Chapter 184

Sohrab fell flat, weapon slipping from his grasp. The garden lights flickered. Roshanay looked at the sky, and darkness claimed her mind.

A decade later, same place, same enemy, same circumstances. The garden had grown wild, but the stones remembered every drop of blood. Time had passed, yet echoes of that night lingered like unhealed wounds. She lay alone, the silence heavy, broken only by distant night sounds. She wished for him to come and take her, a longing that had never left her heart.

***

Roshanay’s eyes opened with a jolt. The fluorescent light above burned like a small, merciless sun. Her breath hitched sharply, hand instinctively moving to her stomach. The faint tick of a heart monitor filled her ears. Around her, a mini-hospital room, pale walls, muted lights, antiseptic smell burning her senses. The scent of iodine and gauze clung to her skin. Pain erupted from her ribs, heart leaping.

A nurse noticed and suddenly stood, chair scraping. Her unifo