Zoe POV

The smile is the worst part.

I've seen what's underneath it. I was in that corridor outside his room when he stopped performing and said what he actually meant, and the distance between that voice and the one he's using now—warm, engaged, concerned—is wide enough that looking at the smile feels like looking at something assembled from parts that were never meant to fit together. My stomach turns over.

"You've gone to a great deal of trouble," I say, and I don't ...