Page 24 of Looking for Seth

She grinned. "Maybe, but only in the best way."

"The best way for you to gossip about, maybe. Or are you so blissfully happy with Ptah that you need to meddle in other people's love lives in order to amuse yourself because you're bored?"

"I was already meddling," she pointed out. "I was there when you downloaded the dating app. Now I'm just seeing it through to completion. It's what friends are for."

"Maybe letting you move your cattery to the oasis was a bad idea after all," I muttered.

"It's too late for you to decide that, I'm already here and a permanent fixture in your life," she teased. "At least I come with an excellent wine cellar."

"Your fish preparation skills aren't too bad either," I responded.

"See, I'm a great neighbour to have," Bastet replied. "Or am I a tenant?"

"You don't pay me, so I'd have to go with the former."

"That's fair. It's a good thing, though. Running a cattery doesn't exactly pay much."

"How did you manage before?"

"Badly," she admitted. "But I just about managed with donations."

"Then it's a good thing you can live here instead."

"It is." A genuine smile crossed her face. "I'd better get back to the cats. But I'm glad your problems are just that you have a complicated budding relationship with Seth and not that you need someone hunting down. Come over later for dinner and tell me more about your dates?"

"I can't, I'm meeting Seth. Tomorrow?"

"Absolutely. Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't." She waved and headed out of the forge, leaving me to finish work on my knife. If I carried on at this rate, I'd be able to give it to him then too.

Chapter 12

Menhit

A loud bark was the first indication I had that Seth and Tut had arrived. A part of me was surprised that he'd agreed to bring his dog down to the god realm, but I supposed it made sense. He clearly loved the animal, and I knew I wouldn't want to be separated from him under the same circumstances.

Besides, I didn't mind. Tut was a joy to be around, and it was important to me that Seth knew I was going to make an effort with his pet as well as with him.

"Hey," I said, rising from one of the chairs I'd placed by the edge of the lake.

"Hi." His smile lit up his entire face, making his eyes glow with affection.

"Hey, Tut," I said, leaning down to fuss the dog's head. "You can let him off the lead if you want. The magic of the oasis will stop him from getting out."

"That's handy," Seth responded as he leaned down to unclip Tut's lead. "Is it always like that?"

"No. I can turn it on and off. It's how I can make the oasis private for dates. The only people who can come in and out right now are you and me. Well, and Bastet, but she knows not to."

The dog looked between us and then raced off to discover the oasis. He'd be back, but only after he'd run off a load of energy.

He raised an eyebrow. "Bastet is an exception to your filter?"

"Her cattery backs onto the oasis. There's no keeping her out, even if I wanted to."

"Ah, that actually makes sense."

"I thought so too." I cleared my throat. "I made you a present."

He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't have to do that."