They found the room on the third floor. Through the grimy window, Sameer saw her: Nargis’s mother, Ammi Jan, hooked to a monitor, her face a map of pain. And beside her, sitting with the patience of a spider, was Rizwan. He was older, his face scarred—perhaps from his own fire—but his eyes held the same cold glitter.
“No,” she gripped his wrist. “Together. Agni Pariksha means we both walk through the flames.” khuda haafiz chapter 2 agni pariksha
He looked up at Nargis. She was holding her mother, sobbing. The remaining attacker had fled. They found the room on the third floor
The fire came not from a stove, but from a phone call. He was older, his face scarred—perhaps from his
“Oh, it’s not just you,” Rizwan stood up, and from behind the curtain emerged three men with iron rods. “This is an agni pariksha of your soul. You want to save the mother? You must burn.”
But Rizwan was a snake. He slipped past them and held a surgical scalpel to Ammi Jan’s throat.
Nargis was silent for a long time. Then, she spoke, her voice dry as tinder. “It’s a trap.”
