The one that had been on the left grabbed my arm in a vice grip and dragged me out from where the explosion came from.

The tall one kept his hands ready to fight as we wove our way through the compound, and the one that I think they called James continually scanned our surroundings, turning his head this way and that. The one that had a hold of me, I think, was a girl.

I kept silent. Better not blow my cover just yet. I could maybe still get back into the compound and complete my plan.

Then I heard the yells behind me indicating that they had spotted us.

Well, eff them and the horse they rode in on.

They started jogging, and one started sprinting and was gone the next second.

I easily kept up. They were barely moving.

“James, get her out of here!” Vice Grip yelled, stopping and conjuring fire in her hands.

The one named James grabbed me and the next second, we were in the jungle outside the camp.

I swallowed my nausea. Damn passenger teleportation always made me motion sick.

When I felt slightly better, I looked up at James. “You gonna go back for Fireball and Speedy?”

He snorted. “They’ll be fine. Question is, why didn’t you help us?”

Could he possibly know? No way.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, contorting my face in confusion.

Please don’t say it, please don’t say it.

“You’re a tier one. Aren’t you supposed to have a bunch of awesome powers or some shit?”

How the hell did he know? And should I tell the truth or play dumb?

“Yo, you even listening?” James asked, waving a hand in front of my face.

“Yeah,” I said, batting his hand out of my vision. “I don’t know. The only thing I’ve ever been able to do is heal myself.”

“Well, that was pretty impressive, healing yourself after that pole lodged itself in your head.”

“I don’t do it consciously,” I said, grimacing. “My power just kind of keeps me alive and functioning.”

James shook his head. “You are Lyra Banes, right? We didn’t get the wrong girl?”

I bristled. “How do you know my name?”

“We’ve got a tier one in the rebellion who knows where all the other tier ones are. He knows your names, and apparently your powers, and whether or not you’re active.”

“And what did he say about me?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

“That you’re active, but he refused to tell the higher-ups how powerful you were, so they just assumed and sent us to grab you,” James finished, leaning against a tree.

“Do you fight with the Rebellion?”

“Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

James scowled and leaned against a tree. “I’m not answering anymore. Can you do anything to help my friends?”

“Short of going kamikaze, no,” I replied, letting myself fall into a cross-legged position on the ground,

He squinted at me and snorted. “Fine. Stay here, and stay out of trouble.”

And then he blinked out of vision.