Page 83 of Cats Never Fly

“Portalsdo weird shit to some supes,” the troll explained in a surprisingly nice tone toEdgar. “Wecan’t take any chances that the portal will do something unexpected, like cleanse his body of the magicTeddyused to sedate him.”

“Youquit talking too,Vala,” the mage snarled. “Weneed to get him out of here.Helpme lift him.”

Themage didn’t seem like aTeddy.Hewas too mean to share a name with cuddly bears.Ashe beckoned the others forward, an ugly ring on his finger caught my eye.Thegaudy mass of tarnished metal and uncut stones was not only hideous, it shimmered with magic.Thatwas not a normal ring.Wasthat the ringGage’steam had been worried about?

Edgarmade a face atTeddybut grabbedOgden’sarms.TeddyandValaeach grabbed one of his legs.Valawas almost useless since she only had one functioning arm, but somehow, they carried him toward the staircase without dropping him.

Atthe top of the steps,Valafrowned. “Thiswon’t work.Wecan’t all fit down those stairs like this.”

“Canwe just push him and pick him up at the bottom?”Thehuman peered down the steps. “He’sa shifter, right?He’llbe fine.”

Teddyrolled his eyes. “Andrisk breaking his neck after all this?Idon’t think so.”

Gus, the bear shifter who still had blood around his furry mouth, shifted and stomped over to them.HegrabbedOgdenfrom them, hoisted my defenseless dragon up, and tossed him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.Thenthe group descended the stairs and went out of sight.

Howlong beforeIcould go after them?Ididn’t want to wait too long and risk losing them.Ifit was just about me,I’dhave stayed hidden in that box for the next two days before venturing out.Butthose creeps hadOgden.

Iheld my breath and began counting.WhyIwas counting,Ididn’t know.Butit was helping me stay calm whileIwaited to follow.ShouldIcount to a thousand?Fivethousand?Ten?Whatmight be the best?IfIfollowed them too soon, they would just capture me too… or worse.

Atthat thought, my gaze strayed toWesley.

Bloodpooled around him now.Althoughin the dark, it appeared to be a black stain.Ididn’t want to see what it would look like when the sun rose.

Aclang resonated from somewhere in the building.Didthat mean they’d gotten out?Already?Ihad to act.Losingone of my nine forOgdenwould be worth it.

Ishook my head to dislodge the thought of losing anything or anyone, then the shaking rolled over my whole body.Thatwasn’t helping.Ogdenneeded me.Iswalloweddown my fear.OgdenthoughtIwas brave.Icould do this.Forhim.

Inone motion,Ipushed the lid off my hiding spot and leaped free.Idetoured only long enough to snatch up the pouch withOgden’stracker in my mouth, thenIraced to the staircase.Myphone was in the apartment, soIcould grab it on the way through.I’dhave to take a minute to shift to tuck it into my clothing, butI’dneed to shift anyway in order to callVanand let him know what’d happened.Thedoor leading intoOgden’sapartment was ajar.Inudged it with my head to move it out of my way, more concerned with following the people who’d takenOgdenthan anything else.

Thedoor didn’t swing open asIexpected.Ipushed harder.

Thenthe smell hit me.Thesickening scent of blood in the air had distracted me soIhadn’t noticed the lingering stink of bear.Thedoor suddenly moved, and there, at the top of the stairs, was the bear shifter.Hewas in his human form—he wouldn’t have fit in the stairwell otherwise—but blood still coated his human teeth, which gleamed menacingly from the shadows.

“Gotcha,” he crowed triumphantly as he lunged for me.

Ijumped away.Thefur on my back and tail puffed out in surprise.Iretreated, arching my back and hissing around the pouch, although pretendingIcould intimidate the deadly predator by making myself look fractionally larger was laughable.Myhead didn’t even reach his knees, and after he shifted,I’dbe no bigger than his massive paw.Notto understate the obvious, but this was bad.

“Comehere, kitty kitty,”Guscoaxed as he prowledtoward me.Heeven did the whole pspspsps thing, the a-hole. “Everythingis going to be okay.”

Hystericallaughter threatened to rip out of me, because really?Didthat approach ever work to put his victims at ease?

Icontinued to back away.Icouldn’t let this beast catch me.He’deither kill me or kidnap me as a bonus prize from the night’s endeavors, but either way, it’d meanIcouldn’t helpOgden.Thebear stalked me across the roof.Histeeth gleamed in the faint ambient light.Hisbreath stank of blood and gore.Hiseyes glinted with predatory intent.

Thenhe shifted.

Hewas gigantic.

Thebear lumbered forward on his enormous paws with their enormous claws, bringing his enormous mouth with its enormous teeth closer to me with every step.Myheart was pounding so hardIfeared it’d give out.ButIfocused on my one goal:SaveOgden.

Whenmy tail hit the short parapet wall at the perimeter of the roof,Ijumped in surprise.Thebear laughed.Laughtershould have been a reassuring and cheerful sound, but he embodied all the sick and demented joy he got from having his prey cornered.

Igulped.

Itcouldn’t end like this.

Iscanned the area, looking for an escape.Therehad to be a way to get out of this.Butto get to the staircase,I’dneed to get past the bear first.Andeven then, he’d be right on my tail.Iwas fast as a cat, butIdoubtedIcould outmaneuver a seasoned predator.

Whatwas left?