The next time I wake, the sun has started to set again. I push off the bed, feeling like I weigh a million pounds. I stagger back to the living room, my hair and clothes rumpled and messy.

The heated discussion happening in the living room comes to a screeching halt once I'm seen. I can't look Sasha or Amari - or the young twins - in the eye, so I turn towards the kitchen and keep moving.

Tomas and Tae stand at the counter when I enter with Tomas behind Tae, arms wrapped around her waist. Tae stands there grinning as she presses an orange into a juicer. They both notice me at the same time and stare at me like they're waiting for me to speak.

When I don't, Tae takes mercy on me. "Tomas didn't want your breakfast to get cold, so he ate it. I'm making another batch of juice now, though, and I can get some bacon on the go."

I stare at the orange in her hand, my face slowly getting warmer. I clear my throat and avert my gaze. "That's alright. I'm not that hungry." My stomach, the traitor, gargles and snaps at me for my lie.

Tae smiles, patiently, and comes to pat my cheek. "Go sit down or something and Tomas will have your food right out to you."

"You better not spit in it," I warn him.

"I make no promises, kid."

I sneer at him and shuffle back out to the living room. Tae's family has cleared out, leaving me with the judge and jury. Also known as Sasha and Amari.

They sit side by side on the couch, holding each other's hand.

I march to the middle of the living room and take a long, deep breath. "Look, I know my behavior was strange and I owe you both an explanation and-."

"Mason," Amari cuts me off. "You don't owe us anything."

My shoulders slump. "But you're my best friends."

"Yes, which is why we understand that you can't tell us everything. There are things Sasha and I keep from you too."

"That being said," Sasha says, biting her lip, "we already know about Augustus."

I'm glad Augustus also has a flare of surprise, because I didn't want it to be like before when I learned Tae already knew. "How?" I demand.

Amari sighs, "the visions."

"Your visions told you about Augustus in my head?"

She nods. "It's why I pulled that picture of Tae's mom away from you. I could see Augustus freaking out."

"I didn't "freak out"."

"Yeah, you kinda did."

Augustus huffs and slinks through my mind like a dejected polar bear.

I settle on the love seat. "What do you know about them?"

Amari shakes her head. "Not much, other than what Tae's told us. My visions about them are strange. More like memories some moments and more like a movie the next. It's like when I panicked at the graduation party. The bubbles that reminded me of the Tree."

August tenses, which makes our body seize.

After our long night, I don't want to risk anything setting them off, so I switch gears. "What did Tae tell you?"

"That you're not infected," Tomas says, pressing a glass of cold juice to my neck.

I flinch away from the cold, sweating glass. I take it, gratefully, and down half the glass as Tomas leaps over the love seat's back and lands with his legs in my lap.

"We worried they were killing you," Sasha explains.

"I honestly don't know much more than that," Tae says, settling a plate in front of me with bacon, toast, and eggs on top. "I was a kid when your parents came to us."

"Well, I can tell you what I know," I offer.

They nod and shift closer to listen attentively.

It feels good to finally get it all off my chest, starting with the water treatment plant. Everything in me becomes lighter and I feel as if I'll start floating any second now.

At least Sasha and Amari have stopped looking at me as if I've grown another head.

Everyone sits in silence after I've finished.

Finally, Sasha asks, "so, what do we do now?"

"About Augustus?" I ask, frowning.

She shakes her head, tapping her fingers on her own glass of juice. "Clearly you are happy with them, so as far as we're concerned, nothing needs to happen with them. I mean... everything. What do we do now? You got Daisy and Dion out, but from the sounds of it, they weren't the only ones this was happening too."

"Oh, right," Tae sighs and rubs her forehead. "Well, maybe we'll get some answers after Mason helps me with Daisy."

I nearly crack the glass in my hand I grip it so tight. "I really don't know what you expect me to do," I admit. "I can't do what you do."

"Come with me. I'll explain."

When we stand, Sasha and Amari stand too.

Tae puts her hand out. "Daisy will need some space when she wakes up. Let us go alone."

Sasha settles back on the couch but Amari stares at me. "We'll come if you want us too."

Tae shakes her head.

"I'll be fine," I tell Amari. "Tae's right. Daisy won't respond well to being surrounded by a bunch of strangers after what she's been through. We'll be back soon."

