Chapter 81

• Zara’s POV
• The classroom falls into a different gravity the moment Zarek and I cross the threshold. Conversations fold in on themselves, pens halt mid-scratch, and the usual rustle of backpacks becomes a hush that presses against my skin. I feel it first as a pressure behind my eyes, then as a ripple across the room, like walking into water, only the water is hundreds of curious, hungry stares.
• Zarek’s hand is warm around mine, thumb brushing the outer skin in a slow, possessive arc that says more than either of us needs to. It’s deliberate.