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The previous night haunted her, and the hybrid woman could not help but feel that she had failed. Haku had been within her grasp—just outside of range of her claws he had danced, laughing his maddening laugh. That same sound had echoed through her mind all these many long nights, haunting after her as well as any ghost or demon. Haku still lived—she had failed. The laughter continued. She understood perfectly well what Vieira had spoken of when she stated that Astaroth and Sivaro laughed at her—but Haku was not dead. The chocolate-furred man still breathed, and still he chased her through her dreams, his toothy snarl filling her nightmares.
The call roused her from sleep, causing her to stir and roll over. Her yellow-golden eye opened slowly, and she came to blearily. She could still smell the smoke; it clung to the air even inside of her cave, stinking through the morning. The fire had burned through most of the night; even now the coyote woman did not know what had extinguished it. Maybe Dahlia's fire had simply failed them, maybe the fire had simply taken mercy on the Infernians—the silver-furred coyote did not know. It didn't matter—the previous night had seen only one casualty, a curious member of Dahlia de Mai, already heavily injured when the coyotes arrived.
The hybrid emerged from her cave slowly, heading toward the smell of the other canines. There was a fresh wound on her, a gouge torn across her right shoulder. It would heal, as all wounds eventually did, and it was not so deep as to pain her as she walked. At least there was some small pride in this—she bore wounds for Inferni, and there was no question of that. Her yellow-golden eye regarded Gabriel as he spoke, approving of the decision to shift their territory, of course—it was a tactical move and a smart one; with the mountain at their backs and the water to their front, they would be well-guarded. The northern borders had always been quiet; it was generally only the west and the south where they dealt with intruders. “He'll burn for this,” she said quietly, a sinister tone laced in her words. She meant them with every ounce of her being; he would pay for this, he would pay for Rikka, he would pay for everything, sooner or later. Inferni would hunt him down.
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