Amari sighs but sits next to Sasha again.

I follow Tae into the basement of her house.

Dion is asleep on a pallet laid out on the floor next to Daisy's cot.

"Dion wasn't infected very long, so we had no trouble healing him." She leans down to pull one of Daisy's arms on top of the blanket covering her.

Her veins are solid black and around her inner elbows, her skin has started to spiderweb like someone's injected her with ink. The skin around her mouth, too, is starting to spiderweb and flake away. She jerks and moans in her sleep, blood red tears streaking down her cheeks.

"She's reacting differently than any other Infected I've seen in the past. Maybe she could come out the other side like that girl you met. But I'm worried she won't come through this at all."

My throat closes and I look into Tae's eyes. "You think she's going to die?"

She bites her lip and peers at me with pity. "Mason, whatever Singh is doing is turning the Infection into something worse than it was. Making people into abominations."

"Au-." I hesitate for a long minute before realizing I don't have to hide August's thoughts anymore. "Augustus has talked about a mutation."

"Are they here now?"

I shake my head. "They hibernate sometimes. Taking over my body took a lot of energy, so they're resting. I only know what they've told me. In the early days they would pass from person to person, granting powers. Hunters and Protectors came from this. But some of the people they tried to help didn't respond well to their presence. A mutation happened and they got the powers, but also became infected. Got sick and died sometimes. Other times, all they wanted to do was pass on the Infection."

"So, we're dealing with another mutation. Possibly manufactured by Singh."

"If it was anyone else, I'd say maybe she'd been looking for a cure and messed up."

Tae looks down at Daisy and crosses her arms. "Mason, I need you to know... I don't know if reversing this is going to be possible."

I bow my head. "I know."

"Even if we get all those people out of Singh's hands... We may have to kill them anyway. They're infected and even if I could reverse whatever this is... I can't save that many people. Even with my mom's help. Neither of us is that powerful. Even saving Dion nearly..."

I grab her arm.

She takes a shuddering breath and looks at me.

"We're not trying to save everyone right now, Tae. We're trying to save one person. We'll try our best to save as many people as possible, but for now, I need you to focus on helping Daisy. She's who needs our help."

Tae takes a deep breath and nods.

"Now, why am I here?"

She licks her lips and glances at me. "I think you're the one who healed Amari."

I blink, then blink again. "You're joking, right?"

"No." She hugs herself. "In those sewers, I was doing all the work trying to save her, but I could feel it not working. I didn't have the strength to pull her back. And then you grabbed me, and it was like you took every ounce of the pain away. I'm not saying you can heal like me and my mom. But I think you somehow help me. You gave me strength or-or at least took the pain long enough for me to do what needed to be done. I don't want to cause you pain, but-."

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure, Mason? I've felt it before. If it's at all the same for you, I know how it feels."

"It's worth it," I assure.

She stares at me for a long time before her shoulders slump and she nods. "Wake Dion and make sure he's okay with what we're doing."

When I explain to him, Dion only has one question. "Will it hurt her?"

Tae wrings her hands. "It could cause her some pain, but she'll live. Although, there may also be some aftereffects. Visions. But I don't know. This is all new territory. I can't even promise we'll be able to save her. Even if we managed to get rid of the Infection, her body has been through a lot these last few weeks. She could die anyway."

Dion's lips tremble and he scrapes at his nose as he stares at his daughter. "But she'll die human? She won't be infected?"

Tae shares a glance with me that I can't read. She nods to Dion. "Yes, sir."

I have a feeling she doesn't know if that's true or not.

Dion turns to me and lifts his chin. "You've done more for me and my family than I could ever repay. What would you do?"

I stare at Daisy as her head jerks back and forth and she sobs, inaudibly, in her sleep. I think I'd do anything to end her suffering. Even if it meant killing her. I turn back to Dion. "Honestly, this isn't a choice I can make, Dion. What I can say is I think we should give Daisy the opportunity to choose for herself."

"Mason, she's barely there," Tae hisses.

"She was there enough to come with me peacefully. I could see it in her eyes that she was fighting to survive. She deserves this chance to make her own decision."

Dion nods. "I agree."

Tae pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs, "very well. Let's wake her."