Dangerous Lovers (149 page)

I heard Piper explaining. I heard him exclaiming about how messed up it was. But I tuned them out. I didn’t need to hear how messed up it was. I already knew.

It’s true I had a choice here.

I could have walked away. I could have let Olly figure this out himself.

But he wouldn’t have walked away from me.

I knew what I was doing was wrong. But I was going to do it anyway.

I didn’t know what time it was when we walked into my apartment. It was very late and all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

But I couldn’t. I lay there and stared at the ceiling, contemplating things I never contemplated before. Like how to execute a murder.

I thought about all the movies I watched where there was a killer on the loose. I thought about all the crime shows on TV I never watched because it was too gruesome to bear. I was no shrinking violet, but there were some things not even the strongest of people should have to endure.

I heard Storm and Piper whispering out in the living room, but I didn’t bother to join their conversation. Piper had been relentless in trying to make me see I couldn’t do this.

I asked her what she would have done if it were Dex.

She didn’t say anything else after that.

It didn’t matter anyway. I made a deal. I made a deal with the Grim Reaper. There was no going back. If I didn’t do this, Olly would get Recalled and I would get killed. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to feel like a victim because the only real victim here was Rosalyn.

After a while I fell asleep, but it was fitful and I woke feeling more tired than when I lay down.

Piper and Storm were already in the kitchen when I surfaced for some coffee. Piper stared at me as I poured a mug full of the stuff, black, and took a big gulp.

I pinned her with a stare over the rim of the mug. “I haven’t changed my mind.”

She nodded.

We didn’t talk after that. I basically stared at the clock and counted the minutes until finally dragging myself off to shower and get dressed.

When it was time to go, I stared down at the gun that Charming had given me. If he had known what I would end up doing with it, he never would have given it to me. But it was the only way I knew to do this. It would be quick and hopefully relatively painless. I didn’t think I had it in me to do it any other way.

I picked up the gun and shoved it into my bag.

Piper was standing beside the couch when I went to the door. She couldn’t come with me. I had to do this alone.

And then I left. I didn’t look back.

Chapter Fifty-One

“
Deal - to do business; trade.”

Charming

Please don’t let me be too late.

It was the mantra that repeated over and over again in my head the entire way to Frankie’s apartment. I knew I didn’t have long, that G.R. would be coming for me yet again, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going back into confinement.

Confinement was stupid.

Besides, I tried it twice, all in the name of keeping Frankie out of this mess, and that worked about as well as using leaves for toilet paper.

There was no way in hell I was going to let her kill someone for me. That kind of thing would ruin her life. The guilt would swallow her whole until she was just a mere shell of herself.

I illegally parked the stolen Roadster and ran as fast as I could up to her apartment and flung open the unlocked door. It hit the wall with a bang.

Piper jumped off the couch and Storm shot across the room to put himself in front of her. “Charming! How did you get out?”

“Where’s Frankie?” I demanded.

“She left,” Piper replied.

“The Target is here?” I’d been hoping she was still out of town.

“She got back last night. Frankie’s going over to her house now.”

“How long ago did she leave?”

“There’s still time,” Storm said.

Relief made my limbs weak. “Good, let’s go.”

The entire drive over, Storm argued with Piper about why she should have stayed behind. It annoyed the hell out of me. “Would you two shut up?!” I demanded, pulling up as close to her gated property as I could.

I was nervous because it took so long to get here. I prayed Frankie was having an attack of the nerves and wasn’t able to do what she came here for.

“It doesn’t matter if she came or not. We’re here and I’m sure as hell not driving her home.”

The pair fell silent.

“Piper, sit in the car,” I ordered. “Storm, you’re coming with me.”

Once we were out of earshot from Piper, I said, “This probably isn’t going to end well for me. Will you watch out for Frankie?”

“Yeah, I’ll watch out for her.”

“Thank you.”

He hesitated like he wanted to say more, but there was no time. I had to get inside. Her property was gated, but otherwise, it didn’t have any extra security other than a regular alarm system (this is why learning background information about a Target is crucial. It’s a real timesaver later). So once we got past the gate, it wasn’t any trouble to make it up to the house. I knew the security system was likely off because it was afternoon, so I didn’t hesitate to walk up to the front door and try to open it.

It opened.

I ran into the house, yelling Frankie’s name, praying all over again that I wasn’t too late to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

“Olly?” she called, coming around the corner and stopping in the wide archway that led into the large kitchen.

“Please tell me you didn’t…” I rushed forward.

Her face went pale and the bottom fell out of my stomach. No. Please. No.

Rosalyn walked around the corner behind Frankie. “Who’s this?”

All the air whooshed out of my lungs and I felt myself smiling. I grabbed Frankie and pulled her against me, crushing her into a hard hug. “Thank God I made it in time.”

“How are you here?” she asked me, her voice muffled against my chest.

“It doesn’t matter. We need to leave.”

“What’s going on?” Rosalyn asked. “Frankie, is everything okay?”

I released Frankie so we could make up some lame excuse and get the hell out of there, when a black cloud rose up behind Rosalyn. It looked like one of those heavy rain clouds that blow over entire towns quickly and unexpectedly just before dumping a ton of hard rain over everything.

