I spun and walked toward the couch where G.R. was lying on his back, his hands across his abdomen and his eyes closed. He was so bony he looked like a corpse.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice low and scratchy like I hadn’t spoken in days.
“I gave you a taste of what it was like to be recalled,” Grim said, opening his eyes to stare at me. “How was it?”
Panic seized my chest and I gripped the back of the couch. “Please don’t send me back there.” I begged. It was a place far worse than hell.
G.R. threw his legs over the side of the couch and sat up. “I see my message was received.”
“Your message?” I said, confused. The empty void of that place was still swirling through my mind, making it very hard to think.
He stood and looked at me. “That the Target will be eliminated.”
Piper. Death. Job.
“Right,” I said, drawing in a shaking breath. “I’ll do the job. I swear.” Anything to avoid going back there.
“I trust that you will. You’re time has dwindled. Finish the job.”
I looked toward the window. It was dark.
“How long was I… was I gone?” I asked, trying desperately not to think of that place.
“Several days,” G.R. said, stepping away from the couch.
“Days?” I asked, shocked.
“Yes, now I really must be going. I have other Escorts and deaths to attend to.”
I stood there in shock as he seemed to create a doorway out of thin air and step through. Then it closed behind him, leaving me alone.
I suddenly had averystrong aversion to being alone.
There was a noise behind me and I turned to see Hobbs coming down the stairs. I’d never been so happy to see the butler in all my life.
“Hobbs,” I said, the relief clear in my voice.
“What has happened? Who was that man?” he asked, leaning more heavily on his cane than I’d ever seen before.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said, staring at the spot where Grim had disappeared.
“I am very good at the unbelievable,” Hobbs replied.
I shook my head and swayed a little on my feet.
“How long’s it been since you have eaten?” Hobbs asked, going into the kitchen. “You look horribly drained.”
I was drained. Every single thing inside me was completely emptied and then replaced. All to prove a point.
I sank onto a stool at the island.
Hobbs picked up the pot and smelled the black liquid that looked more like mud. “Um, sir. How long has this been here?”
“I have no idea, Hobbs,” I said. “Probably days.”
He made a noise and then began moving around the kitchen. I barely paid attention to anything he was doing. I kept slipping back into that world of nothing. The next time I looked down there was a steaming cup of coffee, practically white with creamer.
I picked it up and drank about half in one great gulp.
