THIRD PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW
Sweat beaded on Aello's forehead as she lay in bed, tangled again in the knots of her past. Night after night, the same nightmares pulled her under: searching for Ishtar, calling her name through the jungle, then watching from the shadows as the man they'd trusted raised his weapon and ended her sister's life.
The cycle never broke. It kept her trapped between ghosts and reality, one reason she'd ended up here-gambling with a life she'd never imagined, and wasn't sure she could survive.
After a moment, she flexed one finger. The small movement rippled through her body, and slowly, she forced her eyes open.
The light nearly blinded her; she squeezed her lids shut again. It had been a week since she'd seen the sun-she'd been kept in darkness while her wounds healed. With a few blinks, her eyes adjusted to the overhead lamp casting warm glow across the room.
She stayed still, staring at the bulb as fragments of memory pieced themselves together.
