Merlina stared at him, but none of it registered. Díaz. Slade. Her mother. The accident. It didn't make sense.
Her vision thinned, like the room was shrinking, tightening around her until she could barely pull air in.
"I don't understand," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "None of this makes sense."
Aiden's expression twisted, but she wasn't looking at him anymore. Her gaze drifted somewhere past his shoulder, unfocused, as if the world had blurred into something strange and unfamiliar.
"How—" Her throat bobbed. "How would a stranger… why would…" Words tangled and fell apart before they even reached her tongue. "How does someone just… kill someone he's never met? What does that even—"
She cut herself off, pressing a trembling hand to her forehead.
"He thought he was doing me a favor," Aiden said, pain strangling each word. "Thought he was helping me 'finish the job.' That's the kind of man he is. Someone who hears a story and decides to rewrite it. Permanently."
