---
The surprise did not wait long.
At first, it looked like nothing more than feeding.
The six rare bats kept tearing into the bodies of the dead man and the armored woman with savage hunger. Their little mouths worked fast. Their dark wings beat in short violent bursts whenever one tried to push another away from a better patch of blood. Flesh ripped. Bones showed. Blood spread under them in thick red shine. It was ugly work, but no one in that underground chamber had the luxury of pretending ugliness was unusual anymore.
Then the first change came.
One of the six bats jerked so hard that it nearly threw itself backward off the woman's ribcage. Another stopped biting and let out a sharp shrill sound that made two lesser subordinates look over at once. The third flapped wildly in place, as if something inside it had suddenly become too large for the body it was wearing.
Sekhmet's eyes narrowed.
He did not move toward them immediately. He simply watched.
