York was caught completely off guard when Catherine grabbed his arm mid-princess-carry.
For a moment, he didn’t even register what was happening.
It wasn’t until he’d pulled her out through the kitchen’s back door that his brain caught up.
He immediately shook off her hand like it had burned him.
Catherine’s face twisted with disgust.
“Keep your filthy hands off me!
Disgusting!” “Oh sorry!
I’m so sorry!” York realized his blunder and rushed to apologize, his expression turning frantic.
“We need to move!
They’re right behind us!” Catherine let out a cold, mocking laugh.
“Have you lost your mind?
Or did you forget, I’m the kidnapped victim here?
And you want me to run?” York froze in his tracks, spinning back to face her.
‘Damn.
How could I have forgotten that?’ The chaotic stampede of footsteps grew closer, and York’s heart began to race.
She wouldn’t flee.
And she wouldn’t let him touch her.
He was well and truly stuck.
‘Screw it.’ He was dead either way.
But if he was going down, he refused to die in some burger joint’s back alley, surrounded by rotting trash and kitchen grease.
“Forgive me, Miss Catherine!” Without warning, he swept Catherine into his arms again in a princess carry.
Several Wolves appeared at the mouth of the alley just then.
York didn’t hesitate, he bolted.
Angry shouts erupted behind him.
“There they are!” “Stop right there!
Let the Miss go!” “After them!” His danger didn’t end with the Wolves, Catherine was a threat all on her own.
The moment she realized what he’d done, she yanked out her pistol and jammed it under his chin, her eyes blazing with fury.
“You bastard!
Put me down!” “Alright, alright!
I’ll put you down the second we lose your men!” The cold steel pressed against his jaw as York tilted his head back, but strangely, he felt almost no fear.
If she weren’t the mafia family’s precious daughter, he’d have thrown her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes by now.
Would she actually pull the trigger?
For something like this?
Probably not…
Probably.
He had no choice.
Staying put meant certain death.
Abandoning her also meant certain death, but from her men instead of her bullets.
This was the only play he had left.
Catherine, realizing her threats weren’t getting through, bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to even look at him.
She wasn’t about to shoot him, not yet.
It had been a long time since she’d come across such an amusing “animal.” Besides, the blood would make a mess of her clothes.
When York saw her holster the gun, he let out a silent breath of relief.
“Thank you for not killing me!” Catherine didn’t respond, but her chest rose and fell with barely contained fury.
She was absolutely seething.
York couldn’t worry about that now, the mob chasing them was enormous.
He dove into every narrow alley he could find, zigzagging through the backstreets.
He had Weselton to thank for that lesson: when in doubt, head for the alleys.
After twisting and turning through a maze of passages, York ran straight into a dead end.
Catherine’s mood visibly improved.
A smug, teasing smile curled at the corner of her lips.
“Well, well…
looks like there’s nowhere left to run~” The footsteps of their pursuers grew louder, but York seemed eerily calm.
“Oh, no, no, no.
This is my escape route.” He silently calculated the wall ahead.
Two meters.
“Perfect.” “Perfect what?” Catherine frowned.
“And what do you mean, this is your escape route?” York didn’t answer.
But Catherine was about to find out.
He suddenly burst forward, using the walls on either side as springboards, and vaulted effortlessly onto the two-meter-high wall.
He glanced back at the approaching Wolves.
He desperately wanted to flip them off, the way Weselton would have, but with Catherine in his arms, both hands were occupied.
Instead, he settled for a defiant, mocking look before dropping down the other side.
He landed softly and set Catherine down.
She touched the ground with practiced grace, brushed a speck of invisible dust from her clothes, and turned to face him.
“York.” “Yes?” Before he could even blink, a massive slap was hurtling toward his face.
York’s eyes went wide.
If that connected, he’d be sporting a bright red handprint for days.
He jerked backward, barely dodging the blow.
“Tch.” Catherine clicked her tongue and withdrew her hand, looking mildly impressed.
“Quick reflexes.” “Thanks,” York said with a rueful grin.
“I know kung fu.” Catherine snorted, turned on her heel, and strode off without another word.
York quickly fell into step beside her.
By the time the Wolves scaled the wall, York had vanished.
One of them radioed Anderson.
“Boss, we lost them.” On the other end, Anderson sighed heavily.
He couldn’t make heads or tails of what his young lady was playing at.
But as a subordinate, he couldn’t just stand by while their mistress was carried off.
At the very least, he had to put on a proper show of pursuit.
“Round up more men.
Search every inch.
They don’t have a car, they can’t get far.” The idea of playing “dark under the lamp”, circling back to retrieve their Jeep, never crossed York’s mind.
He was certain the Wolves had tracked them through a device planted in the vehicle.
He and Catherine emerged from the maze of alleyways onto a main street’s sidewalk just as a bus pulled up to the curb.
Without hesitation, York called out: “Let’s go.
Get on.” Catherine glanced at the destination sign.
Rainforest District.
“What are we going to the Rainforest District for?” “No idea.” York shrugged, then smirked, tapping his nose with a cocky grin.
“If I don’t even know where I’m going, there’s no way your men can find me.” Catherine stared at him, momentarily speechless.
On the surface, his logic almost held up.
But the holes were glaringly obvious.
She was certain her men weren’t so incompetent that they’d lose her entirely.
If they did, they might as well resign from their jobs.
She didn’t bother arguing.
Let York wallow in his fantasy of being untouchable.
She was curious to see how long he could keep this up.
Since it wasn’t the weekend, the bus had plenty of empty seats.
York guided Catherine to the back row.
The bus rumbled to life and pulled away.
York’s attention wasn’t on the passing scenery, though, he was stealing glances at Catherine from the corner of his eye.
Catherine shot him a glare.
“If you’ve got something to say, just say it.” Caught red-handed, York scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I was just wondering…
why did you start this whole ‘game’ in the first place?” Why?
Even Catherine wasn’t entirely sure.
She’d done it because it seemed entertaining at the time.
Did she regret it now?
Ha!
If she’d known this idiot would have the nerve to haul her off like some damsel in distress, she’d have put a bullet in him then and there.
She ignored the question and shot him a sideways glare.
“Shut up.” “Got it.” York obediently fell silent.
—— “Miss Catherine!
Look!
That giant elephant-shaped ice cream shop!
I saw it online, it’s famous!
I’d love to try it sometime.” “Is that a museum?
Wow!
It’s huge!
So grand!” “Amazing!
There’s even a whole district just for small rodents to live in!” “…” York babbled on, his eyes wide with wonder.
This was the first time he’d really taken in Zootopia.
Catherine, who had been dozing beside him, finally snapped.
She opened her eyes, reached over, and pinched York’s mouth shut between her fingers.
“Shut up!
One more word and I’ll throw you out the window!”