I tried to rise off the sand, but I was waterlogged, drenched from head to foot in ocean and seaweed. I heard a boy talking and listened to the name "Ezekiel," but that didn't wake me. No, what got me awake was the repeated back-and-mouth motion against my shoulders from, when I looked up, none other than the captain's daughter.
"Nadine?" I sputtered, sitting up as fast as I could. Her wide eyes met mine, and light glinted off them from the boardwalk. Memories wormed their way into my brain of me fighting for her below deck against a worker there who intended to cause her harm. How was she kneeling here beside me after ... What were their names? They threw me overboard.
"Zeke, I'm glad you're okay!" She beamed at me before wrapping her arms around me. It feels strange, having someone touch my body, which still aches and tingles with something evil. "You disappeared! I thought you died!"
