Second Chance with Bastet (Jinx Paranormal Dating Agency #15)

Chapter 1

Bastet

The soft meows of the dozens of cats around me were the only sounds that accompanied my thoughts. Which was just the way I liked it. I'd spent thousands of years listening to the needs of others, this was time for me.

And the cats.

I wanted to escape from most of my duties, but I never wanted to abandon them. They'd been my constant companions since the dawn of time, and even if I'd had to say goodbye to more of them than I could possibly count, I knew it was always worth it.

A grey tabby hopped up onto the table and cocked her head at me as if she knew that I was thinking about my feline friends.

I chuckled. "Hello, Jemima." I reached out and scratched behind her ears, receiving a rumbling purr for my troubles.

She pressed her head into my hand, demanding more.

It was always like this with the cats. Probably because they could sense that I was one of them.

I tried not to shift when in their midst so I didn't end up confusing them, but it didn't help.

No matter how careful I was, they always seemed to know the truth.

It was probably the way I smelled or how I walked across the room with more grace than the average person.

Especially when there was the risk of a human walking through the front door and finding the place unstaffed. It was awkward to try and explain how I knew to reappear so instantly.

One of the cooking timers on my desk buzzed, reminding me that it was time for one of the elderly tomcats to take his medicine.

Jemima protested as I moved my hand away, but she'd move on to play with one of the other free-roaming cats soon enough.

I pulled on some protective gloves, knowing that it was safer to approach the old tomcat while wearing them.

To say he was averse to his medication was an understatement, but I knew I had to persevere.

If he didn't, he'd end up yowling in pain all through the night, which disturbed all the others and made for a particularly unrestful time in bed for me.

I slid the bolt of his pen open and took a deep breath.

It was going to be fine. I could deal with a grumpy old cat, I'd been doing it for centuries, if not longer.

And yet something about this one was different.

He was difficult at the best of times, and had never actually told me his name.

That wasn't too unusual in the beginning, but by the time most cats had been in my care for as long as he had, they'd let it slip a time or two.

I pushed the thought aside. Whether I knew his name or not made no difference to whether I needed to look after him now. He'd become my charge the moment he'd been brought through my door.

I was about to reach in and scoop him out when the bell above the door rang, pulling me from my task.

A loud sigh escaped me, but I covered it quickly and plastered a fake smile on my face.

With the pen's door firmly bolted shut again, I turned in the direction of my visitor, hoping that it was going to be a suitable new cat owner who I could send home with their perfect feline match, but I knew that was unlikely.

Most people came and looked but dismissed the good older cats in favour of the badly behaved kittens.

No matter how many times I tried to convince them it wasn't a good idea, they always ignored me.

In more than one case, the cat had ended up back with me again once it had reached misbehaving adulthood.

"Hello, welcome to Bastet Cat Sanctuary," I said brightly, enjoying the obviousness of the name as I did every time I said it. No one ever made the connection between the goddess and me. "How can I...oh."

"Really, Bastet?" my sister replied with a slight smirk. "You couldn't think of anything a little less conspicuous?"

Despite the fact there was no one around, I found myself checking that no one could hear her using my real name, though it was nice to hear it from someone for once.

This was one of the risks of running my cat sanctuary out in the human world, but I'd found humans were more interested in adopting cats than a lot of the gods and demi-gods were.

"I go by Betty here," I corrected her.

"Fine, then I go by Zara."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure it suits you."

"Likewise, Betty." She stressed my human name as if to try and make a point.

I let out a loud sigh. "What are you doing here, Sekhmet?"

"I thought we were using human names." The note of a hesitant tease lingered in her voice, as if she wasn't sure if we were in a place where we could do that to one another.

"Fine. What are you doing here, Zara?" It really was a strange choice for her, but she must have mellowed in her old age. While most of the gods weren't tied to what they were the god of, but my sister had earned her reputation as the goddess of vengeance.

"I came to see if the rumours were true, and I brought some of your favourite wine just in case." She lifted a hand, revealing a medium-sized traditionally made clay pot.

I licked my lips, already able to taste it.

"All right, just let me lock up, and then I'll be with you.

" I slipped past her and to the door, flipping the sign to closed and making sure it was locked.

If I knew Sekhmet, then she was going to end up talking about things that shouldn't be overheard.

"We'll go to the other room, it'll be comfier.

" I gestured for her to follow me through the empty archway at the back of the reception area.

Several of the cats followed us, which wasn't much of a surprise. They were probably curious about the lion goddess, especially as she'd smell feline to them.

Sekhmet raised her eyebrow as I showed her into the comfortable room that doubled as both a lounge area for me, and a place for me to do the paperwork I needed to run the cat sanctuary.

"There isn't much space in the flat upstairs," I admitted. "So I converted this room into an extension of the living space."

I headed over to the small kitchenette that had already been installed when I bought the building and grabbed two glasses and a plate of dates and nuts I'd prepared earlier for when I closed for the night. I was just glad I had something to offer my guest.

"It's not what I expected," she observed. "Then again, I suppose anything is disappointing after Bubastis."

I chuckled. "There were always too many people there."

"They were there to worship you."

"Then they should have been doing better things with their time," I pointed out. "I never asked for it."

"Maybe not, but you shouldn't be punishing yourself for it now."

"I'm not," I denied too quickly.

She hid her knowing smile by unstoppering the wine and filling the glasses. "If you're not punishing yourself, why are you hiding here instead of spending time with other people?"

"I never liked other people much."

"We both know that's not true."

"Fine. I like some people." Proven by the fact I hadn't thrown her out of my sanctuary already.

She passed me one of the glasses of wine, and I shot her a grateful smile in response. Even from here, I could smell the enticing flavour. It had been so long since I'd had this vintage that I'd almost forgotten what it tasted like.

"Then why don't you spend some more time with them?" she said. "Have you heard about Jinx?"

"The dating agency?" I responded, feeling more than a little cautious.

"That's the one," she said. "Venus has been holding events for them."

"Good for her." I took a sip of my wine. I couldn't say I had many thoughts about that, especially considering I hadn't spent much time with the love goddess in years, and we hadn't been particularly close even before that.

"They meet on Thursdays. I think you'll love it."

"What kind of event?" Surprisingly, the idea of going to something with lots of other people didn't sound quite as bad as I feared it would.

"One with plenty of people there," she responded cryptically. "You might know some of them, but considering how long you've been a recluse for, it'll be like meeting new ones anyway. I think it'll be good for you to go."

"Okay, I will." The affirmation was out of me before I had a chance to think it through properly.

"I'm glad to hear it. It's speed dating."

"Speed dating?" I repeated, completely bewildered by her admission.

"I'm sure you've heard of it. You talk to each of the guests for a few minutes..."

"I know what speed dating is," I said, cutting her off. "Why would you think I'd want to go to something like that?"

"I thought it would be perfect for you. It gives you a chance to meet new people, but only in a small amount of time. If you don't like them, you won't end up stuck in a conversation you're too polite to leave."

"That only happened once," I muttered.

She flashed me a disbelieving look. "It happened all the time, and everyone who knows you knows it."

I took a sip of wine, mostly so I didn't have to lie. It was just as good as I remembered it being, which was more than I could say for having to hear Sekhmet's uncomfortable truths. A small part of me wanted to go to speed dating just to prove her wrong.

"I'll go."

The victory in her smile said it all. That was exactly the response she'd been after.

And I'd walked straight into her trap.