Authors note: Apologies for the lateness of this chapter, life has been hammering at me for a while now. No worries, this fanfic will continue on like all ways. Thank you all for the support and review!

Kitty

The following morning, Kitty woke up exhausted. The past day's events seemed like a dream, it had all happened too fast. The only reason she got out of bed was to make sure her friends didn't kill each other. By some stroke of luck, the house had not burnt down yet. She found Jacob lurking by the stairs, unwilling to go down but not keen on staying put either.

"Good morning! It has been such a long time since we talked in person." Kitty said sleepily. It was a pathetic attempt to make him feel welcome at best and a jab at the painful past at worst. Overall, not the best sentence.

Jacob cast her a hurt glance. "You know I was busy, I did mail you letters from time to time. But you seemed so intent on staying in London."

Kitty groaned inwardly, his extreme fear of spirits and his friendly concern for her combined was at times very hard to take, especially when he got repetitive. "I assure you that Bartimaeus is friendly! He is a great friend and one you are going to want in hard times."

Her friend furrowed his brow, "Oh, so he is suddenly are your "friend". The very same dijin that kidnapped, threatened and almost got us killed? You have some serious issues with making friends."

"Oh yes, the very same one that saved my life, kept my existence secret for 3 years, saved London, trusts me… And you know what the best thing is?"

She paused in her rant, realizing that she was starting to argue with her longtime friend. Jacob was staring at her disbelievingly.

"He actually listens to me. He put aside all his reservations for the greater good…" She finished with dwindling enthusiasm.

"So you are saying I should too." Jacob concluded as he began to walk down the stairs.

Too late did she realize he was now avoiding her.

Rolling her eyes, she decided that it was not worth pursuing. Their friendship had survived the tests of time; it could survive a little spat. Besides, she had achieved her original objective, making him go down the stairs. The stairs were plain, and the floor hardwood, she noted with amusement. It appealed to her. Apparently Nathaniel did have some taste in furnishing after all.

She made her way to the kitchen for some breakfast. Nathaniel was sitting at the only table chewing a jam sandwich while reading the paper. Kitty found herself grinning happily, she could still not believe he was alive; it was like he had never disappeared. Kitty found the paper odd, after all it was the morning addition and the press simply did not deliver to abandoned houses. She soon dismissed it and pulled up a chair.

"Good morning."

Nathaniel caught her eye and pushed a plate of already made sandwiches across the table.

"You made these?" Kitty questioned.

"I put it together; if that is what you mean, thank Gladstone the jam didn't expire." Nathaniel explained. He put aside the paper.

"So… about Jacob…" Kitty started. "You don't mind him staying for a while right?"

Nathaniel cast her an unamused look. "Right. What is his problem?"

Kitty gulped down sandwich, "Well, the way he told the tale, it sounds like his girlfriend got into some bad business and Jacob found out about it. However, it seems the girl cares and stopped the attacking werewolves from killing him."

"Werewolves?" Nathaniel asked, "But they were almost wiped out last month! I doubt Farrar would deal in underworld business."

"You sure caught up on all the action. The way you say it, it sounds like Farrar is still alive."

"Well, there is no reason for her not to be…" Nathaniel interjected.

"You are assuming everyone can follow your example and magically reincarnate." Kitty snorted.

"I never said that. Besides, this could be connected to Lovelace…."

"Well either way, it could be worth investigating."

"I don't think you could find her, with London being London." Bartimaeus flatly stated, after a bit of debate, Bartimaeus had agreed to help her.

"What if we could find a way to lure her here?" Kitty proposed.

"Like what Mandrake did to you a couple years ago?" Bartimaeus smirked. "My my, you are becoming more like him every day."

"I fail to see how you connected the two; this is far less dangerous and far more helpful."

"Funny, that is sort of what he thought…"

"Hilarious, now can you get on with it?" Kitty scowled. She still disliked being compared.

"Get on with what? You still haven't told me who to kidnap."

"Who said you were kidnapping?!"

Bartimaeus smirked, "You did chum, you said "lure her here" so I assumed you wanted me to kidnap her relative and bring them here as bait."

Originally, Kitty had wanted to convince the girl to stop interacting with the malicious person, whoever that was. But she now saw that impossible without some desperate measures. She didn't even know who and where the girl was!

"This is just great…" Kitty groaned and put her head in her hands.

"But do get on with it, I don't have any other plan." She muttered through her fingers.

"Go ask Jacob who her mother is and where she lives, he is bound to know. After all, he is paranoid. After that…I'll take care of it. " Bartimaeus stretched and got up from the sofa in the living room.

"You could try being friendly you know." Kitty shot back, she had hoped they would have made up by now.

"I am friendly, I haven't eaten him yet. So don't give me any chances." Bartimaeus yawned lazily.

Kitty looked around for Jacob. She heard footsteps upstairs and began to head up.

"Oh and Kitty, ever notice how these events all happened around the same time? I don't think it is a coincidence. The empire is a bit rough around the edges right now; it just needs a little push and BOOM." Bartimaeus made an explosive movement with his hands.

Kitty flinched. "I won't let that happen, the commoners finally have a voice, things can change for the better…" She griped the railing, her traveling plans had been thrown out the window.

Bartimaeus cut in: "It is not about choice you know, more like who is stronger. I sure hope you are ready. When empires reach a tipping point there is always the greatest conflict. Under the right circumstances, people start to have crazy ideas and these ideas might become reality. Hm…quite like yours actually."

"We can do this, I know we can." She said to the staircase.

"Don't die."