I WAKE UP STIFF AND smelling of seawater.
“Took you long enough,” Ravel says.
“She was busy,” Ash shoots back, leaning over to push me back down when I start to rise. “Better take a minute, C. Most of us didn’t get a full-system saltwater cleanse while we were out.”
“So, was I a pretty monster?” Ravel croons, shouldering him aside. He bats deep brown eyes at me—the inhuman gold apparently stripped from his body along with the possessing monsters—and lifts one eyebrow, as if in reassurance that, yes, it’s definitely all him in there.
Ange grabs him by the back of his shirt and yanks. “Leave the poor girl alone for five minutes.”
A groan comes from somewhere behind me. Everyone looks. I take the opportunity to spit up some more water and then cradle my aching head.
“Ah, here comes your
