Chapter Forty-Six #2
We were halfway down the stairs when Olly stopped moving and in one quick move pulled the gun out and used his arm to usher me behind his body. I was afraid to talk, to ask him what he thought was going on; because it was clear he thought we were no longer alone.
My body went on high alert, listening for every little sound that could mean something. I watched the bottom of the stairs like a cat about to pounce on my dinner, but I still didn’t seem to hear what he did.
After several very tense moments, his shoulders seemed to relax and he started moving again down the stairs, keeping the gun at his side.
We made it all the way downstairs and into the yard.
The Grim Reaper seemed to appear out of nowhere. I couldn’t understand how one minute we were walking along with nothing in our path and then there he was, standing in front of us with electric-blue energy crackling from his fingertips.
Olly’s muscles bunched beneath his clothes and he turned, shoving the gun at me. “Safety is off. If he takes one step toward you, shoot his ass and don’t stop.”
“You cannot kill Death,” the Reaper intoned. I don’t know if it was because I was scared or because it was dark out, but his voice was much more ominous and frightening than it had been at my apartment.
“No. But she sure as hell would slow you down.” Olly pinned me with a stare. “Shoot and then run.”
“What about you?” I whispered, clutching the gun.
“Don’t you worry about him,” the Reaper called. “He knows when Death has someone in its sights, it always gets what it wants.”
Without warning or any kind of pause, he threw out his arms and tossed some of that electric-blue energy at us. Olly didn’t seem surprised. He didn’t duck. He didn’t run. He planted himself directly in front of me and he absorbed most of what came our way.
“Go to the Jeep,” Olly said. Then he threw out his hands, tossing back more of the same energy.
Did he think I could just leave him there?
“Go!” he yelled when I just stood there debating.
Apparently he did.
“I won’t leave you here!” I argued.
The Reaper laughed and raised his hand, pulling like he was holding an invisible rope. A red cloud appeared around Charming, half in, half out of his body.
“Come along, Charming,” G.R. called. “You’re supposed to be locked up tight until the clock runs out!”
I watched as Olly seemed to stumble forward like his body was following his soul. I reached out and grabbed his hand, holding on like I could keep him right there with me.
The Reaper laughed again and pulled harder. Olly’s hand ripped from mine and he fell forward onto his knees. Red was a giant cloud around him, growing bigger every second, and the more red I saw, the more limp his body became.
I wanted to scream. To scream and never stop. I’d never seen such a thing before. Is this what everyone looked like inside? Could the Reaper just rip out my soul right here and now?
I didn’t scream.
Instead, I raised the gun, pointing it at the Reaper.
I didn’t hesitate.
I pulled the trigger.
The bullet slammed into his shoulder, knocking him backward, but not hard enough to knock him off his feet. The shock was enough to get him to stop doing whatever he was doing to Olly, and his soul snapped back into his body, the red disappearing from sight.
He scrambled to his feet, pushing me backward, toward the side of the house. “Get the hell out of here, Frankie. Go, now!”
Over his shoulder I saw the Reaper recover. I saw him look up at us and smile. He released more of that energy from his fingers and sent it spiraling right at Olly.
“Look out!” I yelled.
But it was too late. Just as Olly turned, the energy hit him directly in the chest. He flew backward, hit the ground, and slid into a large shrub that lined the property. I rushed over and fell to my knees beside him. Blue energy glowed around him before fading away into the darkness.
“Olly,” I worried, leaning over his body so I could see his face.
“Find Storm.” He said the words so low I barely heard them, and then he leapt up so fast that I fell backward from surprise. The Reaper had been closing in, taking advantage of my preoccupation over Olly. When our eyes connected he smiled. He was going to kill me.
I lifted the gun once more.
But I never got the chance to shoot it.
Olly was there, throwing himself between us and plowing into the Reaper like a bulldozer. I screamed, watching the man I love come into contact with the man whose touch kills.
Olly made a sound of pain and he shoved the Reaper away, but then he jumped back and stayed steady on his feet. “I’ll go with you now if you leave her be,” he said, out of breath.
“No!” I protested, panic taking hold.
“How about I kill her now and take you after?”
“If you kill her, I’ll make sure those bodies are burned and that soul is dropped to the bottom of one of the many oceans on this planet.”
The Reaper’s eyes flashed violet. His eyes flicked to mine and then back to Olly. Then he waved his arm and a doorway appeared out of nowhere. “Come along, Charming. It seems locking you up in the body you stole will make it more convenient to keep you contained.”
Olly walked toward the door; he didn’t look back. Just as I was about to rush forward, to do something, anything that would keep him here with me, he turned, looking at me over his shoulder. He shook his head slightly. “Remember what I said.”
He stepped into the makeshift doorway and it closed instantly. I was left standing there all alone with trembling hands.
I didn’t completely understand what happened in Scotland, how Olly had disappeared without a trace so easily. I understood now.
The only difference was this time I understood what was happening.
This time I wasn’t going to go home and cry.
Olly left because it was the only way he knew how to make me one hundred percent safe.
He became an Escort because it was the only way he knew how to keep his mother and his sister safe.
Olly had been fighting for a long time… fighting for his family, then for his job, and now for me.
Who had ever fought for Olly?
No one.
Until now.