The overall impression is that they’re completely sick and in no condition to fight. I’m disoriented too but not sick to my stomach. They’ve probably never ridden with Mom before. Okay, maybe they’ve never even ridden in a car before.

‘You’ll feel better once we stop.’ I bang on the window. ‘Mom, slow down. You can stop the truck.’

She speeds up.

I bang on the window again and stick my head through to the cab. ‘Mom, it’ll be all right.’

The truck slows down and comes to a halt. Paige and her locusts fly past us, then swoop back to where we’re stopped.

The Watchers climb out of the truck, looking shaky on their legs. They unravel their wings and stretch them out, as though testing them. The rest land around us, looking not much better.

The dust settles behind us and over the Watchers. They’re quite a sight. Their partially feathered wings with their curling, splintered edges and their half-skinned bodies must be monstrous even in my mother’s imagination. I glance at Mom through the window, wondering what she thinks of all this.

My sister and her locusts do happy loop-de-loops in the air. Paige waves to me.

‘Report, Josiah.’ Raffe turns to Josiah.

Josiah stares at the Watchers with wide eyes. ‘After you left, a guard saw me, and we got into an argument about whether to put Beliel back in his cage. I couldn’t let that happen. If things went according to plan – and I can’t believe that they actually did – you would have all come out into a cage and been crushed to death.’

‘Penryn!’ The door of the truck opens, and my mother runs toward me. She enfolds me in a hug that’s too tight.

‘Hi, Mom.’

‘This ghost angel told me that you were inside that demon over there.’ She points to Beliel who seems on the verge of losing consciousness in the passenger seat. ‘He said that you might come out any minute. I didn’t believe him of course. That’s crazy talk. But still, you never know.’ She shrugs. ‘And look what happened.’ She squints at me suspiciously. ‘It is you, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, it’s me, Mom.’

‘How did you get us out?’ asks Raffe.

Josiah rubs his face. ‘After my little argument with the guard, I took Beliel. But Beliel is big and heavy even in his shriveled state. I couldn’t fly with him, but I had to get him somewhere safe until you came back. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.’ He points to my mother. ‘Or her.’ He nods to my sister, who lands in the trees with her locusts.

‘And how did you end up with them?’ I ask.

‘Your mother found out the cult sold you out,’ says Josiah. ‘And she and your sister trekked here to rescue you.’