The talker tilted his head. "Relax. We weren’t going to do anything at first. We were just watching you."

Liam took that in quietly.

’My danger sense didn’t go off,’ he thought. ’Not once. Which means just watching doesn’t count as a threat. It only kicks in when someone actually means to do something.’ He filed that away. ’Good to know.’

He looked at the three of them. "That’s creepy. Didn’t know I had fans out here stalking me."

"Of course you do," the one on the right said, almost like it was obvious.

The second one, not the talker and not the quiet one, took one step forward. Just one. But it was enough to close the gap and Liam saw his right hand move toward his jacket pocket.

Liam clocked it immediately.

’Danger sense or not, I still need to stay completely on guard to react accordingly.’

"Hey." His voice came out flat. "Can you please shift back. You’re too close."

The man stopped. Something moved across his face briefly like annoyance.

Then he pulled his hand out of his pocket slowly and raised both of them, open, and took two deliberate steps back. "My bad."

Liam watched him the entire way back. Kept his eyes on him for another second after he stopped, just to be sure. Then, when the distance felt right, he looked back at the talker.

Then he looked back at the talker.

"What do you want from me."

The man smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes. "Just a small request. From one of us."

"What request."

"One of us wants to fight you."

Liam looked at him. "Why."

"Because," the man said, his voice completely straightforward, like he was explaining something that should have been obvious, "we couldn’t believe it. A regular student. Taking out a top fighter like Iggy." He paused. "We needed to see what that actually looks like up close."

Liam smiled a little. "Why should I care what you think?"

"Because you’re outnumbered," the one on the right said. "That’s one reason."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

’He’s not wrong,’ he thought, looking between the three of them. ’If these were regular guys it wouldn’t matter. But they already know what happened with Iggy and they’re still standing here looking completely calm. That says something about who they are.’

He kept his face completely neutral. "That’s still not enough for me to say yes though,"

The talker looked at him for a moment. Then something shifted in his face.

"Alright." He paused. "What if I told you we’ve been watching you all night. Not just from outside the hotel." He tilted his head. "That blonde girl you put in the Uber. Pretty girl. Second one we’ve seen you with by the way." He smiled slightly. "Respect."

Liam went still.

’They were on me before the hotel,’ he thought, keeping his face completely neutral. ’Since Kelly maybe. Or even before that. The whole night. And my sense didn’t pick up anything because they weren’t threatening me yet. They were just watching.’

"Leave her out of it," he said. Quiet. Clear.

"That’s the plan," the man said. "As long as you agree."

The street around them was empty. A car passed at the far end of the block and kept going.

Liam exhaled through his nose. "Fine. Who am I fighting."

The talker pointed. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The quiet one.

He had been standing slightly apart from the other two the whole time, not saying a word, just watching Liam with red rimmed eyes. Not blinking much. Not moving.

The whites of his eyes had thin red lines running through them and the look on his face wasn’t anger exactly. It was older than anger. More settled.

Liam looked at him.

Three black hearts appeared above his head. Each of them were full and glowing.

’He genuinely hates me,’

"Okay," Liam said. "Him."

The quiet one didn’t move. Just kept those red eyes on Liam and said nothing.

---

The basketball court was a ten minute walk away.

It sat between two buildings in a residential block, the kind of space that just exists because nothing else filled it.

A chain link fence ran around the whole thing, maybe eight feet high, bent outward at the top in a few spots from years of people climbing over.

The gate was open, the padlock hanging loose. Inside, the asphalt was cracked all over, weeds pushing up through the bigger gaps.

The court markings had almost completely faded. One hoop still had its net. The other one didn’t.

A single floodlight on a pole near the fence lit up the whole space in flat white light.

Nobody else was around.

Liam walked to one end and turned around. The two others had stayed back near the fence. The quiet one was already moving toward the center of the court, walking at the same unhurried pace he did everything else.

He stopped at the center.

Then he pulled his jacket off and dropped it on the ground without looking at where it landed.

Underneath he was wearing a black fitted shirt and across his chest, running diagonally on both sides, was a leather harness. The kind made specifically to hold blades against the back. The straps were worn smooth from a lot of use.

He reached behind himself with both hands at the same time.

Two short daggers came out clean.

Each one about 5 inches long, slightly curved toward the tip, the handles wrapped tight in dark cord.

And on the left blade, running the full length of the metal from the guard all the way to the tip, etched directly into the steel, was the goblin face.

Same one as the tattoo. Teeth bared, narrow eyes, twisted and angry. Like a signature.

He held both blades loose at his sides and looked across at Liam.

"Are you ready, you bastard," he said. First words out of him all night. Low voice. Rough. No warmth anywhere in it.

From the sideline the talker called out. "Hold on. You’re not going to use anything?"

Liam glanced over at him. "Nah. I’m good."

’That’s another reason to kill them all,’ he thought, turning back to face the quiet one.

The quiet one didn’t say anything else.

’They know what I did to Iggy,’ he thought, turning back to face the quiet one. ’Strength and speed. If I open with the same thing I’m walking straight into whatever they’ve already prepared for.’ He thought about it for a second. ’First move needs to be something they won’t expect too.’

He settled on it.

Breathless step. Silent stride. Both together.

’Activate,’ he thought.

The change came through him immediately. His weight settled differently across his feet. His breathing dropped lower on its own.

The ground under him felt more available somehow. He noticed the difference right away.

"Let’s get started," he said.

The quiet one moved.

No warning. No lean forward, no shift, nothing. He was standing at the center circle and then he was right in front of Liam, the right dagger already swinging in a flat horizontal line aimed straight at Liam’s neck, the edge angled to cut clean across.

Liam dropped straight down.

His knees bent and his whole body went below the arc in one movement. The blade passed through the air exactly where his throat had been. He felt the small rush of air from the swing pass over the top of his head.

The quiet one’s eyes went wide the moment Liam moved. He shifted back immediately, putting distance between them, his feet already moving before Liam had fully straightened up.

Liam came back up.

The quiet one stood there looking at him and something in his face had changed for the first time. The hatred was still there underneath but something else had settled on top of it. Like he was seeing something he hadn’t accounted for.

"That’s surprising," he said. Same low rough voice. "Based on what we were told, that should have dodge that attack."

"I’m full of surprises," Liam said.

The corner of the quiet one’s mouth moved.

The smallest version of a smile. "Good." He rolled the right dagger once in his grip, the blade spinning once around his finger and settling back like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I was starting to think this was going to be boring."

He looked at Liam one more time with those red eyes.

Then he disappeared.

Not stepped back. Not moved to the side. Disappeared.

It started at his feet.

They faded out first, going invisible the way a light dims when you turn the dial down slowly, the effect moving upward steadily.

His ankles went. Then his shins. His knees and his thighs. His torso next, the harness straps and the handle of the dagger in his left hand fading with it. Then his shoulders and his arms and both blades.

His face was last.

"So do I."

He was looking straight at Liam when it happened, those red eyes holding steady, and just before the fade reached his nose he said it. Quiet. No emphasis. Like he was just letting Liam know.

Then he was gone.

The court was silent. The floodlight hummed on its pole. The chain link fence made one small sound in a breath of night air.

The talker spoke from the sideline. His voice was different now. Still casual on the surface but with something more careful sitting underneath it.

"Be careful," he said. "He did kill Iggy after all."

The quiet one’s voice came back from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. No direction to it. Just present in the air of the whole court at once.

"That’s exactly why he’s going to die." A pause. "I promise."