“Hmm. Well, what’s your cup of tea, Miss Lyra Banes?” The older man asked, approaching me. His eyes roved up and down my body, which I was suddenly aware was only covered by a thin layer of spandex.

“I can heal myself,” I said, shirking away from him.

“And change into other creatures,” Sara added, stepping forward. “She changed into a jungle jaguar to save us from a jungle jaguar.”

“Interesting. Certainly unique. I’m General Yoruba, by the way,” he said, grabbing my hand and kissing it.

I felt ripples of disgust crawl up my spine, but I just smiled and said nothing.

The General seemed a bit disappointed that I hadn’t enjoyed it more, but it didn’t seem to bother him long. “Now that you’re here, we need your help getting this tier one that seems to be stuck in a cave.”

I furrowed my eyebrows together. “Are they in danger, sir?”

“Not immediate danger, but I’ve gotten word that the shadows are closing in on her location. We need to get to her before they do,” he explained. “If you don’t know, the shadows are these renegade people who find and kidnap POPs. They’re very dangerous, and if they can’t capture you, they’ll kill you.”

I nodded as if I had no idea what he was talking about and I was totally believing every word he said.

“Excellent. Dismissed. You too, Way. Get some rest,” the General said, clapping Way on the back. Way stumbled forward a little bit, but grinned and nodded.

The others took me out of the tent and towards the center of the camp, where there were fires and from what I could smell, food.

“This is where we live,” Sara said, gesturing at a small group of thin, ragged looking tents.

“That’s…” I trailed off, widening my eyes in shock.

“Great? We know,” Way said, walking up beside me. “Better than the jungle though.”

“True,” I said, turning to him. “I thought your name was Wayde?”

James, Speedy, and Sara turned toward us.

“Your name is Wayde?” James asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, it is,” Wayde said, grimacing. “The General changed it to Way when I joined.”

I watched as the small group discussed nicknames, coming to a standstill outside the ragged circle of tents. These were a tight bunch, but they obviously had never asked each other about their past.