The word "Philadelphia" snares Tikki’s attention. Her visit to that city two years ago was not a pleasant one. She went there in search of a man, intending to repay him for trying to kill her. She ended up in the thrall of a powerful mage. She still isn’t clear about how that happened, but she knows for a fact that the mage manipulated her perceptions, her thoughts, and many things she did. The experience persuaded her that she’d had enough of two-legs, maybe forever, and sent her north with Raman, her cub’s sire, into the wilds of Maine.