WHO IS MERLOT?

Merlot Moscato is a poet. A poet with a gun, a sharp suit, and a bad habit of asking the wrong questions. In a city where everyone has a price and no one plays fair, he drifts through the smoggy streets like a phantom—half legend, half cautionary tale. At twenty, he’s already earned a reputation: too smart for his own good, too trusting for a man in his line of work, and too damn dangerous when crossed. He doesn’t make mistakes. His only flaw is how many bullets he’s willing to spend—and at these prices, that’s a problem. He plays his roles well: the enforcer, the artist, the lost boy with nowhere to be. But the mask slips when the apartment goes quiet, when the weight of expectation settles on his shoulders. In the end, Merlot knows the truth. Everyone in this city dies owing someone something. **The question is** *Who’s coming to collect?*