Dogs and Goddesses Read online

  How do you know?

  “MY DOG TOLD ME.”

  Abby smiled and Daisy nodded, and Shar knew, as the voice within her knew, that tomorrow the power that was in Abby now would be out in the universe, gathering the stars into the sunrise, the power that was in Daisy now would go out and spin it into the heat of the day, and at night the power that was in Shar would go out and shatter it into stars again. It wasn’t theirs; it was part of everything. They were only drawing on it now.

  But they had descended from it and it was their birthright.

  EVERYTHING IS A CIRCLE, the voice within them said.

  “THEN WHAT LIVES, DIES, AND LIVES AGAIN,” Shar said, and as Abby and Daisy came to stand with her over Sam, Shar looked down at him, inside the glow of their circle, and Abby said, “RISE!” and Daisy said, “RISE!” and Shar said, “RISE, DAMN IT,” and released their power.

  And the glow snapped, and it was just them in the temple again.

  Shar held her breath for a long minute, and then Sam stirred.

  She fell to her knees as Christopher limped over to Abby and said, “I believe you.”

  “Sam?” Shar said, her voice high as Noah moved in the corner and Daisy ran to his side, helping him up.

  Sam opened his eyes, his face creased with effort.

  “Oh, god.” Shar pulled the knife out of his heart and threw it from them and then wrapped her arms around him, holding him as close as she could.

  “Ouch,” he said, and she kissed him, dying in the warm taste of his mouth, breathing again, while Wolfie pawed at them and Milton yipped and shook all over. “Usually they take the knife out before they raise me,” he said, trying to sit up. “Not that I’m complaining, but—”

  “I thought I’d lost you forever,” she sobbed as she helped him upright. “I thought—”

  “I’ll always come back to you.” Sam held her tight as he looked around. “How many months was I gone?”

  “Fifteen minutes, tops,” Abby said. “Things move fast these days. Although it was long enough to scare us.”

  Daisy led Noah over to the group, smiling her gratitude as she said in a choked voice, “Yeah, don’t pull that shit again, Sam.”

  “Love you,” Wolfie said, trying to worm his way between Sam and Shar. “LOVE YOU FOREVER!”

  “Love you forever,” Milton said, scrabbling at his side.

  “Hey.” Sam scooped up Milton and rubbed Wolfie’s head as Shar moved back a little to let them in. “How you doin’, boys?” He looked around the temple again and said, “Kammani?”

  “Gone,” Shar said. “To wherever she belongs. If we did it right, she’s explaining things to Ereshkigal.”

  Sam nodded. “Who’s the new kid?”

  “New kid?” Shar turned around and saw a black Mesopotamian Temple Dog standing by the altar. “Oh.”

  “Traitors,” the dog said, and pawed at the ground while Mort stood off to one side, a speculative look in his eye.

  “What’s it doing?” Daisy said, frowning at it.

  “It’s trying to make a fist,” Abby said grimly.

  “Mina?” Shar said.

  Abby looked at Mina sternly. “Bad dog.”

  Daisy nodded. “Yeah. Bitch.”

  “You will die screaming!” Mina said, and then stopped to scratch behind her ear.

  Shar looked at Abby and Daisy.

  Abby shrugged.

  Daisy said, “It’s official. The universe has a sense of humor.”

  “Is that what that voice was?” Abby said.

  Sam stood up, wincing, and pulled Shar to her feet. “I’m hungry. I need a steak. It was fast, but I think I still lost some …” He looked at all the blood splashed down the steps onto the floor. “Two steaks.”

  “That’s it?” Shar said, holding on to him like a vise. “You died, we blew Kammani into nothingness, you rose, Mina’s a dog, and now you’re hungry?”

  “Man’s gotta eat.” Sam slung his arm around her shoulders. “And I really fucking hate this temple.” He kissed her on the forehead and she loosened her grip.

  He was alive. Miracles.

  Or not miracles. That voice …

  Sam bent to pick up Milton as Wolfie pressed close to his leg. Squash came up and nudged him, and he patted her, and then Bowser came by and butted him gently to get a head scratch and Bailey leapt in front of him, saying,

  “Welcome back! Welcome back!” as Bikka and Umma danced around him.

  “Out of here,” Wolfie whined, and Sam moved toward the door, careful not to step on anybody.

  “I could use a steak,” Christopher said, limping beside him. “And a primer on exactly what Abby is when her eyes go like that.”

  Noah clapped Sam on the shoulder as they went to the door. “Thanks for saving me, man. Sorry you got killed.”

  “You get used to it,” Sam said, and the three men went toward the door surrounded by the dogs.

  Shar looked around one more time, at the altar, the bas-relief—“Oh my god.”

  The relief was gone, smashed on the floor in front of a very old, roughly hewn wall. Painted on it in dark reddish brown were three women joined into one at the hip, the first stretching her arms to catch something round that might be the sun, the second spreading her arms out across the sky to encompass flower shapes, and the third pulling her arms down, scratches like stars around her. At their feet, dogs leapt and played—

  “That’s our mural,” Abby said, coming to stand beside her. “That’s what our mural at the coffeehouse looked like. Except ours was, you know, pretty.”

  “That’s Al-Lat, right?” Daisy said. “The One who began it all?”

  “I think so,” Shar said.

  “She was in our heads at the end,” Daisy said. “And She was pissed at Kammani,” Abby said. “Did we wake Her up?”

  “This was Her temple first,” Shar said, staring at a mural she must have seen ten thousand years ago in another life. No, as another goddess. “Kammani must have taken the temple from her. Sam said Al-Lat walked among mortals as three sisters and lost her power. She’s been walled up here, and then—oh, hell, we called on her. The Great Goddess Who is Three. Kammani took her power and walled up her symbol, but we played with our powers and stirred her dreams and then we called her awake and the wall fell.” She looked around the temple, straining to find Al-Lat.

  “She’s gone now,” Abby said, sounding a little sad. “I can’t hear Her anymore, and you guys aren’t using god-speak. Does that mean our powers are gone?”

  Shar looked at Daisy, who shrugged and said, “I can’t hear Her, either.”

  “Maybe we burned the powers out,” Shar said. “Maybe She took them back. It’s better that way. We’re not really goddess material, anyway. We want mortal lives …” She looked toward the door where Sam was waiting for her. “Mortal men.”

  The little black Temple Dog stared at them malevolently.

  “My goddess will return,” Mina growled. “And she will have her vengeance!”

  “Huh,” Daisy said. “You have Snausage breath.”

  “I do not fear you,” Mina said. “I am Death!”

  “Death in a flea collar,” Abby said. “We’re not impressed.”

  “I will regain my form,” Mina said, “and then I will end you!”

  She turned and walked away toward the door where the other dogs barked at her, her tiny butt swaying insolently.

  The Three stepped closer, side by side, and Shar felt the click inside her and smiled.

  “STAY,” Abby said, and Mina stopped.

  “COME,” Daisy said, and Mina turned and came toward them, malevolence in her beady little eyes as Daisy held up her hand to stop the pack from coming, too.

  “SIT,” Shar said when Mina reached them, and Mina sat, and the pack sat, and the guys looked like they were considering it.

  “YOU WILL NOT KILL AGAIN,” Abby said to Mina.

  “NOT IN ANY WAY WILL YOU HARM ANOTHER LIVING THING,” Daisy said.

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