The way he said it sent chills straight through me.
Not loud.
Not emotional.
Absolute certainty.
And suddenly I realized something terrifying:
Mercer had spent sixteen years studying Hersh McDougal…
without understanding him at all.
Because heartbreak hadn’t destroyed Hersh.
It turned him into someone willing to survive anything.
Then Rook looked toward me.
And his expression shifted slightly.
More human somehow.
“Felicity.”
I swallowed hard.
“Yes?”
“You were never supposed to survive witnessing that murder.”
Silence crashed through the room.
Every muscle in my body locked instantly.
Rook continued carefully.
“The second Mercer learned Blaze came back into your life…”
His steel-gray eyes shifted briefly toward Hersh.
“…you both became targets for elimination.”
46
BLAZE
The room stayed dead silent after Rook’s words.
Targets for elimination.
Flick’s breathing turned shallow beside me.
I could feel it.
Every tremor.
Every ounce of fear she was trying not to show.
