And there it is.
The question I knew was coming, but I’m not ready to answer, not truthfully.
I know what I'm going to say, but it's hard to lie to my family.
Still, I can't tell them about Zaria. Not yet.
If Declan knew Cormac's daughter was upstairs, he'd drag her into the basement and torture her for whatever he thinks he'll get. And if Keira saw the mark on her arm, the same M burned into her own skin, she'd relive it all.
And Zaria, well, she might kill herself before any of that can happen.
"I'm still working that," I say.
Declan's jaw tightens. "Still working that?"
“Yeah. When I get firm evidence of how this all fits together, you’ll know.”
Declan stands again and steps forward, his voice sharp. “That’s bullshit. You’re keeping something from us. Mom just fuckingconfirmed everything and you’re acting like you don’t know where the information came from?”
"You heard what I said," I say, stepping toward my brother.
"Hey." Keira's voice cuts through the tension. "That’s enough. Come on, guys. Get it together. We can't be doing this. We all need to be together on this. Okay?"
Declan and I just stare at one another.
“We’re on the same side,” Keira continues. “We don’t get to fall apart tonight. Or tomorrow. Or any fucking day until this is done. Okay?”
After a few more seconds he nods and I do the same.
Mom clears her throat and speaks. "I've set your father's burial for the end of the week."
Keira looks at her. “Mom, I thought?—”
"Hush now, Keira," she says, lifting her chin. "I don't want anything big. Just us and him. In the ground and that's that. I don't want a fuss, people there. Fake people giving me condolences that don't mean it. Half of them will be fighting you for what your father left, so why deal with them?"
Keira's expression softens. "If that's what you want, Mom."
"Yes." Our mother nods. "Yes, that's what I want. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find a dress."
“I’ll go with you,” Keira says, and the two of them disappear down the hall.
Declan lingers, his eyes locked on mine.
He doesn’t saying anything, but I sure as hell know he wants to.
Finally, he leaves, and when the door shuts behind him, I exhale and rub the back of my neck.
I glance upward, toward the second floor.
Toward the room where a girl whose existence could tear my family apart, if they knew she was here, is locked up.
A girl who knows more truths than all of us combined.
And before any of this destroys everything around us, I need to know everything that she does.
13
ZARIA
