As the cabal ponders what to do about Rota, they get a surprise visit by the Iron Hand including the Black Dog. He questions them about the city's problems while making Adele, Colt, and Mammon distinctly uncomfortable. Mammon notices that Black Dog has noticed the spot where Rota died and decides to question him about it. He doesn't reveal anything they didn't already know however and soon leaves.
Over the next few days, Adele and Colt chat about whether she should take Rota's legacy and resolving the conflict between Christian dogma and the Atlantean orthodoxy. In the end she decides to pursue it, asking Valkyrie and Mammon for their approval. She then dreams of Rota and begins her initiation.
In the ensuing week, new reports of spiritual trouble and linked acts of arson reach the cabal. They immediately move to investigate. At one of the crime scenes they find a vandalism spirit which helps them by describing the arsonist. It crudely draws a man with several animals who went down the nearby alley. Using life magic, Colt acquires the nose of a bloodhound and cloaked in magic trails the arsonist. He eventually find himself at a school faced with a pack of feral dogs. Once the others arrive they approach a small shack in the back of the school. The dogs soon turn hostile and the owner, a pyromaniac Beshilu, commands them to attack while he readies his escape. Attempts to calm the dogs fail. Adele shifts to Twilight while Mammon uses magic to drive them off. Valyrie knocks several into the air and runs to the shack. There she runs into the Rat host carrying a canister of gas. She detonates the canister, scaring off more dogs and causing the the Rat Host to run in pain and terror. Valkyrie quickly extinguishes the fire and the cabal chases the creature into the school. There Valkyrie killed its host and then they trapped the rodent itself in a trash can. Shifting the entire group into twilight, Adele goes to destroying the corpse. Unfortunately she is overwhelmed by paradox backlash and passes out. After she recovers, they leave the scene, letting the cops puzzle over the mysterious occurrence.
Seeking to learn more about the problem, they decide to find the Rat Host's enemies, Werewolves. Adele asks Miguel about it and he lets her know where they are but warns her they are dangerous and don't like him. Athaliah essentially gives the same information. Most of the cabal decides to research the creatures but learns very little of use. Meanwhile Valkyrie talks to the mages of the Monastery to see what they know about werewolves. Following up on a lead from one of the Fist of Talos members, she talks to Kensai. From him she is able to learn where a pack of werewolves lives.
Using the information Valkyrie gathered Colt heads to the area to find a werewolf called Eric Tenscars. After leaving a message at a local bar, he is contacted by Eric and arranges a meeting. Over some beers, they exchange information about the Beshilu threat and their weaknesses. They learn about the infestation at one of the local subway stations and that there is another site somewhere in the city where the recent groups are coming from. The two manage to connect some based on their shared military pasts.
With a better picture of the problem, the cabal sends a report to the council and await word.