls ready for bed was to rile them up into a hysterical frenzy and then get upset when they wouldn’t settle down and go to sleep.
    I sank down on the couch next to Bastet. “Bastet?” I asked.
    She started licking one paw. :Who did you think it was?:
    My eyes narrowed. “Don’t get smart with me, young lady! You’re the one who showed up at my door in a basket with a bow. What’s going on?”
    She sounded pleased. : We thought it was a genius idea. We like your husband. He knows how to give a good scratch:
    “What are you doing here, Bastet?”
    :You’re being rude, Piper: she was whispering. I’m not sure how you whisper mentally, but that’s what it “sounded” like.
    “Huh?”
    :Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
    “To whom?” This conversation was surreal. Maybe I’d lost it. Maybe all the vampires, and witches, and near-death experiences had finally made me snap. I wasn’t sitting on my couch talking to a telepathic cat. I was nice and safe in a padded