I woke up hot.

I mean, I knew I was going to, but it was still a bitch.

I don’t remember getting back into the house, or how long we stayed out in the rain, but it was doing what it was supposed to do.

The blanket that I had been sleeping under was completely soaked in my sweat. I could feel my back sticking to the couch where I was pressed against it and I couldn’t help but sneer in disgust.

My head felt heavy as I fought to open my eyes wider than the slits that they currently were, my throat dry, and every part of my body felt like I had just gone ten rounds with a Mack truck and lost each one of them.

I stayed still for a moment, letting the heat and pain pass through me instead of fighting it. I knew that fighting it would only make it worse and probably lead to my death. I could feel my vine tucked away in my sports bra, offering what little comfort it could.

At least it enjoyed its midnight power boost. I could feel it humming through my veins, the power almost overflowing.

Well, it was either my vine or the rain from last night. I wasn’t too sure which.

Looking over the edge of the sectional, I saw Chenghai on the floor by my feet, his body stretched out and unmoving except for the steady rise and fall of his chest.

His eyes were open, but they weren’t focused on anything in particular, like he was caught in a nightmare he was desperately trying to get out of.

Same.

Same.

Lingyun had rolled onto his back taking up the other side on my side of the sectional, his feet practically pressing against mine with his head on the back of the center cushion. One arm was thrown over his face, and his breathing too fast to be normal but too steady to be panic.

Zhenlan was back in his chair, his posture screaming that he wasn’t fully in control of his body at the moment. His head was tilted forward as he tried to balance it on his closed fist, his eyes half-lidded in sleep. Even from where I was, I could see the heat sitting under his skin.

Yuche was on the other side of the sectional, his feet near enough Lingyun’s face that I might have laughed if I didn’t feel like death warmed over. He might have been awake, or he was just in so much pain that he was drifting between sleep and wakefulness. Either way, this was the first time I had ever seen a pinch of pain on his face.

None of them said anything, and none of them needed to.

We all knew the pain we were in.

I pushed myself up slowly, bracing my hand against the couch as my arm shook once before settling. I had to shift so that I wasn’t about to step on Chenghai, but my legs held when I stood.

Of course it might have been only because I made them, and I didn’t waste time pretending it felt normal.

The floor was cool under my feet, but it didn’t help. Nothing did, and that was exactly what I had expected.

Footsteps came from upstairs, light at first and then more deliberate as they reached the stairs. I didn’t look up right away because I didn’t need to. The sound was enough to tell me who it was and how she was going to react before she even stepped into the room.

Meilan stopped just inside the living room, and the look on her face was exactly what I expected.

Her nose wrinkled first, then her eyes, like she had just smelt something bad and didn’t want to be contaminated by it. She didn’t come any closer, and the space between us stayed exactly the way she wanted it.

Honestly, I was grateful. I wasn’t in the mood to put up with her even more in my space.

"What happened to you?" she asked, her voice carrying enough disgust that she didn’t need to raise it.

No one answered her. Lingyun let out a low sound that might have been a laugh or might have been him trying not to throw up, and Chenghai didn’t react at all. Zhenlan didn’t lift his head, and Yuche didn’t move.

I did.

I lifted my head and looked at her, letting her see exactly what she was looking at without offering her anything else.

My eyes burned, and I knew they were bloodshot without needing a mirror to confirm it. My throat was too dry to waste on her, and I didn’t see a reason to give her anything she could use.

She shifted back half a step, not enough to admit anything, but enough to show that she felt it.

"That’s disgusting," she said, turning her head slightly like avoiding it would make it less real. "Did you all catch something at the same time?"

Still, no one answered.

Behind her, Shen Kaiyang appeared at the top of the stairs, took one look into the room, and stepped back out of sight without saying anything. Lin Cheng followed, slower this time, but the result was the same.

Neither of them were coming downstairs until they felt we were no longer contagious.

"Don’t get any closer," Meilan added, her tone sharper now. "If you’re sick, stay over here."

I didn’t respond to that either.

I just kept looking at her.

She didn’t like that, and I could see it in the way her shoulders stiffened and the way her eyes narrowed slightly.

She wanted a reaction, something she could push against or twist into control, but I was way too tired.

She had been given a second chance to get the power she had always demanded, she chose not to.

That was on her.

I hope she choked when she realized what sleeping so peacefully last night actually cost her.