Dogs and Goddesses Read online

  The room had no chairs now, no happy half circle; even the curtain was gone. Kammani was standing beside the altar in the middle of the room, facing the back wall, toward the bas-relief that was now illuminated by the torches, and Abby could see them all, their ancestors, carved into the ancient stone. Kammani turned, and Abby saw that she was in full regalia again—heavy linen robes with jeweled collar and headpiece, a belt of golden links around her waist with a jewel-encrusted knife stuck into it—kind of like Cher dressed as a nun—but she’d changed from the first time they’d seen her in full goddess drag. There was a wildness in her eyes now, an instability in her stance. And her robes didn’t fit anymore; the bands of embroidery now didn’t meet where they were supposed to and the ceremonial knife sat cocked on her hip instead of hanging by her side. She looked like somebody dressed up like Kammani, not the goddess herself. Mina stood beside her, in a business suit, which oddly made her more threatening, except that she had no eyebrows or eyelashes and the dank hair that usually half-covered her face was now singed and slightly curly.

  “Arsonist bitch,” Abby snarled at Mina. “You’re going down.”

  Mina ignored her to watch Kammani, not slavishly but the way a girl might watch a mother who was about to humiliate her. She had Mort in her arms, and he watched them all, breathing hard, his scratchy little “heh heh heh” underscoring their tension.

  “Vanquish Kammani now; pull Mina’s hair later,” Daisy said from the corner of her mouth, then spoke louder. “Hey, Kammani. We need to talk.”

  Kammani regarded them with regal grace, unfazed. “I am the goddess. You are my servants. And my great plan is begun.”

  “About that,” Daisy said. “The Flood. You need to stop it. Right now.”

  “This is what happens when a people are unfaithful,” Kammani said, looking pointedly from Abby to Daisy to Shar. “The Flood will cleanse the earth of non-believers. Only those who respect my power will survive.”

  “How?” Abby said. “Do they float longer? You’re not making sense.”

  Mina shook her head at them. “She went off her meds and now she’s impossible.”

  “You were medicating her?” Shar said, appalled.

  “Enough.” Sam went up to the foot of the altar, and Shar put out a hand as if to stop him and then pulled it back. He climbed the steps to Kammani. “Stop the Flood.”

  Kammani turned to Sam, her eyes glittering. “You think to command me, Samu? This world is mine now. I have taken it. And all will be as it was before.”

  “No,” Sam said, and she turned from him to face the back wall, pushing past him to the other side of the altar.

  Abby looked from Shar to Daisy, and they both nodded.

  “It’s showtime,” Abby said in a soft voice. She crossed the floor to the back of the altar to face Kammani in front of the bas-relief and found the first hot spot marked with chalk. Kammani frowned at her, but Abby ignored her, waiting until Daisy and Shar found their spots. Then Abby raised her hands over her head, praying like hell the mystical bowl would reappear.

  “What—,” Kammani began, and then it must have registered, the marks on the tiles and Abby’s hands upraised. She turned to Sam. “You told them!”

  “Enough,” Sam said. “Take us back to Kamesh—”

  “Us?” Shar said, but even as she took a step, Kammani snarled, “Traitor!” and grabbed the knife from her belt and plunged it into Sam’s stomach.

  “NO!” Daisy yelled as Shar screamed and Sam went down on his knees. Daisy looked at Abby, who was staring at Kammani, concentrating hard, her arms over her head.

  A bowl of amber light appeared between her hands.

  “Is it working?” Abby stage-whispered.

  “Yes,” Daisy said, staring at the bowl as a bright amber glow washed down from it, shimmering around Abby’s body like waves of heat over asphalt. Daisy raised her hands as well, and said, “Chant!” to Abby.

  “You must descend,” Abby began, her words slow and sure, “To the darkness . . . ”

  Behind her, Daisy heard a crack, as if stone was breaking, but her attention was on Shar now, staring in horror at Sam trying to raise himself on the platform as blood seeped from around the knife. She took a step to go to him, but Daisy whispered, “Shar!” and Shar looked at her, her eyes hot with tears and rage, and then nodded and stepped back onto her spot, raising her hands over her head, the blue glow around her growing stronger as she focused.

  Daisy looked back and saw that Kammani was floating now, suspended above the altar in a spiral of amber light, looking oddly calm, while Mina jumped up to grab her foot and missed. What the hell?

  “… Of the place without souls,” Abby finished, her voice strong and firm, and Daisy felt the spindle form in her hands over her head. She clamped onto it, warm and ancient and powerful in her grasp.

  “Depart from us / Go where you belong,” Daisy said, and Kammani began to spin in the air, trailing carnelian light, and Daisy could feel the heat of shimmering power radiating out from her like firelight, a wind rising within the room. Behind them, she heard another crack and something heavy smashed on the stone floor. She thought, Not good, but she kept chanting. “To the place of despair …”

  Kammani began to spin faster, her robes whipping around her, and Daisy shouted, “We now cast you out!”

  Then in unison, they chanted, “We abjure you by / The Great Goddess Who is Three,” and Kammani spread her arms out wide, threw her head back, and laughed.

  “Wait a minute,” Daisy said, but Shar had already begun.

  “Now you are bound,” she said, the sword materializing blue-white overhead, her body electric with color as her eyes glittered, and Kammani held out her arms.

  “Now you are sealed,” Shar chanted, and Daisy said, “Shar, stop!” as Kammani seemed to inhale the blue light that surrounded her.

  Shar stopped, and Kammani stopped revolving and looked down at them, larger than before, multicolored light pulsing from her, and then she reached out toward Abby, taking all the amber light around her, absorbing it into herself, Kammani glowing brighter and Abby dimmer.

  “Abby!” Christopher shouted. He grabbed a torch off the wall and swung it as he charged Kammani.

  Kammani turned to him, and Abby stumbled back, dropping her bowl, as Kammani flung her hand in Christopher’s direction, sending him and the torch flying back, crashing into the sidewall with a horrible crack. Then she settled back onto the platform, glowing with amber light, and stared into Daisy’s eyes.

  “Daisy!” Shar screamed as Daisy’s ears filled with a deafening whoosh and her breath was pulled out of her. She went dizzy and weak, her vision dimmed. It didn’t feel like falling, more like the ground coming up to meet her, pounding into her hands and knees, and she tried to pull air into her lungs, but she couldn’t.

  This is how I’m going to die, she thought distantly. Huh.

  Then the whoosh died down, and vaguely, somewhere behind her, she heard the dogs barking and Kammani snarling in fury.

  Daisy raised her head. In the torchlight, everything seemed to move in slow motion, Noah behind Kammani, pulling her away, and then Kammani, her body awash in stolen amber and red-orange power, lifting him by the throat. He struggled, feet flailing, and clawed at her hand. Daisy drew breath, wanting to rush Kammani, to pull her hair, scratch her eyes out, but her muscles felt weak and heavy, and Noah was dying … but then Sam was there, heaving himself up from the altar to grab Kammani’s robes.

  Save him, Daisy thought. Please—

  Kammani threw Noah against the wall and then turned, ripped the knife from Sam’s stomach, and plunged it into his heart.

  Sam fell back, toppling down the stairs to land at the bottom, his blood splashing everywhere as Shar screamed.

  They’re all dead, Daisy thought with an eerie calm. And we’re next.

  Power, Kammani thought, and reveled in the richness she had sucked in, amber and carnelian, swirling inside her. They had no idea what they’d jus