-Sloane Pierce:
The phone was still ringing in my ear, the screen glowing in my trembling hand. My pulse thudded so loud I could hardly hear the dial tone. And then, like a lightning strike, the awareness hit me—what the hell was I doing?
I wasn't calling the police.
I wasn't calling a neighbor.
I wasn't calling anyone logical.
I was calling Roxy.
The realization slammed into me so hard I almost dropped the phone. My thumb jabbed the screen before her voice could come through. The call ended with a sharp click, and silence filled the apartment again, except for my uneven breaths.
I stared at the darkened screen as though it were a mirror, my own reflection staring back in the faint glow of the streetlight leaking through the curtains. My face looked pale, frantic, unrecognizable. My chest rose and fell in jerks, my body shaking not just from the run but from the cocktail of emotions coursing through me.
