Deric 

I stared at my reflection, at the faint bruise across my jaw, Carlton’s parting gift. The skin had darkened to a shadowy purple edged with yellow, the mark didn’t just fade, even though I had been rubbing on it for hours now, it lingered. Like his voice when he said, “Prey”

Prey.

I leaned forward and pressed my fingertips into the sink’s cold porcelain. My temples throbbed. I’d downed half a bottle of whiskey before noon, and still, the pain behind my eyes burned.

I wasn’t sure which was worse, the slap or the silence that came after.

My phone buzzed again. A name blinked across the cracked screen...