I SNAP AWAKE AND SIT UP RAMROD STRAIGHT IN a bed that isn’t my own. I know immediately that I’m back in reality, the searing pain of a new scar burning into my ankle enough to wake me up. But wait—that nightmare wasn’t supposed to be real, I shouldn’t have actually gotten a scar. And yet, I can feel the burned skin, stinging and raw, the pain more than skin deep.

That part of the nightmare was real—we’ve lost someone.

I don’t have time to think things through, barely even have time to assess my situation. Sam is shouting at me.

“JOHN! GET DOWN!”

There’s a Mogadorian standing in front of the bedroom window—a broken window, cold air blowing in from outside. When did that happen? He’s aiming a cannon at me. My instincts take over and I roll to my left, just as the Mog shoots the space where seconds ago I was comatose. From the floor next to the bed, I shove the Mog with my telekinesis. He flies backwards, out the window and into the empty air, and plummets to the street below.

It’s bedlam, the chaos in the real world more intense than in Setrákus Ra’s vivid nightmare. The bedroom has been completely torn apart by blaster fire. Sarah is standing in the doorway, using a broken bookshelf for cover. With one arm she cradles Ella’s still unconscious body and with the other she haphazardly sprays machine gun fire into the hallway. Beneath the gunfire, with my enhanced hearing, I can hear Mogadorians swarming through the penthouse. There’s so many of them, yet for some reason it doesn’t seem like Sarah’s taking any return fire.

It’s because she’s holding Ella, I realize. Setrákus Ra wants—I can’t believe I’m even thinking this, haven’t even had time to process what it means—his heir brought in alive. That’s why the Mogs aren’t shooting at Sarah; they’re afraid to hit Ella.

Sam is on the floor next to me. He’s cradling Malcolm, who has a massive blaster wound in his midsection. His breathing is shallow and he’s barely conscious; it doesn’t look like he has long left.

“What the hell happened here?” I shout to Sam.

“They found us,” Sam replies. “Someone betrayed us.” I remember seeing Five in that Mogadorian uniform and I immediately know the truth.

“Where’s everybody else?”

“They went to the Everglades for the mission.” Sam points at my leg, his eyes wide and frightened. “I saw your ankle light up. What—what does that mean?”