“You know what your real problem is, Blaze?”
Hersh raised his rifle slightly.
“What?”
“You still think you can save people.”
The barn fell silent.
Because suddenly?—
something shifted in Hersh’s face.
Not weakness.
Memory.
Pain.
Deep enough even I could see it.
“You remember the canyon,” Shepherd said softly.
Oh no.
Rook’s head snapped toward the doorway instantly.
“Don’t.”
But Shepherd kept going.
“Twelve girls in a transport container.” His voice stayed eerily calm. “You cut them out yourself.”
Hersh looked like he’d been punched in the chest.
I stared at him in horror.
“The smell stayed with you for weeks, didn’t it?” Shepherd continued.
“Hersh…” I whispered.
His breathing changed.
Sharp now.
Barely controlled.
“Shepherd,” Rook warned coldly, “you’re pushing the wrong man.”
“No,” Shepherd replied.
“I’m reminding him why he failed.”
And suddenly I understood.
Hersh didn’t just hate these people.
This wasn’t revenge.
