I swallowed, not really believing what I was about to do. Yet I’d seen too much to simply ignore or deny anything that had happened recently. I could no longer just tell myself there was a way out of this that didn’t require anyone to die. In the world of the Reaper, death was king. Death was the be all and end all of everything.
If there was one thing I learned through all of this, it was that death wasn’t fair. No one wanted to die. No one wanted to simply cease to exist.
Yet there wasn’t a choice.
At least not for me.
“If I kill the Target for Charming, will you consider the job complete?”
Beside me, Piper gasped. “Frankie! Do you know what you’re saying? You want to kill someone?”
No, I didn’t. Killing Rosalyn was the very last thing I wanted to do. But it was her or Olly. I suppose it was selfish to choose Olly because I wasn’t just doing it for him. I was doing it for me too because I couldn’t fathom living in a world that he wasn’t in.
“You—a human—want to take on the duties of a Death Escort?” the Reaper asked.
“Not all the duties. One kill. One Target. I kill her for you, and you agree to let Charming go.”
He sighed. “I really did want to Recall him. However, this is just too fun to pass up.”
So he was going to accept. And I was going to agree to murder.
“But first, let’s see what Charming has to say about this.”
“No!” I said, not wanting him involved. I already knew what he would say to this. But it was too late. He wasn’t going to stop me.
“Send him in!” the Reaper yelled and the door opened and Olly was thrust into the room. He stumbled a bit, like he was out of it, but when he saw me his eyes widened and cleared. He had a gash on his temple, one that was red and swollen.
“Frankie?” He looked at the Reaper. “I told you to stay away from her!”
“Apparently you forgot to tell her the same. She came to me.”
He looked at me like I was insane and rushed across the room to grab me by the shoulders and give me a hard shake. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking it was about time someone fought for you.”
Something behind his eyes shifted. His hard grasp on my arms gentled. “Frankie—”
The Reaper interrupted whatever he was going to say.
“Your lady here has offered me a deal.”
Olly’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No.”
“She has agreed to kill your Target in exchange for me not Recalling you.”
“No.”
“I was just as shocked as you.” The Reaper went on. He was totally enjoying torturing Olly. “But it made me realize perhaps I was being too harsh. You are, after all, the best Escort I have. I thought maybe you were losing your touch. But this is the first time you’ve ever charmed anyone into killing for you.”
“She’s not killing anyone!” Olly ground out. He grabbed me again. “You are not doing this.”
“Ah, but she’s already agreed.”
I looked at Olly and nodded. Anguish filled his eyes. “You can’t do this. I won’t let you.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Just Recall me!” he burst out, turning toward the Reaper, stepping up in front of me. “Recall me right now.”
“No!” I cried, pulling Olly back.
“As tempting as that offer is, I’m going to have to pass. It’s clear the best way to punish you for everything you’ve done is by letting her sacrifice herself for you.”
His shoulders slumped. That single gesture did more to me than any denial he could have made with his lips. “Frankie,” he whispered, hoarse.
“So, then. We have a deal?” The Reaper looked at me with glee in his eyes. “You will kill the Target and I will agree to let Charming live.”
Olly looked at me, a plea in his eyes. I looked away. “Yes.”
And so it was done.
I just hoped Olly could forgive me for what I was doing.
I also hoped I would be able to forgive myself.
Chapter Forty-Nine
“Hotwire - to start the engine (an automobile, for example) without a key by short-circuiting the ignition system.”
Charming
She made a deal with the Grim Reaper. After everything I’d done to keep her away from this, to keep her safe.
She freaking comes here to his house and makes a deal.
Was it really too much to ask for a guy to be allowed to protect the woman he loves without her going and ruining it all?
When I got out of here, I was going to kill her. G.R. would be the least of her worries.
And I was getting out of here.
All I needed was for the opportunity to present itself.
It took forever. I waited hours, keyed up and pacing the room. The longer I waited the more afraid I became that I was going to be too late to stop her. If she killed someone for me, I would never forgive myself.
I knew what it was like to carry around guilt like that. I carried it around longer than Frankie had been alive. All these years… all these years I thought my sister killed herself because of me. Because I killed the man she loved. But she didn’t kill herself.
She was murdered, by my boss, in an attempt to control me. And then he stuffed her body in a secret closet in case he ever needed to control me again.
The worst part was it worked. He managed to turn me into a cold-hearted killing machine. Whatever he saw in me when I was in that ring, he’d been right because with a little manipulation, I turned into exactly what he wanted.
I was done being manipulated and controlled by him. I wasn’t a puppet whose strings could be pulled for a desired effect. My sister was gone… and while I realized I wasn’t directly responsible for her death, I was still involved. If I hadn’t taken the job as an Escort, the Reaper never would have killed her. There was nothing I could do for my sister now, but Frankie was here. I could actually save her. History didn’t have to repeat itself.
I heard footsteps drawing closer so I put my back up against the wall, the same wall with the door.
Seconds later the door cracked open.
Someone swore. “He’s not in here.”
“What! How the hell did he get out this time? Let me see.” The door swung all the way open and one of the newer Escorts stepped inside.
I rushed him from behind, taking him by surprise and putting him into a headlock and ramming him straight into the wall. He fell out of my grip, unconscious.
“That’s for earlier,” I spat, reaching up to finger the knot where they hit me with the gun and then turned to leave.