Mike and Kara showed up a few minutes later. I was starting to wonder if Thruor had a Valkyrie Net going.

Maybe she did. Mike looked a little green – not surprising. I’d seen how Kara rode. “She’s still in the city. Beyond that? I need to triangulate or something.”

Mike tilted his head, then walked over to Thruor and hugged her. I didn’t blame him – if the positions were somehow reversed I’d want physical contact with Kanesha.

I’d find her.

“Or track…but yes, triangulate is probably best. Kara, take her somewhere in Southeast.”

Of course. Now Mike was here, Thruor would want to keep him. Which meant I got to ride with the maniac. Who would take being called a maniac as a compliment, I knew.

She probably did it on purpose. We had to go back to where we’d left Thruor’s bike to retrieve my helmet. I resented every moment. Now I knew she was still here and still alive and that I could find her, I didn’t want to hesitate.

I wasn’t angry in the way I had been, but I definitely wanted to stick my sword into somebody. Anybody. Anyone who got in my way.

Then we were off, heading towards Southeast. I wasn’t as uncomfortable with that idea as I had been. I could take any stupid gang types that got in my face. I’d just have to keep enough control not to kill them.

Kara wove through traffic, took short cuts, and generally rode as if…as if I thought with sudden amusement, lust imps were after her. Or maybe she’d enjoy lust imps. I didn’t exactly know her the way I knew Thruor, but she didn’t tend to goth and fetish up her outfits, which made me see her as more restrained.

It was probably a total illusion. The restraint, that was. I wasn’t about to ask, especially not now. No time. “Okay. She’s more to the west,” I said. “And she was south before, and slightly west. Old Town?”

Kara considered that. “Let’s check it out.”

“Thruor knows where we’re going, right?”

Kara grinned. “Of course she does.”

I was starting to get envious. Did they have telepathy going on? “That’s not fair. You girls can always call for backup.”

“And you’ll get your cool stuff. I promise.”

I already had quite a bit, but Kara sounded almost like she knew something I didn’t, and wasn’t going to tell me because it would spoil the story.

Or maybe she just knew more about how things worked. She looked twenty something, but I’d bet she was far, far older. “Right now, the only cool stuff I care about is stuff that will let me get Kanesha back.”

“Just remember this is probably a trap.”

I grinned. “If this is a trap, I’m a badger.” I’d heard they were really good at springing traps without getting caught.