Chapter 423: The Betrayal Continued
I woke up because someone was touching my leg.
For one stupid second, I thought the Devourer had somehow found me again and was in bed with me.
Then the hand moved slowly up my calf, stopped before reaching the old bite, and squeezed the muscle above it.
Okay... That was considerably less creepy.
I opened one eye.
Zhenlan was sitting on the edge of the bed with one hand around my leg. He had already showered and changed, which felt like a personal attack when I was still tangled in the blankets with my hair stuck to my face.
Sunlight filled the room.
A lot of sunlight.
I pushed the blanket down far enough to see the clock.
It was one forty-seven in the afternoon.
I stared at it for several seconds, hoping the numbers might become less offensive.
"They’re broken," I groaned, closing my eyes again.
Zhenlan looked toward the clock. "They aren’t."
"You told me to be ready before lunch," I reminded him, trying to find the desire to get out of bed, but I was really... really having to look hard. A date seemed like a fantastic idea. Getting out of bed? Not so much.
"I did," he agreed with an indulgent smile.
"It’s almost two," I continued because I was an idiot.
"You needed sleep."
That was annoyingly reasonable.
I rolled onto my back and immediately regretted moving. Every part of me had found something new to hurt overnight. My ankle ached, my calf felt tight, and the shoulder I had slammed into the couch after tearing free of the tether had apparently waited until I was asleep to begin complaining.
Lingyun was still in bed on the other side of Yuche. He lay flat on his back with his ribs wrapped and one arm thrown across his eyes. Chenghai had disappeared, but the dent in the pillow near my legs suggested he had stayed for at least part of the morning.
Yuche wasn’t in the room either.
"You let me sleep through lunch," I muttered.
Zhenlan rubbed his thumb along my calf again. "You slept through breakfast too."
"What’s worse is that I also slept through snack time," I moan in pain because snack time was a sacred moment of the day.
"There’s food downstairs," he reminded me.
"Why didn’t anyone wake me?"
"Because you threatened to kill the next person who spoke."
Huh... I had no memory of doing that... but let’s face it. It did sound a lot like me.
Lingyun moved beneath his blanket. "You also bit Zhenlan."
I turned my head toward him.
His arm remained over his eyes, but he was smiling.
"I did not," I hissed back even as Zhenlan lifted his wrist. There was a faint red mark near the base of his thumb.
I stared at it before turning my gaze and scoffing. "That could be anything."
"It has teeth marks," Lingyun said.
"No one asked you."
"I was there."
"You were asleep."
"I woke up when you growled."
I pulled the blanket over my face.
Zhenlan’s hand stayed on my leg while he waited for me to stop hiding. He didn’t rush me or remind me that I had already missed the time he gave me. He only sat there, warm fingers moving lazily against my skin while Lingyun went back to sleep.
I lowered the blanket again. "Is the date ruined?"
"No."
"You planned lunch."
"I moved lunch."
"Where?"
"You’ll see after you shower."
Apparently, sleeping through the first half of the day hadn’t changed anything. Zhenlan still intended to take me somewhere. He had simply shifted the entire plan around me without waking me up to complain about it.
I sat up slowly.
My tank top had twisted during the night, and one strap was halfway down my arm. Zhenlan reached over and fixed it before I could. His fingers stayed against my shoulder after the fabric was back where it belonged.
Then he leaned in and kissed me.
There was no storm, movie, or long stare first. He kissed me because I was awake and sitting close enough to reach.
His mouth moved slowly over mine before he pulled back.
I looked at him.
He brushed my hair away from my face. "Shower. Now."
That was rude.
But also effective.
I made it into the bathroom without falling, although Zhenlan followed close enough that his hand touched my waist whenever I slowed. He left me alone once the water was running, which was good because I needed several minutes to stand under it and remember how being a person worked.
By the time I came downstairs, the house smelled like coffee, toast, and something Chenghai had cooked with garlic.
Yuche sat at the kitchen island with a cup of tea. Chenghai was packing food into two containers while Zhenlan waited near the back doors.
Lingyun had apparently been sentenced to another hour in bed.
I approved.
Chenghai closed the second container and placed both into a cloth bag. There were bottles of water, fruit, and a smaller box that looked suspiciously like dessert already tucked inside.
"You cooked all that for his date?" I asked.
Chenghai looked down at the bag. "You were supposed to leave before lunch."
"That doesn’t answer my question."
He pushed the bag toward Zhenlan. "Bring the containers back."
That answered it well enough.
Yuche held out my tea when I walked past him. I took a sip and realized he had already made it the way I liked it.
"Am I allowed to take this?" I asked, looking between the two men. I mean, I really didn’t want to give up my tea, but I also didn’t want to spoil something that Zhenlan worked so hard for.
Not that I was getting sentimental... I’m just saying. He let me sleep in. The least I could do was to drink the tea he made me right now.
He glanced at Zhenlan. "Don’t worry about it," Yuche smiled. "He brought another one."
And so, the betrayal continued.