You know, I really hate it when I feel stupid. It was my own fault of course. Well, mine and that stupid birdbrain.

There I was, existing in a world with crazy magic, with wackadoodle killer monsters, in a city I was warned that something might happen to Seth, or to me, and I allowed myself to be careless. I was dodging the rocks that the birdbrained raven was trying to drop on me, and not watching what was going on around me. Unforgivable.

At least the birdbrain was aware enough to spot the snatchers as they dragged Blaise out the back and into a carriage. Seth and Booth were tearing cobblestones after it. Duvessa was yelling instructions to the birdbrain.

Owen ran into the shop and I followed him. I had no idea how I could help. I'm a foot high, slow, clumsy, and a cub. For the love of little green apples, there ain't no way I'm catching that carriage by running after it.

Owen threw open the curtains to where Blaise had been changing. Her pile of wet clothes were on the floor, and at least two other outfits were hung up. In the middle of the floor was a climbing pick with a gold symbol on it. Right.

He glanced at the bags he'd been carrying for the girls and then turned to the shopkeeper. "Get the guard here. That girl was taken by these people." He held up the pick so the symbol was visible.

I was out the back at this point. The carriage had already turned the corner but I could still hear it. Booth and Seth were rounding the corner themselves.

"Taken?" the shopkeeper said. She stared at them in a daze.

"Abducted!" Duvessa shouted. She ran through the shop and out the back door. "There was a kidnapping on your property! Get the authorities! Now!"

"Which way?" Owen asked.

"North! They turned north. Let's go!"

"Tell them that!" Owen said and chased after Duvessa.

Despite them having a whole conversation, however brief, Duvessa and Owen both passed me. So I did the only thing I thought I could do to actually help. I climbed a gate and up onto the thatch roof of the nearest building. I cut across the rooftops and was able to somewhat catch up to Duvessa and Owen.

Well, I could catch Duvessa. She was nearly as slow as I was. Owen slowed down and glanced at her, then at the retreating carriage. He would need to choose, and soon.

The only reason we had a shot at catching the carriage was it still had to navigate the narrow back streets and sharp turns. Once it was out onto a thoroughfare, it would be gone.

Duvessa realized this. She paused for a moment and waved Owen on. She then summoned two lizards. They were large for lizards, maybe iguana sized, and as black as all her shadow summons. She then stepped on them, one foot on each like a pair of shoes, and they took off running. I almost fell off the roof. Well okay then.

Clearly the logical solution to not running fast enough was to stick lizards on your feet.

Lizard surfing Duvessa was leaving my slow ass in the dust. I had to race to catch up. It startled Owen too and he nearly tripped. "Lizards?" He didn't stop and got his stride again quickly. Now the two of them were gaining.

I jumped onto a higher roof. I needed to cut some distance off or I'd be left behind. I could see a corner up ahead and leaped across to the next series of roofs. If there is one thing my fabulous cat body can do, it's leap.

Just a few more turns and they'd be at the thoroughfare. I got to an alley just after the carriage had passed. Reginald was circling overhead. At least we'd be able to follow him if we did get left behind.

Seth and Booth were still just behind the carriage and Seth was shouting for them to stop. The guy next to the driver knocked over a crate of apples as they passed, trying to slow the kids down. I liked the vocabulary of the guy that owned the apples.

I glanced down the alley just as Owen and Duvessa rounded the corner. Well, Owen rounded it. Duvessa went flying. Running lizards apparently are very difficult to balance on when rounding corners. Owen stopped and ran back to her. I started climbing to a higher roof so I could leap the next alley.

"The heels on those boots are too high. It won't work. Here, I'll snap them off," Owen said. He reached for one of Duvessa's boots. Because of course Duvessa was lizard surfing in heels.

"No! These are my favorites!" Duvessa jerked her feet away from him. "Pull them off!" She practically kicked Owen in the face, she shoved her feet back at him so fast.

Owen got to yanking them off. "Can you balance on the lizards? Couldn't you summon something that runs smoother?" he asked.

"Snakes make me seasick," Duvessa said.

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Owen handed her the first boot. "Something else then."

"Ugh. Fine." Duvessa dismissed her lizards and took the second boot. Then she summoned an enormous centipede. It was about half my height but about five times as long, and with so many legs it looked hairy. Because those are things here. And if you need to chase kidnappers, giant centipedes are the way to go.

"Is that a cave crawler?" Owen asked as he backed away from it. Should I feel better if I'm not the only one horrified by such things?

"Yes." Duvessa's face was pained. "Bare feet too," she whined. She curled her toes and stepped gingerly on the shadow insect. "Hurry!" she said and the centipede took off. Holy fuck that thing was fast.

I caught sight of the carriage as it turned onto the thoroughfare. Booth and Seth had paused, panting. They were both watching Reginald.

"What are you waiting for?" Duvessa demanded as she caught up, Owen only steps behind.

