“Sorry, but he’s scarier than you are.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
He sighed. “Look, I don’t have time to argue with you. Getting this body to him is already hard enough with having to worry about you two.”
“Why is it so hard?” Piper asked.
“Because the body is empty. There’s no one in it and because of that I’ll have a black cloud around me that every Escort would see. If I get caught, they’re going to know it’s me before I even say a word.”
“There was no cloud around you when you got here,” I observed.
“That’s because there was someone else in the body. Best I can figure it, their soul hides mine.”
I glanced at Piper to see if she thought this conversation was as unreal as I did. She seemed to be having about the same reaction.
“Look, I gotta go. Time is of the essence. He’s gonna flip when he finds out I hid his body here at your place.”
“What do you mean his body?”
“That’s Charming’s original body. The one he died in. He seemed pretty shocked when he saw it.”
Is that why it seemed so familiar to me? Did something inside me recognize it immediately?
I rushed toward the bedroom, wanting to look at him again. I wanted to take in every detail about that body. I stopped just shy of touching it. It was so different from the way he looked now… so unpolished, so… flawed. But yet when I looked at him, at the overly long blond hair and full lips, it seemed perfect for him. For Olly.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” I told Storm.
“Some privacy might be nice,” he muttered. “Can’t a guy get dressed in peace?”
Piper giggled. What was with her? Geez, he was not funny.
I was about to point out his un-funniness when there was a noise in the living room. It sounded like the front door opening and closing.
All three of us froze, listening for more sounds.
“Honey, I’m home!” called a voice I didn’t know.
“Holy shit!” Storm whispered.
“Who is it?” I demanded.
“It’s the Reaper.”
Chapter Forty-One
“Balloon - a flexible bag designed to be inflated with hot air or with a gas, such as helium, that is lighter than the surrounding air, causing it to rise and float in the atmosphere.”
Charming
Not having a body was weird. I couldn’t really sit or stand… or do anything other than sort of hover over the floor. It was like existing but not existing. It made me think about Storm and I suddenly understood why he started trying to learn how to be more solid. I understood why he figured out how to borrow other people’s bodies. Because not having a shape of your own was like being caught between life and death.
It also had a way of making a man feel very small and very out of control. And the more I concentrated, the harder it seemed to be. The second I moved or tried to go across the room, my body kind of dissipated away from itself. It didn’t hurt, but it was kind of alarming to watch what was left of you drift out and away.
After a while I was so frustrated that I gave up and settled for just kind of floating there.
I thought about Frankie, about what she was doing right then. If she was angry with me or if she was hurt. I wondered if she was eating a pound of candy and cursing the day I ever walked into her life. I hoped Storm was there by now. I hoped she at least knew I didn’t just abandon her.
Of its own accord, my form started drifting down, moving toward the floor. I tried not to get excited that I was going down instead of up. Figured the minute I stopped trying to do something was the minute my damn body did it.
I wished there was a clock in here. I wished I knew how long ago Storm had left. That’s the other thing about not having a body. There’s no internal clock to keep you posted on time.
“Hey,” Storm whispered, coming right through the wall beside me.
“Did you get to the bodies before he did?”
“Yeah. I brought yours with me. It’s outside in the trees that border his property. You might as well use it.”
“That’s one way to keep it on the move.”
“Yeah. But you gotta stay out of sight, man. For many obvious reasons, including the red ring you’ll be sporting.
I highly doubted I would be strolling down the street.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I said, trying to rush toward the wall. I ended up going in the opposite direction with a trail of red following behind. I made a frustrated sound. “How in the hell do you control yourself?”
“It’s not that hard. You just have to concentrate.”
“All I’ve been doing is concentrating. My freaking brain hurts.” Wait. Did I even have a brain? Not having a body was so weird. I took a deep breath and tried again. I got the same results as before. A few colorful swear words slipped between my lips.
“I told you it wasn’t easy,” Storm said. “It’s a good thing I brought the body here.”
“Where was it anyway?”
“I stashed it at Frankie’s.”
“You stashed it at Frankie’s!” I growled, mad that he would involve her more than she already was.
“You said to put it somewhere it wouldn’t be found.”
The guy was an idiot. When I got my body back, I was going to deck him. Maybe she hadn’t seen it. I didn’t notice I was drifting down to the floor.
“She’s something else,” Storm said, watching me. “She didn’t even freak out when she found it.”
Well, shit. “She saw it,” I said, flat. Drifting even closer.
“Yeah, and I also sort of borrowed a body in front of her.”
Double shit. “Where is she now?” I growled, wondering how I was ever going to make this up to her. I wondered if I could. Then I noticed I was right beside Storm.
“I’m on the ground,” I said, shocked. I hadn’t even been trying. I was too busy wanting to deck him in the eye.
“Yeah, apparently pissing you off about your lady is like an anchor for you.”
Huh.
“You ready? We need to get your body out of the woods.”
“Let’s do this.”
Storm moved over toward the far wall. “This wall is an exterior wall. Once you’re through it, we’ll be outside. You’re not going to be able to blend into the shadows as good as me so once we’re out there, we gotta move fast. Just stick with me. Follow me.”