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If there was one thing I hated, it was mixed signals. A vampire depended on his senses, and right now, I had zero clarity about this mysterious gang. The figures prepared themselves, dropping into defensive positions and drawing weapons, ready to fight us. Some were skilled warriors, judging from their stances. This made me even more curious… and concerned.

I decided to target the large hooded man, mainly because the waves coming off him were the most cloudy and confusing. My body buzzed with an uncomfortable sensation—like a limb falling asleep and just waking up. I hated it.

The guy made no attempt to pull away from me as I went for him. A heavy weight settled in me before I could register what was happening. Something was… off. I charged him anyway, planning to take him down with a rough tackle to knock him off his high horse. He stepped to the side as I pulled back, realizing what was happening.

“Vampires should be more careful,” he drawled. “You think you’re so sly, and yet I could smell your stench coming for miles.”

The hooded figure had powers. He wasn’t a vampire, but he wasn’t human either.

“Something’s wrong,” Lyra cried out. Her knife met the blade of the scarred woman, who smirked. Though she seemed human, there was something extra in her blows with Lyra, like she had super strength. And my wife is no weakling.

The towering figurein front of mechuckled darkly, and I could make out a hooked nose in the shadows of his hood. ”Looks like you”re finally figuring it out. You must understand that you”re not special anymore.”

His arrogance was infuriating. ”And Jessica is?” I countered. The man paused for a moment, as if unsure whether to speak. What was going on with these people? I lunged for him again. He raised his arms to grab my shoulders, but I buffeted him easily with a punch.

Despite his size, he was fast. He countered my punch with a roundhouse kick, and I threw myself back. His leg was longer than I was used to seeing on a human, and I misjudged his range. So, this guy is something else.

”I”ve got a vampire,” Arlonne announced, snarling.“And they’re making me hungry. Nice to know we have some traitors.” She’d knocked the hood off one of the figures, showing dark skin and shadows dancing beneath. The sight of a dark vampire like Vonn made me sick and ravenous at the same time.

Could they all be vampires who had turned dark? The large man in front of me dove to the side and swung his fist at me, landing a strike on my ribs. No, he didn”t fight like a vampire… but the Leftovers might have done something strange to our kind—along with humans, if we were to actually believe Jessica had powers. They weren”t feeding on one another, which clearly meant something odd was going on. Vonn had made every vampire hungry after he’d gone past the point of no return.

Lyra let out a grunt as the woman came down on her with a heavy sword, wielding it with incredible strength. I can”t get a read on these guys. They”re all over the place.

Arlonne managed to sink her teeth into the dark vampire, who wailed in pain. The towering hooded man in front of me stepped to the side, his head turning in Arlonne’s direction. I smashed into him with all the fury of a frustrated vampire, and he hissed as he went down. I almost felt sorry for him. This guy was built like a ton of bricks, but, thankfully, he fell like I had expected. He slammed into the ground and I tried to tackle him, but he was fast for someone so large. He vaulted upward.

”I don”t have time for you,” he told me in an exasperated voice. I glared at him, my frustration growing by the second.

”Oh, am I interfering with your plans for world domination?” I asked dryly. All villains thought they were unique. They weren”t. He and his group were obviously up to something terrible, but I”d dealt with weird villains before.

The figure turned to the side and ran for Dan.

Jessica screamed. She”d been watching from the sidelines, tugging on Dan. It looked like she was trying to get him to wake up fully so they could run away, again, but he was too weak. Unfortunately, she had drawn my opponent”s attention. ”No, don”t hurt him!”

Not on my watch. I sprinted after him, rushing as he snatched Dan up by the back of his shirt.

I launched myself at the mysterious figure. He let out a guttural sound of pain as he flew forward, and Dan tumbled out of his grasp, rolling to land at Jessica”s feet. I recovered and stooped quickly to check on Dan.

”Are you okay?”

His delirious eyes met mine. ”These guys are weird. They”re part of some secret group. They call themselves the Called and—” He broke off as a commotion occurred across the clearing. I looked up to see that my hulking opponent had turned his attention on Bryce, who was huffing and struggling. He was weakened from the curse’s effects. I knew exactly how that felt. I needed to go after him, but another hooded cretin jumped in my way. These guys were dangerous, and we needed to stick to our original plan if we wanted to escape the Pocket Space.