He acted fast, holding out what I assumed was both his arms, and then placed his hands over both her ears. His soul worked fast, funneling itself inside the Target, slipping into her head in seconds before she even knew what was happening.

She lifted a hand to her head to wipe her brow like she had a headache, and when she looked up, Storm had taken over.

“I figured it would be easier this way,” Storm said, his voice now the voice of the Target. “Plus, now you won’t have to hear her ask a bunch of questions.”

“Thanks, man.”

Then I swiftly snapped her neck.

She fell to the floor instantly. Dead.

Yes, it was that quick. I wasn’t about to draw it out and make things harder than they already were.

And this was hard.

This wasn’t something anyone wanted. Least of all me. I was weary of killing. Weary of death.

“Oh,” Frankie gasped. “Is she…?”

I stepped aside so she could look down at the body. So she could fully understand what she was getting into when she said she wanted a life with me.

No, I didn’t want her to change her mind, but I didn’t want her to one day look in the mirror and wonder who the hell she had become. I understood that feeling well.

“She’s dead,” I said, flat. “Give me your cell phone.”

She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to me. I dialed G.R. and handed the phone back. “Tell him it’s done and then hang up.”

He answered a few seconds later.

Frankie did as I told her and then stared down at the body. So did I, but not because of the incredible guilt I felt (though, I admit I did feel guilt), but because I was wondering where Storm was. Why was he still in that body?

I didn’t try to comfort her because there was no comfort in this and coming from the man who just murdered someone without blinking, the comfort probably wouldn’t be that good anyway.

The Reaper appeared like he always did and Frankie looked at me swiftly, fear in her face.

“He already knows I’m out. I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

“Well done!” G.R. said, looking at Frankie. I hoped she realized she was going to be taking the credit for this. She was the one that had the deal to fulfill.

“Don’t congratulate me on her death like it’s some sort of sport. You make me sick,” Frankie said.

It appeared that whatever kind of shock she was in from all of this was now gone.

“I like you,” the Reaper said, smiling. “Such spunk. You would make a wonderful Escort.”

I stiffened and stepped a little closer to her.

“Tell me, though…” he began. “I’m surprised you were able to snap her neck like that. Is it something you’ve done before?”

“No,” Frankie replied.

His eyes speared me. “You, on the other hand, know how to snap a neck quite well.”

“Can’t take the credit for this kill,” I said, shrugging.

“We had a deal,” Frankie reminded him.

“Did you think I was stupid!?” he spat. “Charming is the one who made the kill, not you! We had a deal. A deal that you would finish the job in exchange for his freedom! The deal has been broken!”

“No, it was me!” she exclaimed, rushing forward, but I yanked her back, angling myself in front of her.

I could have told her to run, but really, what good would it have done? You can’t outrun Death.

“You can’t protect her, Charming. Not anymore.”

He started coming closer, wiggling his fingers in anticipation for his touch. I began to build up energy in the palm of my hand, knowing it would only slow him down but wanting to do everything I possibly could to help her.

Just then Storm began to rise up out of the Target. He was making a weird sound like he was struggling to get out. All three of us turned to look at the black smoke that trailed out the Target’s ears and nose as he groaned as if he were in pain.

The mist seemed to surround the body, filling up the space around her, until he came together, creating more of a shape.

“Damn. I didn’t know being in a body when it died was going to be like that,” he said. Then he realized the Reaper was standing there watching him. “Uhhhh…”

“How did you get in that body?” the Reaper hissed.

“It’s something I know how to do.”

“You mean to tell me that one of my Ghost Escorts knows how to take over a body and use it as their own?” He seemed more intrigued than angry.

This could be good… I nudged Frankie toward the exit.

“Yeah, but sometimes it hurts.”

“But you can do it. And what about the soul already in the body?”

“It’s still in there. I just take over.”

“What else have you been doing without me realizing?” he said shrewdly.

“I was just bored. I was gonna tell you,” Storm said. I could hear the nerves in his voice.

“Of course you were,” he replied. “What else can you do?”

“Well… I’ve sorta been becoming more solid.”

“But you can still get into another person’s body?”

What was his obsession with getting into another person’s body?

And then I knew.

The soul in a jar. She said she needed a body.

“That soul, the one I took? She said she needed a body, that she couldn’t get into any of the ones you tried.”

“That’s none of your business,” he snapped.

“No. But it seems to me that Storm might be able to teach her how to borrow a body. You know, one that isn’t empty. Maybe that’s the kind of body she needs.”

I saw it in his face, the intrigue, the desire. And here was where his weakness lay.

“The Target is dead,” I told him. “That’s what you wanted. Does it really matter who killed her?”

G.R. looked at me.

“Let me out. Completely out, free of being an Escort and free of being Recalled. I’ll give you back the soul I took.” I looked up at Storm.

“And I’ll teach her how to borrow a body,” he added.

It was then that Piper rushed into the house, calling out for Frankie. She dashed around the corner and stopped, staring at us all standing there over a dead body. “You were gone a long time. I was worried.”

“I’m fine,” Frankie told her. “Go back out to the car.”

“Wait,” the reaper called, stopping her.

He was looking at Piper like she was some sort of miracle or something, like he was enthralled with her.