Her patterns of thinking had changed since the nights of the falling stars—or, more likely, even before all that. Normally her first thought upon crossing the borders was that of rest, dragging her body to the long cavern she inhabited and flopping down on the stuffed hide to sleep, and screw anyone who came to bother the Centurion if no one was dying. She had traveled to the southernmost part of the peninsula and back again, and damned if she was going to exert herself more the moment she was in familiar territory.
Presently, however, the one-eared coyote even stopped and took the time to shift into an upright form before loping past the archery stands and the moor toward the northern part of Inferni. She was home, and she wanted one canine in particular to know.
Vesper threw a suspicious look to the horses hanging out in the corral, but she didn’t know them well enough to tell if one was missing or not. That would change as she changed, but for now, she took long strides toward the entrance of the old schoolhouse. Her hand hesitated before rapping on the big door, and instead she fumbled with the handle before it was open. It would be better if she could surprise Myrika with her return, if only because she craved to see the delight on her face and know that everything was at it was when she’d left.
Scent more than familiarity told her where the Aquila’s room was located, only one sharp turn after entering the building. It was strange for her to be under a roof, but this place was far sturdier than the decrepit mansion, and she spared little attention to detail. She inhaled deeply then opened the door, a roguish smile on her face softened at the edges, a greeting on her tongue.
Almost instantaneously she closed off her expression, her ear falling back into her messily cropped mane. There was a strange coyote in the bed of furs, sickly pale enough to remind her of the spy she’d driven from the borders. It was a woman, pale skin riddled with scars old and new, and she smelled strongly of Myrika.
Any manners or inclination to stop and think the scenario through were abandoned, and Vesper instead sneered well enough to rival any Lykoi. “Who the hell are you?”
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