Setting: Newfield, New England – Felidae No-Kill shelter; her condo; zoo; police station; abandoned store front, warehouse, basement; ancient Egyptian temple;
Characters:
Lily Malkin: aka Superior of the Guardians of the Children of Bastet; nightmares not remembered when awake – nightmares of a lover, of betrayal, of cats, of death… and ultimately recall of 8 lives, where she didn’t quite fit in, where she did not know her purpose; when she moved to Newfield, for a new life, she set off Robert Bergman, of her 1st life, who manipulated her, who she thought she loved, who betrayed her (and she betrayed the goddess Bastet) and killed her, thinking her needed her death to open the gate to power, and her death, her soul like a cat, who would need to ask forgiveness.
She worked to control her life, to conquer her fear of cats (hence working in a shelter), and to find her place.
Detective Agustus “Aggie” Petrosian: He comes to her when he needs her ‘cat’ abilities – with cats big and small; he pulls her in when they find a ring of 7 kittens, ritually killed;
Special Agent Jon T. Patrick: profiler; studier of crimes involving animals, in an attempt to identify serial killers in the early stages – hopefully to intervene; he’s sent down when the sacrificed cats are reported.
Night Serpent: aka Robert Bergman; when Lily came to town, it set his mind in the Egyptian past, and his quest to open the doorway – and though he didn’t quite understand, he pursued it; he had her medallion, which allowed him to control the cats he bred for sacrifice. He knows time is running out.
Summary:
Lily and Jon – connect; Lily slips into her alternate ego, he wonders but accepts; she feels safe and whole with him;
And in the end, though wired by the FBI, the serpent takes her; and she manages to free the cheetah he had napped, and the cheetah finds Jon and leads him to her; and she remembers it all, and knows she must not fail Bastet again, and though wounded, she closes the portal… and Jon rescues her… and though he can’t explain what he saw (her hands change to paws), he accepts her…