My eyes met Lyra”s across the clearing. Sweat marred her face, and a thin trail of blood ran down her cheek where the woman had managed to land a shallow blow.

”You”re not getting past me,” screeched my new opponent, who was on the shorter side with the aura of a vampire. He went for Dan and Jessica. Luckily, he was much weaker than the hulking guy. I easily pounced on him, taking him down. As soon as my fingers landed on him, I sensed the evil and darkness lurking inside him, and my hunger surged. I ripped back his hood and sank my fangs into his neck. Now, we had confirmation that there were two of them. I drank greedily for a few seconds.

”Watch out,” Dan yelled. The hulking figure was back. He”d thrown Bryce several yards across the battlefield, sending Bryce careening into me. Arlonne came upon the large hooded guy with a deranged fervor, after having fed on the other dark vampire.

”Sorry,” Bryce said, his breathing heavy. My side ached, but it wasn”t bad. ”These guys are much tougher than I thought. They”re not normal.”

”I know,” I said through gritted teeth. Lyra fell back, pushed by the woman”s blade. My darling wife had managed to hold her own with the other woman, who had a gash on her stomach. ”Nice hit.”

”I had to fight like hell for it,” Lyra breathed. She looked between Bryce and me. ”We”ve got to get out of here. It”s not worth it to fight with these psychos. We’re wasting precious time when we need to get back.”

I nodded. She was right. We had no idea what these guys wanted, other than to take Jessica with them and leave poor Dan for dead.

Lyra pressed her back against mine as the scarred woman and the hooded guy continued walking forward. ”Any ideas?” she asked.

”Yes, get the humans, and get out of here,” I said fervently. ”I know these types. They’ll fight to the death for whatever cause they have. Let’s get everyone to safety.”

Dan reached out to tug Jessica”s pant leg. She crouched down and said something to him, but it was cut off by the sound of a wail.

”Now what?” Bryce moaned as he pulled himself up. The warriors, the scarred woman and hooded giant, were marching over to us, but they also stopped. It was a low wail. Lyra froze beside me. It was familiar.

”The monster,” she muttered. ”It”s back.” Jessica let out a screech.

My senses were bad, but I could hear the beast clambering toward us. Its footsteps were heavy and panicked, its body smashing into things along the way.

”Something”s wrong with it,” I whispered to them. The beast charged forward into the clearing, and the sight of familiar red and dark hair greeted me. It was Roxy, with Colin and Kane.

”Kane,” I shouted, but it was no use. He was unconscious on the monster’s back. Roxy held him up as she stared at us. Her face was stricken with confusion as she surveyed the scene, brow knitted with concern. Panic rocketed through everything. The hooded figures had no idea what was going on, either. It was a good enough distraction.

“What are you—” Lyra cut off, astounded.

”I”ll explain later,” Roxy yelled at us.

Our opponents pulled back. The scarred woman gave a skeptical but cautious look toward the monster. She drew something out of her pocket, a rod-like device with a light on the end. She pointed it at the creature, and a whip of red light flew out of the end. The creature roared when the light struck it.

“Yield, you ugly thing,” the woman said, her lips curling.

“Stop,” Colin yelled at her from atop the monster’s back.

The woman didn’t stop, but the beast reared back with a protesting screech, then lashed out with a claw and snapped it at the woman. She stumbled backward as she attempted to throw the whip again, but this time the monster jumped to the side to avoid it.

The monster threw its head from side to side, letting out a frustrated wail. The scarred woman gnashed her teeth together. They were flat, utterly human now that I took a good look at her.

Another wail left the beast, and it shook off its riders. Roxy tumbled to the side and fell so that she could shelter Kane, taking a hit to her head to protect his. Colin pulled them back to avoid the monster’s thrashing. The hulking hooded figure and the woman drew back with their companions. We’d only managed to take out two of them, the dark vampires. The recent feeding—although brief—had given me a boost of power.

“What’s wrong with it?” Lyra asked, her voice rising with concern. It was our ticket out of here.

“It’s running itself ragged tracking down the interplanar energy,” Colin said. “It really wanted us to get to Kane. Thankfully, Roxy had a lock on him.” I was grateful for her psychic connection to Kane. It was probably why he was alive, and we had to get him back before that changed.

