Zara
For the first time in months, my body feels like it actually belongs to me again.
My appetite is back, the soft pink color has returned to my lips and cheeks, and the absolute, crushing exhaustion that used to trap me beneath a mountain of lead blankets has finally released its hold.
I’m standing by the massive windows in the living room, holding a steaming mug of peppermint tea between both hands. Outside, the blizzard from yesterday has died down into a soft, steady dust of fine white snow, glittering under the late afternoon light. The mountains in the distance look carved from silver and moonlight.
Behind me, the penthouse is quiet, filled only with the soft, steady warmth of the fireplace crackling in the corner.
Locke comes up quietly behind me. He moves with a silent, grac
