Daughter of Isis (Descendants of Isis #1)
Kelsey Ketch
To my mother and my family.
Thank you for your encouragement and support.
Tired and grumpy from the long flight from London, Natti fidgeted in her seat as she scanned the Southern California desert with its rolling hills of brush. The rental car whizzed east along the empty road that split off Highway 40. “The desert?” she groaned, her British accent giving her words a bit of an edge to her voice. “You moved us from beautiful London to live in the desert?”
“I was tired of the fog and rain.” Her father, Alexander, smiled, and she glared at his so-called humor. “Oh, come on. It’s not that bad. It’s kind of peaceful out here.”
“Yeah, except for the buzzards flying overhead, it’s great.” Natti breathed.
She hated this. She didn’t want to move from her home in London. It was her father who thought this was best course of action, considering her grandmother had just been murdered. The police stated it was most likely a ‘robbery gone wrong,’ but not everyone was entirely convinced. The Waterford mansion had been tossed; priceless Egyptian artifacts had been smashed and broken. Her grandmother, Zofia, was left on the floor of the sitting room, her throat slit and her heart cut out of her chest. It was more than robbery, it was a brutal act. Even Trish, her grandmother’s attorney, felt something was amiss about the case, and though she openly didn’t approve of this move, she agreed it was best that Alexander and Natti leave Europe.
Life is so unfair, she moaned to herself, still feeling the weight of being outnumbered in the vote. She twisted under her seat belt trying to get some feeling back into her numb bum. “What is this town called again?” Natti asked.
“Setemple.”
“Never heard of it.”
“I think you’ll enjoy it.” Natti snorted in distain. How could she like the desert? There wasn’t even a drop of moisture in the air! Her father ignored her and pointed out the windshield. “Well, look at that, we’re already here.”
“‘Welcome to Setemple! Population—’” Natti shot up in her seat. “Two-thousand, eight-hundred and fifty-five? Are you serious? There were way more students at my school in England!”
“They’ll have to correct that.” Her father laughed. “It’s officially two-thousand, eight-hundred and fifty-seven.”
Natti rolled her eyes then turned her gaze back to the window. She started to catch glimpses of civilization in the distance. “What is this, a ‘one horse’ town?”
“No, I’m pretty sure the brochure said they have two horses.”
Her father’s joke grated on her nerves. “Dad! Honestly! How do you expect us to live here? It’s dry, no trees as far as I can see, and well . . . it’s practically unpopulated.”
Alexander breathed the air. “I know it’s not home, but just give it a try. Okay?”
“You couldn’t have picked Los Angeles or San Diego? At least I’ve heard of those cities,” Natti grumbled, thinking of all the places they could have lived. Why not Paris? Why not New York? No, he had to drag her into the one environment she despised.
“Natti . . .”
“Fine.” Natti gave up, already knowing what her father was about to say. “I’ll give it a try.”
Bastet, the Egyptian Mau kitten Natti’s grandmother gave her for her seventeenth birthday, wailed in the backseat. Natti leaned over, opened the travel carrier, and picked up the kitten, holding her up to see the view. “I bet you love this weather,” she whispered. “Look, just like your birth place. Nothing but sand.”
Her grandmother had purchased the kitten from a breeder in Zagazig, Egypt. That was Zofia Waterford for you. She and Natti’s mother had been passionate about their Egyptian heritage. Natti even sported the dominant features that her grandmother claimed gave her the look of an Egyptian goddess: her silky black hair, her light bronze skin, and her almond shaped eyes. Yet it was the unusual silver-violet color of her irises, inherited from her mother’s maternal line, that made her stand out in a crowd.
“Natti—” Alexander scowled at the cat.
“What?” Natti pushed back a strand of hair. “She’s been stuck in an airplane for almost twelve hours, and we have been driving for over two more. She needs to stretch her paws.”