Simri hesitated for just a second before putting on the helmet, her fingers brushing against Arjun’s as she took it from him, and that small, ordinary touch felt strangely grounding, almost like an anchor trying to pull her back into a world that made sense, a world where things followed rules and people didn’t return from the past just because they refused to let go, and yet even as she climbed onto the bike behind him, she could feel it—that other presence, that quiet shadow that moved when she moved, that watched when she looked away, and when the engine