"If they stay in the city, Reginald will see them. If they go left there, they're heading for the main gate. If they go right, they're heading for the Palace tunnel towards Mariglade. We might be able to cut them off. You two keep going," Seth said.

"That's right," Booth said, glancing at Seth in surprise. "We can cut down Waterside and beat them to the bridge."

Duvessa was off like a shot. People jumped out of her way too. Zippy shadow centipedes will do that for you.

Owen hauled ass after her. I took that opportunity to jump on his shoulder. I was happy it didn't faze him at all. And if he got close enough, I was hopping on Duvessa. This way Seth would know where they were, and I'd know where he and Booth were.

Too bad I couldn't tell Owen and Duvessa that.

Moments later the carriage whipped right and picked up speed. I looked back and saw that Seth and Booth started moving too, in a different direction.

My next goal was to get my ass on that carriage. I didn't think I could stop it, but I could be the tracking device.

There, I just saw somebody move a donkey cart to block traffic from another thoroughfare so our kidnappers could speed by. I got a good look at him too as Owen ran by. This wasn't an opportunistic grab. Somebody planned this and they've got help elsewhere in the city.

Duvessa was doing a good job at getting us some help too, as she was shouting for help to stop the carriage. People were noticing and some tried to help. But I hadn't seen any police, or guards, or whatever they are here. And no one wanted to risk being run down by the horses in order to stop the carriage. People tended to scatter when they saw the centipede too.

Midday traffic was the only reason we hadn't lost them yet. But we weren't getting any closer. At this rate they'd be at the bridge and to the tunnel out of the city before we get there. If they manage to block the bridge, they could fully get away.

But humans were humans. And when a vehicle cuts you off, the natural reaction is road rage. And when people carry horse whips, road rage becomes a whole new sport.

A young guy driving a fancy looking open carriage with a couple old ladies in the back nearly got clipped by the back wheels of the kidnappers. His vocabulary was super tame compared to one of the ladies in the back. He got his single horse up beside the two horses of the other carriage and was whipping the other driver. It was glorious. And let Owen catch up to Duvessa and the carriages.

Suddenly Seth was in pain, and I could feel startled terror.

Fuck fuck fuck. Was there another group? I shouldn't have left him. Wasn't I just thinking just a few minutes ago that I had been warned the city might be dangerous for him specifically? How far away was he?

No. Stay on target. I'm not in a position to help him. He's too far, and I'm working this part of the job. He has Booth with him. Let's hope that's enough.

As the seconds passed and he was still in distress, I mentally closed the window that was the familiar link. I wouldn't be aware of Seth's pain until I opened it again. I could only hope I didn't hate myself for this later.

"Ow. Mau, pull in, your claws," Owen panted.

I'd missed the opportunity offered by the road rager. His horse had decided it had enough and wouldn't get close again.

Owen was close enough to Duvessa, so I made the jump. Sort of. I jumped to the centipede. The crazy thing didn't even twitch when I landed on it, it just kept on running. It was a smooth ride too.

I caught a break when we came to a traffic circle. Roundabout. Rotary. Whatever the fuck they're called. I leapt ahead, and then across, and aimed for the roof of the kidnapper's carriage. I missed.

I caught the side and clung to it with all my claws like I was a piece of velcro. I felt pretty secure on this thing despite it rattling over the cobblestones. And then I noticed my whiskers trembling. There was magic on this carriage.

This was a full carriage. There were the two guys outside driving and riding shotgun, Blaise inside with two other people, and by the smell of it, there was also an animal inside.

Was there something I could do that would stop or slow the carriage? I could head down and look underneath, but I could fall off. The wheels and springs would also be pretty dangerous for me. I doubt these things were manufactured with stowaway safety standards in mind.

I decided to climb up to the roof. Mostly because my claws were starting to carve holes in the side as the vibrations from the wheels rattling over cobblestone caused me to slowly slide down. From the roof I could still sense magic. That gave me the idea that the whole carriage was enchanted, but for what I didn't know. Definitely a spell or something had been cast on it.

I still needed to figure out what I could do. When I looked ahead, I could see the bridge and the bridge was clear. When I looked back, Owen was way behind, and Duvessa was losing ground too. These bastards were going to get away.

The guy riding shotgun climbed up to the roof. When he saw me he swore and tried to kick me in the face. He missed. He didn't bother to try again and started messing with latches at the back of the carriage. The carriage also slowed down.

So I attacked him.

Feline combat is not my strong suit. I don't think I've ever tried to deliberately claw someone before. I may have never tried to deliberately hurt someone else in my life. It felt really wrong and I didn't want to do it.

I knew it was necessary. I knew Blaise was in serious trouble. Seth was in trouble. Shit, I was in trouble too!

But attacking a person was not something I could easily do. I utterly lacked killing intent, so my wussy little swipes did nothing. The asshole got the back of the carriage open.

And released an enormous fucking hyena.