She looked at Sparrow again, serious now.
"Who nad you?"
Sparrow stared at her like she’d asked if the sun was hot. "Of course my parents."
Kaya’s eyes shifted back to Liam. "And you?"
Liam hesitated, then answered, confused. "My parents."
"Good." Kaya said it like a door closing.
She leaned forward on the stone table, elbows on her knees, and locked her gaze onto Liam. Her voice stayed flat and calm, but it didn’t leave room to dodge.
"So, Liam. Who are you? Why were you at the hotel? And who were the people behind you?"
She held up a hand before anyone else could interrupt.
"Short," she added. "Tell everything. I don’t want to repeat myself."
Liam swallowed. His fingers tightened on the hide.
Veer took a step forward, eyes flashing. "If you lie—"
Kaya didn’t even look at Veer. "Quiet."
Veer froze like he’d been slapped, then shut his mouth.
Cutie’s shoulders eased a fraction, but his eyes stayed on Liam, watchful.
Sparrow crossed his wings, chin lifted, already ready to call Liam a liar.
Liam’s lips parted again. His voice ca out thin.
"I... was running," he started.
Kaya didn’t nod. Didn’t encourage. Just watched.
Liam forced the words out anyway, because he had no other choice now.
"From people who wanted ," he said. "From my tribe. From... buyers."
Sparrow made a sharp sound in his throat. "Say it properly. They sold you."
Liam’s shoulders shook. His voice finally ca out clearer, but his hands were trembling so hard the animal hide slipped on his wrists.
"Yes," he admitted. "They sold ."
Kaya’s eyes narrowed. "And why were they at the hotel," she said, sharp and flat. "Why were they after Sparrow? Why did they bring that many people? You’re talking like you have all day." She leaned forward on the stone table. "Speak properly."
Liam swallowed. He looked like he wanted to fold into himself, but Kaya didn’t soften. She still had Cutie’s injury in her head—still saw the blood, still saw how close it had been. If Sparrow had been the one bleeding like that, he would’ve died. That thought kept Kaya’s face cold.
Liam finally forced the story out, breathy and fast.
"After Sparrow was sold," he said, eyes flicking once toward his cousin, "my ability ca out too. I can jinx people, but it’s not automatic. It works only on soone I choose. I can’t just stand near a tribe and ruin everyone. I have to want it."
Sparrow scoffed. "Convenient."
Liam flinched but continued.
"A rchant bought ," Liam said. "At first it was... normal. Food. Shelter. Not kind, but not hell." His throat worked. "Then I found out what he really did."
Kaya didn’t blink. "What."
"He ran fights," Liam said quietly. "An arena. Beastn fought. People paid. And my job was to jinx the ones he wanted to lose." He swallowed hard. "He made hate his opponents so I’d do it easier. He’d push my head down and tell nas and say, ’Curse them.’"
Veer’s jaw tightened. Cutie’s eyes went a shade darker.
Liam’s voice got smaller. "At first... it didn’t feel like murder. I wasn’t killing anyone with it. I told myself it was just bad luck, just slipping, just missing a strike." He shook his head, disgusted with himself. "I even thought it was interesting. Watching strong fighters fail because of one tiny twist."
Kaya’s fingers flexed on the edge of the table.
Liam rushed on, like if he stopped he’d lose the courage.
"But it got worse. So fighters still won. So had fortunes too strong, even with my jinx." His eyes went distant. "So the rchant demanded more. Stronger. Longer. He didn’t stop when people started dying in the arena. And when I refused—"
He swallowed. His shoulders jerked like his body rembered the hits.
"He beat ," Liam said. "rcilessly."
The cave went quiet.
Even Sparrow didn’t make a joke.
"And then," Liam whispered, "after months... my power got exhausted. Completely empty. I thought maybe that ant I’d finally be useless and they’d throw away."
He gave a small, bitter laugh.
"But then they heard about the salt lake."
Sparrow’s feathers bristled. "Don’t."
Liam looked at him anyway. There was hate in his eyes now—raw and ugly.
"They found out the sparrow who found it was my cousin," Liam said. "So they decided they’d find Sparrow, take the salt lake, and use as collateral. As bait. As a leash." His mouth twisted. "They wanted to lead them to him."
Kaya’s gaze sharpened. "And you could?"
Liam shook his head quickly. "No. He’d run away. No one knew where he was." He swallowed. "I couldn’t find him. I couldn’t give them anything."
His eyes flicked to Kaya, then down again.
"So when I saw Sparrow in the capital," Liam said, "I—"
Kaya moved.
She didn’t stand up slowly. She shot up so fast the stone table scraped. Her hand grabbed the nearest thing—an old ceramic bowl sitting near the fire, half-full of water.
Veer’s eyes widened. "Kaya—"
Too late.
Kaya swung.
The bowl smashed against Liam’s head with a brutal crack—ceramic exploding into shards. Water splashed across his face, across the floor. Liam’s body jerked sideways, a sharp sound tearing out of him.
He didn’t even get ti to fall properly.
Kaya grabbed a fistful of his hair and slamd his head down onto the table in one swift motion.
THUD.
The whole cave went still.
Her breath ca hard through her nose. Her eyes were flat, dead calm on the surface, but sothing hot lived underneath them.
"You’re going to tell it clean," she said, voice low. "From the mont you saw Sparrow. To the mont the hotel turned into a slaughterhouse."
Kaya’s fingers dug into Liam’s hair again, forcing his forehead to kiss the stone table.
"Okay," she said, voice calm enough to be scary. "Now we continue."
Liam’s breathing was ragged. Blood threaded down from his hairline, dripping onto the table in small dark dots. He tried to lift his head. Kaya didn’t let him.
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