Page 2 of Devils Cut

?I slammed the door of my beat-up car, its rusty hinges protesting with a loud creak. The sun was setting, and orange light splattered across the concrete jungle that was Phoenix. I whipped out my fancy new iPhone, something I'd never have been able to afford back in Australia. I tried not to think of that place and the memories that came crawling' back like poisonous spiders.

?"Alright, Siri," I muttered, pullin' up the maps app. "Let's find these damn houses."

?The engine roared to life, and I peeled away from the curb, following the directions on my phone. My heart pounded like a jackhammer, but I couldn't let fear hold me back any longer.

?"First one's comin' up on the left," I said aloud, though no one else was in the car. Talkin' helped quiet the demons in my head. I slowed down as I approached the first property on the list, but it looked more like a crack den than a home. Shaking my head, I moved on to the next one.

?"Number two," I announced, pulling up outside another dilapidated hovel. This one was even worse than the first – boarded-up windows stared at me like empty eye sockets. "Nope. Not happenin'." I clenched my hands around the steering wheel, swallowin' my frustration.

?"Alright, last one," I whispered, gearing' myself up for disappointment. I took a deep breath and rounded the corner, but what I saw next made my heart skip a beat. There it was – a small, single-story house with a broken fence out front. It wasn't perfect, but it had potential. It felt like... home.

?"Finally," I breathed, relief washin' over me like a cool wave. I pulled over, and my eyes traced the contours of the little house. It needed work, that was for damn sure, but it was somewhere I could start rebuilding myself.

?I would head back to the real estate now, and see if I could get that viewing. I didn’t want to sleep in my car again, but I would have to keep it up till I was able to secure this little house I now looked at.

?I could still remember the look on that bank teller's face when I pulled out the stack of cash, countin' each bill carefully. She didn't know what to make of it, and honestly, neither did I. But that money was my ticket to a new life, far away from Greg and his twisted games.

?"Thanks, Jess," I whispered under my breath, sendin' a silent prayer to my friend back home for helpin' me out. Hopefully, Greg would never think to search her bank account and connect the dots.

?I prayed silently, hoping he would give up on me and let me fade away into the wind, nothing but a distant memory. I was aware that he would continue to haunt my dreams every night, but the more time I spent apart from him, the less vivid they became.

Chapter 2

Corvus King

The weight of the paperwork was crushing like I was swimming through a sea of ink and red tape. Sitting alone in my dimly lit office at the back of the bar, I sifted through the seemingly endless stack on my desk. Bills, invoices, payment reminders – all the shit that comes with running a business.

"Fuckin' bureaucracy," I muttered under my breath, my jaw clenched and temples throbbing. The room felt as if it were closing in on me, suffocating me with every turned page. I just wanted to get back out there, feel the rumble of my bike beneath me and the wind whipping past my face. No more goddamn paperwork.

"Knock, knock," came Amanda's voice from the other side of the door, jarring me from my bitter thoughts.

"Come in." I sighed heavily, rubbing my eyes and leaning back in my chair. As much as I appreciated Amanda's help keeping this place running smoothly, sometimes her presence only added to the frustration of being cooped up in here.

"Hey, VP," she said, poking her head into the room. "Got a minute?"

"Does it look like I have a fuckin' minute?" I snapped, glaring at the mountain of papers before me. But she just smiled, unfazed by my temper. After working together for so long, she knew how to handle me.

"Fine, fine," she acquiesced, holding up her hands in mock surrender. "I'll make it quick."

"Alright," I grumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose. "What is it?"

"Seems we've got a potential new hire. She filled out the resume form just now," Amanda explained, waving a piece of paper in the air.

"Great," I muttered sarcastically. "More fuckin' paperwork."

With a mischievous glint in her eyes as she handed me the resume. I snatched it from her, irritation gnawing at me like a hungry dog.

"Who's this?" I asked, scanning the paper with half-hearted interest.

"As I said, a girl came in looking for work," Amanda replied, tapping her foot impatiently. "The place could use some fresh blood."

I glanced over the resume, taking in the name - Tempest Miller. The name was intriguing, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. I shoved the paper back onto the chaotic mess that was my desk, frustration roiling in my gut.

"Fine," I grunted, rubbing a hand over my face. "I'll deal with it later."

Amanda crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at me. "You know we need the help around here, right? I can't do it all myself."

I huffed, my patience wearing thin. Did she think I didn't know that? "Yeah, I get it."

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