Sasha swaggered like a strutting peacock. "I'm that badass."
Sundown snorted. "Seriously."
"O ye of little faith. You doubt my rep? My skills?"
"And your brains."
Sasha tsked. "Fine. I'll be honest.... Absolutely no idea. They had me outnumbered. I should have been easy for them to rip into. Not that I wanted to be their early morning snack, but-"
"The wolf has always been a most natural enemy to the coyote. Wolves are one of the few predators known to hunt them when the season is right. And because of this, the coyote are wary of them by nature. Especially one from an unknown pantheon whose powers they can only guess at. No doubt, they thought retreat was the best course of action. As Sun Tzu would say, 'If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.'"
Abigail turned at the voice of what sounded like an ancient Englishman standing behind them.
He wasn't English. Or anything like what she'd expected from his proper, thickly accented speech.
Barely taller than her, he wore a tan suede jacket with fringed sleeves and heavy Native American beadwork and carved bone all over it. His silver hair was parted into two braids that framed his withered face. However age hadn't dulled the sharpness of his hazel gold eyes, which stared at her with an accusation that cut her all the way to her soul.
She had a sudden desire to take a step back, but she refused to be a coward. So she stood her ground and put on the bravest face she could manage.
Sundown inclined his head respectfully to the man. "Choo Co La Tah, what are you doing here?"
Choo Co La Tah turned that frightening gaze from her to Sundown. "The Unfolding has started, and so I knew I couldn't wait, no matter Ren's protestations. As the Dineh would say, Coyote is always out there waiting, and Coyote is always hungry. I knew they would be after the woman as soon as they caught her scent. If they kill her before we reach the Valley, there will be no one to stop them. Hence my appearance here and now. The two of you must be protected, no matter what happens." He opened his jacket to show a crow that had been resting under his right arm. He pulled it out and, with a grace and dexterity that contradicted his apparent age, set it on the floor.
Letting out a caw, the bird flapped its wings, then manifested into a man. This one appeared to be in his early twenties with jet hair and eyes. Dressed all in black, he was stunningly sexy and even scarier than the coyotes had been.
He was also fanged.
And now all the men were staring at her, making her extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious. She felt like a mouse surrounded by hungry cats who were taking odds on who would be the first to pounce.
"Do you comprehend the gravity of your situation, my dear?" Choo Co La Tah asked her.
She did. But that didn't stop one cold, hard fact. "I don't want to die."
There was no sympathy in the old man's gaze. "As the Duwamish would say, there is no death, only a change of worlds."
"I like this world."
"Then you should have thought of that before you took the life of Old Bear. I can assure you, even at his advanced age, he didn't want to change realms either. And he's only one of many you have killed who never once harmed you."
Her anger snapped at that. How dare he patronize her-something that was made even more pronounced by his accent and proper tone.
She hadn't stalked innocent people like some deranged serial killer. She was an avenger who was tallying a sickening score started by the true villains in all of this. "The Dark-Hunters have hunted my people for centuries."
"Your people, madam, are human ... most of them qualify for that term, anyway. They are the ones the Dark-Hunters strive to protect."
"Yeah, right. They..." Her words broke off as images flashed in her mind. She heard countless humans begging for mercy as they were attacked.
Not by Dark-Hunters.
By Apollites who'd killed them so that they could take their human souls and feed on them and live past their twenty-seventh birthday-just as Sundown had told her. The horror of it slapped her hard as their screams resonated through her skull.
It couldn't be.
She shook her head in denial. "You planted those images in my head. They're not real."
Choo Co La Tah sighed. "My people have a saying. Kirha tahanahna ditari sukenah. To deny the presence of the sun doesn't escape its blister. I admire your loyalty. But sometimes you have to face the truth, even when it hurts."
No, she didn't. Because if he was right, if those images were the truth, then she was wrong on a level so profound that it made her sick. It would mean she'd done horrendous things to people who didn't deserve it.