“So where’s the body?” he asked as he filled the glass pot with water from the sink.
“Body?” I asked, playing dumb.
“The Target. You were going away to finish the job. Don’t tell me you failed. Again.”
I didn’t answer right away. I waited until he hit the brew button on the machine, then said, “It didn’t go as planned.”
He spun, his eyes narrowing and all traces of the charm he claimed nowhere to be seen. “She isn’t dead?”
“It’s under control.”
“Like hell it is,” he said, advancing on me. “Let me tell you something. I have made a career out of collecting power and money. I will not have some inexperienced, wet behind the ears kid mess this up for me. I want what’s mine,” he growled.
I stood my ground, refusing to back away even a centimeter. “So, what do you get?” I asked coolly.
“Get?”
“Yeah, if you weren’t getting something out of being here, you wouldn’t stick around. So what do you get?”
He grinned, showing both rows of his perfectly straight teeth. It wasn’t a friendly kind of smile. “You’ve been spending weeks with this girl, trying to kill her and failing miserably, and you mean to tell me you haven’t even figured out she has an ability?”
“I know she has an ability. I just don’t know what it is,” I said.
“You are a complete loser!” Charming spat, moving even farther into my personal space. “An idiot who can’t even take out one girl.”
“Get out of my face.” I warned. His insults were beginning to piss me off.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” Charming taunted. “I’m going to take care of this my way.”
I plowed my fist right into his jaw and I enjoyed watching his head snap back on his shoulders. “Maybe I’ll get bonus points for giving Grim two bodies instead of one.”
“Go ahead. Try and kill me. We’ll just see who comes out on top,” Charming spat and lunged, hooking me around the waist and pushing me backwards into the island.
I punched him in the side of the head and he backed off, only to come at me again. Before he could make contact, we were both restrained midair by an unknown force. Our bodies were pivoted around and we both stared at the Grim Reaper, who was standing in the center of the room.
“I don’t have many rules in my company. But you are breaking one of them right now.”
I didn’t know anything about any rules.
“What is the rule you are well aware of, Charming?”
“No fighting with other Escorts,” Charming replied.
“And yet, here you are.”
“He hasn’t finished the job! The Target is still alive!” Charming burst out, frustrated, and I looked over to see him fighting against whatever held us.
“My time isn’t up,” I said, defending myself.
Charming went on with a slew of curses, and I began to feel a strange pulling feeling, a feeling that was unpleasant yet vaguely familiar.
I watched as the swirling purple mist began to pull away from my body. My heart started hammering in my chest, panicked because G.R. was taking my life back. He was recalling me too soon. I looked over at Charming, to hopefully find help, but he wouldn’t be any help to me either.
He was being recalled too.
I actually enjoyed seeing his life force being ripped out of him.
I watched the red floating out around him, and he struggled within his confines, trying to snatch it back. But I already knew he couldn’t and I watched as his hands went right through it, scattering the mist like smoke.
