I was feeding Macaron his favorite treats—tiny dried berries soaked in honey—when Angela called out from behind me.
"Cypher's awake. Maybe you want to check on him?"
Macaron immediately tried to shove his entire beak into the pouch like he'd never been fed in his life. I flicked his forehead lightly. "One at a time. You're not a black hole."
I glanced back at Angela, trying very hard to suppress the spike of nerves her words triggered. Awake. Conscious. Breathing. Remembering things.
"Oh," I said, aiming for chill and probably landing somewhere near suspiciously calm. "He's awake already? Did he… uh. Did he remember anything?"
Angela tilted her head, thinking. "I think so? He asked what happened, so I explained everything up to the part where he got separated from us and ended up tied to that weird vine monster. Oh—and he said he wants to thank you. Again."
