“Thank you,” I say as she hands it to me, along with one of the cake slices. It’s red velvet with cream cheese frosting— my favorite, as if she saw that, too. The scent alone makes my mouth water, reminding me that I haven’t eaten since last night, and that meal didn’t remain in my stomach for long.

I sip the tea and nibble at the cake, resisting the urge to moan aloud at the taste.

“I always dreamed of being a pastry chef,” Liana tells me, using a fork to delicately cut into her own slice. “Baking has been a passion of mine since before I can remember.”

“You should follow through on that,” I tell her, struggling not to devour my entire piece at once. “This is amazing.”

The smile on her face is appreciative but also sad, filled with longing. “Unfortunately, my ability isn’t as easy to wield as most Speakers. I can’t always control when my visions come. It makes it hard to have a normal career, a normal life. So I stay down here, safe from the world, while being as helpful as I can in the ways that matter.”

My heart goes out to her, but her smile stretches into something more lighthearted as she adds, “Plus, Gustav lets me have free rein in his kitchen whenever I want. He might be a wonderful chef, but he can never beat me in a bake-off, to his eternal displeasure. That more than makes up for anything I might have missed out on.”

The idea of Liana and the Gustav having a bake-off has me biting my cheek to hold in a chuckle.

“But you didn’t come to hear me talk about my love of baking, did you?” Liana says, setting her mug down.

I didn’t actually come to talk to her about anything. But since I’m already here …

Placing my own mug beside hers, I say, “Is there any chance you can tell me about the vision you saw? The one that made you think I’d killed my parents?”

Liana tilts her head slightly, her crystal-clear eyes unblinking.

When she says nothing, I continue, “It’s just … I’ve come to learn that my memories have been modified. So while I’ve already been told what you saw, it’d be helpful if you have any other details. Anything you might remember.”

Still, she remains silent, so I go on, “I know you saw me yelling at them and then running up the stairs. Then running back down to find them—to find them dead.”