01_-_The_Alchemyst

“It is of no matter,” Senuhet said quietly.
“Have you been here long?” Dee wondered, glancing around.
“In this place?” The other man paused, considering. “Less than a
hundred years. No time at all, really.”
A shape moved in the shadows. “And we will not be here much longer.
That is why you are here, isn’t it, Dr. Dee?” The voice was a cross between
a sultry growl and a purr, shaping the English words with difficulty. Almost
against his will, Dee raised his hand, allowing the light in his palm to
illuminate the tall, slender figure that moved in the gloom. The light moved
over bare feet, toenails black and pointed like claws, then up a heavy white
kiltlike skirt studded with stones and precious jewels, and a chest
crisscrossed with wide straps etched with Egyptian characters—and finally
reached the head.
Although he knew what he was going to see, Dee couldn’t prevent the
gasp of shock from escaping his lips as he looked at Bastet. The body was
that of a woman, but the head that brushed the arched ceiling belonged to a
cat, sleek and furred, with huge yellow slit-pupiled eyes, a long pointed
snout and high triangular ears. The mouth opened and Dee’s cold light ran
across gleaming yellow teeth. This was the creature that had been
worshipped for generations throughout the land of Egypt.
Dee licked dry lips as he bowed deeply. “Your niece, the Morrigan,
sends her regards and has asked me to relay the message that it is time to take
your revenge on the three-faced one.”
Bastet surged forward and wrapped razor-tipped claws in the folds of
Dee’s expensive suit coat, punching holes in the silk. “Precisely…tell me
precisely what my niece said,” she demanded.
“I’ve told you,” Dee said, looking up into the terrifying face. Bastet’s
breath smelled of rotten meat. He tossed the blue-white ball of light into the
air, where it hung, suspended and whirling, then he carefully removed
Bastet’s claws from his jacket. The coat was a shredded ruin.
“The Morrigan wants you to join her in an attack on Hekate’s
Shadowrealm,” Dee said simply.