Recalled (Death Escorts #1)(60)
Author: Cambria Hebert

And he did it all in a matter of moments.

But I wasn’t going to help him. And I wasn’t going to let him have Piper.

His mansion came into view and I turned down the long, curving driveway and stopped haphazardly near the front of the house. I got out of the car and went to the front door and rang the bell. The door was opened by a man in a black coat and tails who bowed as I walked in.

To anyone who might be watching, it appeared I was just a guy visiting a friend and being welcomed by the butler. But I knew better.

This was the beginning of the end.

I followed the butler through a long hallway draped in art until we stopped in front of wide dark wood double doors. The butler motioned for me to stay and he let himself quietly into the room.

I wasn’t fool enough to think I could stop the Grim Reaper. I couldn’t. But I was hoping I could make some kind of deal to keep Piper alive.

“He will see you now,” the butler said when he came out of the door, holding it so I could enter the large office where I came when I was nothing but a ghost. The memory had me looking down at myself, half expecting to see my body was gone and I was nothing but purple mist. But I still had a body and nothing on me was purple.

I stopped in front of the desk and watched the massive black leather chair turn slowly around, revealing the bony frame of the Grim Reaper. Knowing now who he really was, I realized he had the perfect look for the taker of life.

“Ah, Dexter! I had a feeling you would be by today,” he said, actually with friendliness in his tone. Then his brow furrowed a bit and he said, “Where is my body?”

He meant Piper. He thought I’d come because I killed her and wanted to deliver her body. I figured Charming would’ve come running to tattle when I interrupted his plans to murder my Target.

“Were you aware that Charming tried to interfere with my assignment? That he tried to kill my Target?”

“Yes.” G.R. smiled fondly. “He is a most impatient Escort, but that’s what makes him so good at what he does. He doesn’t play games.”

I ignored the last remark, which was no doubt a barb at me for taking so long in delivering my Target. Charming probably dispatched all his Targets with record speed.

“My Target. My rules,” I said with a hint of challenge to my tone.

G.R. steepled his fingers beneath his chin in a pose I was beginning to think of as his signature and he smiled. “Well, he did say you interrupted his attempt. So when I heard you were here I assumed it was because you hurried and finished the job before Charming could try again and take your victory away.”

Of course that’s what he thought. Dead bodies around here were almost like trophies.

“I came to tell you I won’t do it. I’m not going to kill her.”

He dropped his hands as his eyes widened. “No? Do you not remember the price for refusing my deal?”

“I remember.” My mind shied away from remembering the black void of being recalled.

“So you would give it all up, the money, the cars, the immortality…” He said the last word with deliberate pronunciation. “You would give it all up for a girl?”

I would give it all up for her.

But saying that out loud would only put a bigger target on her so, instead, I replied, “I’ve tried out the lifestyle and decided that immortality doesn’t look good on me.”

G.R. laughed and stood from his chair. “Perhaps a new body would make immortality more appealing?” He flicked his wrists and all the closet doors behind him opened. My eyes went to the spot where I knew he kept my body.

“It’s still there,” he said, following my gaze. “Waiting for you to complete your assignment and claim a spot as a permanent Death Escort.”

I looked away from my body. “No.”

He must’ve heard something in my voice that he hadn’t before. Maybe it was the ring of finality because a great change came over him. The closet door slammed shut and a cold wind blew through the room. His cheekbones seemed to strain against his skin and his lips drew into a fine, hard line.

“So you would take from me, then?” he began in a deep, relentless voice as he came around the desk. His dark, beady eyes speared me with cold fury. “You would spend my money, live in my house, and drive a car I paid for and give me nothing in return?”

The floor beneath my feet shook with a slight tremor that I did my best to pretend I hadn’t felt.

“You can have it all back. You can take this body and my soul—do whatever you want to me—if you leave Piper out of it.”

He smiled and I knew I’d revealed my weakness to him.

“All in the name of love?” he said gently, almost whimsically. Then he slammed his fist on the edge of his desk and screamed, “Death doesn’t care about love!”

“I won’t let you take her,” I ground out.

“You think your bargain is of any prize to me? I already own your body and your soul. The money and the house will not be lost. We had a deal. No one goes back on a deal with the Grim Reaper.”

“I said I would kill someone. So pick someone else. Anyone else. I’ll do it.”

“It doesn’t work that way. The Target has been made. A deal was struck. You are going back on your end of the deal and you will be recalled!”

With that, he held out his hand, palm up, and spread his fingers wide. With a jerk of his arm I felt a tug and a deep pull within. I started to gag as I sank to my knees and purple mist began to lift out of my skin.

I never got to say good-bye.

It was all I could think of. I would be gone and Piper would wonder where I went…

And then Charming would come for her.

I watched helplessly as the purple mist that was my essence began swirling around the body that contained it. I couldn’t make a sound to beg. I could do nothing but watch as he claimed what he thought was his.

“Wait!” he cried suddenly, the fingers in his outstretched hand curled in toward his palm. Everything around me stilled. The purple, translucent mist seemed to stop and suspend in the air around me.

Then G.R. made a pushing motion and all the mist—all my essence—went right back into my body.

I scrambled to my feet as he said, “Recalling you now would be too easy. I think a more fitting punishment for your betrayal would be to watch the very Target you wanted to save be taken anyway. Then you shall be recalled. Then you will fully understand that no one refuses the Grim Reaper.” His chin was tipped down and he stared up at me, giving his face a hollow, savage look.