Chapter 15: Welcome“RAVEL,” CADENCE GROANS.
My heart stops. Stutters. Starts up again in double time.
A high-pitched voice titters in the darkness: “Look at that. You scared the kid. Better keep those hands to yourself, Ravel.”
I feel his laugh in my knees. Voices murmur amused agreement. Several others stand in the stretch of corridor beyond Ravel. They stare shamelessly.
Something’s wrong with them. Their mouths, the whole lower halves of their faces, are scandalously exposed. Their eyes are framed by colourful structures, each one different, and their hoods are thrown back to bare the tops of their heads.
One man’s head is smooth and shining under the lights, with dark, complicated designs swirling across his skin. Another has a ridge of bright green down the centre of his scalp an
