~ ZARA ~
I told him all of it. Everything I knew for certain and had experienced. Everything I knew he'd recognize, and some things I didn't.
He never spoke. I watched his eyes widen and narrow. I saw him swallow. I saw his jaw flex. When I talked about dying here and he stumbled over to the couch to sit down, I couldn't resist. I had to touch him. Had to make that connection. Had to let him know I was there and we were really here, together. Because it was obvious he was in shock and struggling to process it.
At times I wasn't even sure how much he heard.
But when I got to Emory in my world, he went very still, and those muscles in his jaw started to flex. And when I talked about Kyrosia, and my father, and learning the truth—and accidentally arriving back there at a different time to watch him brutalize my mother—he got to his feet and started to pace.
