My pulse staggered. A gang of random people or ragtag anarchist survivors was one thing. But these people had a leader, a base, and uniforms. Whoever they were, they were organized. But to what purpose? I glanced at Dorian, who furrowed his brow worriedly in response.
Funny enough, I don't get along well with mysterious leaders who have evil followers. And they had to be evil, if they wanted to kill poor Dan just because he wasn't useful to them. What had he ever done to them?
"Are they human?" I asked under my breath.
Dorian shook his head, and Arlonne growled softly, her lips curling to show her extended fangs.
"They aren't like anything I’ve ever seen before," she said.
Finn, Cam's squirrel, poked his head out for a moment and nervously sniffed the air. It was like everyone but humans could pick up on how off these guys were. Luckily for me, the menacing cloaks and casual discussion about murder gave it away.
"You don't make the decisions," the woman cut in icily.
"Oh, excuse me," the scathing figure said. I judged their heights from a distance. With the cloaks, I guessed a few were around the average size for humans, while others skewed more toward vampires. One, the man with his hood up next to the woman, was tall enough to be a small ruler.
It was a variety that made me nervous. Dorian would've said if they were arbiters, but what other humanoid creatures existed besides the obvious ones from the Immortal Plane? Could they be rulers? Dan sat like a stone on the ground. His tears had dried for the moment. Whoever this group was, they had no compassion.
"We'll have to go in soon," Dorian said softly, but his tone had an edge. He didn't trust these people, and neither did I. To the side, my teammates lined up in preparation to ambush the group.
The woman bent over Dan with a sigh. "Well, maybe we can just tie him up and leave him to rot. There are other energy signatures in the area. We might want to attend to those first."
Dorian stiffened beside me. Could these people sense us?
A rustle caught our attention. From outside the circle, a familiar flash of long brown hair appeared, and a high-pitched voice spoke.
"Leave him alone," Jessica shouted. Her eyes were wide and wild. Dark circles marred her usually composed face, from exhaustion, possibly, or smeared mascara. With her teeth bared, Jessica looked crazier than I'd ever seen her. When had she gotten separated from Arlonne?
That idiot!
She was going to get herself killed. Jessica proudly shoved a pointed stick toward the group. It was made from mortal bark, but she must've found it here. Perhaps some debris that the Ghost had brought back by accident? Fear filled her face as the tallest figure, the man, rounded on her. He towered over her, even with her model-like height.
"What do we have here?" the woman asked, amused. She was cool and collected. Jessica's face flickered with worry, but her eyes hardened when they landed on Dan again.
"Leave him alone," she said with a snarl. Her voice rose as she gathered her courage. "I don't know what you want with Dan, but you can't have him."
Arlonne buried her face in her hand. What was this woman doing? I shook my head in disbelief. She really thought she could somehow take them all with a stick. They were a large group, and from a few of their stances, I suspected warriors might be among them. Jessica and her vlog didn't stand a chance.
She's brave, I'll give her that. Even if she makes terrible choices…
The one with the scathing tone loped forward gruffly. He walked with a slight limp. In one rough motion, he pinned Jessica's arm behind her back. The stick clattered to the ground. Dan jerked up a bit. He was breathing hard, delirious, like Joseph had been. Probably dehydrated.
Jessica let out a dramatic yell, but it held no sway over the group.
The woman snorted. "Well, this one's livelier. What are we to do with her?"
"She's interesting," the large, hooded man said. Underneath his cloak, I could see a pair of sharp eyes as he surveyed Jessica, who fought against the other man's grip.
"Interesting?" the woman echoed. Her collar was high. When she turned to look at the large man, a flash of arctic blue eyes made my heart speed up. They were as cold as ice.
"She's got something…" The man spoke vaguely as they dragged her into the circle.
"Take me and let Dan go," Jessica cried. Oh, Jessica, you are not in the position to be bargaining.
The large man moved like a storm cloud. He did a semicircle around Jessica, muttering to himself. I couldn't catch what he was saying, but it made the woman let out a mocking laugh.
"Her?" The woman sounded skeptical.
"Yes, she's special," the man confirmed. The figure behind Jessica, who had her immobilized, let out a low whistle.
"How lucky for us," Jessica's captor said. She yanked against his grip again, but it was futile. These guys were strong. All the while, the other figures in the group remained silent as they watched the show. A few times, I was sure one of them would turn to our hidden group and announce our arrival, but none of them did. Perhaps, if some of them could detect auras, their senses were as scrambled as the vampires'.
My heart squeezed painfully at the idea that we might be dealing with rogue vampires. It was highly possible some of them had fled from the Mortal Plane after seeing what kind of treatment they were going to get there… but it could be a group mixed with humans, given the shorter statures of some of these characters. Regular humans shouldn’t have been able to survive for months in a place like this. How were they getting here?
Jessica's panic melted into a curious expression as she raised