“We can’t let her kill the monster,” Lyra muttered beneath her breath. The cut on her cheek was already fading to a healthy pink, with no scabbing. The Pocket Space had strange properties that I didn’t understand. Sike’s scanner was flitting in and out of service, going absolutely insane.

A flash of silver erupted from the large hooded figure. I stiffened as the air went tense. The man had unleashed a long, piercing spike that slammed into the side of the monster. Colin gasped. A surge of compassion welled up inside me as the monster fell to the ground for a moment, screeching with pain. It had been a menace to us, but it was just an animal and didn’t deserve to be skewered by these creeps. More practically speaking, it was still our only way home.

Cam fired a shot at the hulking hooded man. He cried out for the first time, a sound which gave me great satisfaction. If he thinks vampires aren’t scary, at least he’s wise enough to pull back from bullets.

Finn poked his head out of Cam”s backpack and let out a frightened squeak. The monster threw itself back and forth, tripping over its legs as it tried to make sense of what was happening. Blood, dark and foul-smelling, poured from its body. It was a strange smell, like nothing I had experienced before. It let out a fierce roar, and the cloaked group pulled back.

”You idiot,” Colin snapped at the man, but he put on an air of boredom, raising one palm in an amused sort of way. Lyra gritted her teeth beside me, probably judging the distance between her hand and the man”s throat.

The monster charged forward, and a portal ripped through the open space. I grabbed Lyra.

”We have to go,” I hissed to her. ”Everyone, we need to get out of here.” The cloaked members watched as we sprinted for the portal. Chandry grabbed the weakened Dan, snatching him up as he tried to mumble a thanks. I hoisted Bryce partially on my shoulder. He could still walk after his fall, but it would be better to drag him along than risk going slowly. Once his adrenaline faded, he would need to see a medic. Colin and Roxy carried Kane between the two of them, working to support his weight as they ran. Anxiously, I watched Kane”s head loll to the side. He was weak; there was barely a flicker of darkness in him.Sike followed after them.

He”s been starved. I glanced back to make sure we weren”t losing anyone before jumping through the portal. Lyra glared at Jessica, who was merely watching us from twenty yards away, her mouth hanging open. What is she doing?

”You have to come with us,” Dan shouted weakly. Chandry pulled him along, but he struggled against her. I pushed Bryce through with Cam. It was only Dan, Chandry, Lyra, and me left looking at Jessica.

She was clearly interested in what this group offered her—some vague promise of truth. She wanted answers, and I suspected it was due to her mysterious apparent powers. We needed to get her to safety, but… we had already let Jessica lure us into danger once before. We couldn’t sacrifice the already weakened Dan because Jessica continued to defy direct orders. She’s putting us in a difficult place.

And it looked like she’d already made her decision.

”I can”t,” she said weakly. Chandry snatched at the portal as it tried to disintegrate downward.

”We have to move,” Chandry hissed.

”Please, Jessica,” Dan begged. His voice broke halfway through her name.

Jessica shook her head. ”I have to know the truth, Dan. They can give me answers.” Answers to what? Jessica’s dogged motivation suddenly came to me in a new light. Was she always looking for answers about the Leftovers in an effort to find out about herself?

Chandry grabbed Dan by the back of his collar. There wasn”t much time. He let out a strangled protest, but it died in his throat. He was resigned to saving himself but obviously still held on to a flicker of hope that he might convince her.

”You don”t need the truth,” Dan muttered. ”You have me.”

Poor guy. I gave up on Jessica”s rescue for the moment, since she was choosing to stay behind. We needed to get home before the option was gone. I strongly suspected that the monster, our ticket to portals, wasn”t going to make another one for us. Lyra met my gaze with a knowing nod. Jessica had made her choice.

”Come on,” Lyra whispered, and jumped through the portal. I dove after her, and Chandry followed up the end of the group. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the tall hooded man and the scarred woman watching, but they made no move to stop us. I hated the haunting feeling of their eyes on me, but I pushed it away. I had work to get back to, and this Pocket Space… it wasn”t home.

The scarred woman”s expression—concerned but annoyed—bothered me the most. It was like she thought I was beneath her. Were these people going to be a problem? In my heart, heavy with concern, I feared that the answer was a resounding yes.

We tumbled away from the Pocket Space. Jessica”s tiny cry of grief was the last thing I heard before the odd bubble world and cloaked figures vanished completely.

We had all made our choices.