Kaka’s hands trembled as he pressed the hot iron closer to the flame, his breathing shallow, uneven. “I can’t do it,” he muttered, his voice almost lost in the crackle of the bonfire.
Vanya Kapoor felt the chill of those words like a blade against her own skin. Her eyes widened in disbelief. “How can you ask me? I don’t know how to do this… I’m not trained… I ” Her voice cracked, but Kaka’s eyes were resolute, focused.
“There is no time, Vanya,” he said. “If we wait… we lose him.”
With a heart that thudded like a drum against her ribs, she took the heated blade from his shaking hands. Her fingers trembled as though they carried the weight of Zian’s life. Turning to Atharv, who was crouched nearby with wide, tearful eyes, she spoke gently, but firmly. “Go behind the wall, baby. Close you
