The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (best ereader for comics .txt) 📗

under him, propelled himself forward across the bed, hurling his body to intercept Lee.

Lee grabbed Timothy’s arm and used the assistant’s momentum to send him hurtling through the air. But in doing so, dropped the phone.

Timothy screamed as the blade glanced off him before he hit the dresser and crashed to the ground with a sickening thud.

Tessa glanced his direction, not wanting to take her eyes off Lee for long. Blood pooled under Timothy’s body. She fought the urge to rush to him, forcing her gaze back to Lee.

Timothy had stopped him, at least for a moment. Lee’s eyes were on Timothy and the blood too. But the assistant’s spirit didn’t rise out of his body. He wasn’t dead. Yet.

Tessa took the second of Lee’s inattention to plant her feet shoulder-length apart and brace for his inevitable attack.

She squared her shoulders and focused on Lee. “Turn yourself in,” she said. “Tell the task force what you did and face the consequences. You can still have a life if you end this now.”

Lee dragged his gaze over to her. He threw back his head and howled with laughter. When he brought his chin down again, the look in his eye was chilling. He held the knife up higher. “I do have a life. The exact one I want. I’m number one. Invincible. I’m as close to the original Grim Reaper as it comes. I choose who lives and who dies. And I choose you to die.”

Tessa had less than a moment to react when Lee charged forward. She raised her hand, thinking of Blade and the scythe he’d mentioned. When the wickedly sharp, curved blade appeared in her hand, its wooden handle smooth, as though someone had spent hours sanding it to perfection, she was so surprised she almost dropped it. She fumbled for a moment and then slapped the other hand onto the handle to steady it. She lifted the blade.

Lee’s face registered complete shock but then he looked resigned. “I see I’m not the only one the boss let in on a secret.”

“I think the boss has decided you’re unhinged and need to go.”

He shook his head, bringing the knife forward and pointing it at Tessa’s neck. “Nah. I still think my secret is better than yours.”

And, suddenly, she couldn’t see him anymore. Lee and the knife were both gone.

Tessa twirled in a circle, but Lee wasn’t there. It was as though he had completely disappeared from the room.

But she knew that wasn’t the case. He was still there, stalking her with his knife, looking for a chance to plunge it into her neck.

Tessa brought the scythe up and tried to keep moving. She didn’t want to create a still, motionless target for the psychopath.

Timothy moaned and stirred, but Tessa didn’t spare any attention for him. She’d have to hope Lee came after her instead of deciding to take out the easier target——the injured man who didn’t even know the reaper was there.

The comforter moved a tiny bit at the foot of the bed. Tessa swung the scythe, hard, in that direction. But it didn’t connect with anything. Instead, the momentum of her swing spun her ninety degrees to the left.

Panic tore at the edges of her mind as she anticipated an invisible Lee grabbing her while she tried to get her balance. She stumbled and had to let go of the scythe with her left hand to steady herself on the bed.

When she looked up again, movement caught her eye. Her gaze popped over to the mirror. It was Lee. She could see him in the mirror. He wasn’t completely solid. More like a ghost that she could see better in her periphery than straight-on. But she could see him behind her, lifting his knife over her back.

Without thinking about it, Tessa whirled, using both hands on the scythe as she swung it like a bat.

It sliced right through Lee’s body.

It felt like cutting butter.

And Lee was solid again.

He had only a fraction of a second to give Tessa a shocked look before he crumpled to the ground at her feet, the knife clattering out of his hand.

“I’m not dying today, Mr. Stuart,” Tessa said. “Today, you fill Dani’s allotment yourself.” The scythe was gone. She glanced at the mirror, where Blade’s reflection had appeared again. He grinned and winked. And then he was gone.

She skirted around Lee, rushing to kneel next to Timothy. He stirred, and she helped him sit up. A deep cut on his arm seeped blood slowly. “You’ll be okay,” she assured him. “I’ll get help.”

“Tessa!” Timothy grabbed her arm. His eyes were focused over her shoulder. “Look!”

She twisted her neck to see what Timothy pointed at. Lee’s soul ascended from his ruined body. The spirit looked around, first at his own body, and then at them. His ghostly face twisted in disgust.

Tessa popped to her feet. She waved a hand to open a path to the other side. Bright light shone, as though from the ceiling. She headed toward Lee’s spirit, intending to tether it and take it across the veil. She’d seen Gloria do it once and thought it looked simple enough.

But Lee smiled widely. Shook his head. Then, he took off.

Before Tessa could do anything, the spirit had passed right through the closed hotel room door.

He’d escaped.

Chapter 20

BY THE TIME TESSA MANAGED to wrench the door open, the hallway was empty. There was no sign of Lee’s spirit.

She gritted her teeth. “No. This isn’t happening again.” She spun around, rushed back into the room, and knelt by Timothy. “I don’t know how to get these cuffs off.” She worked quickly, using a case hastily torn off its pillow as a tourniquet for his arm. “Stay here and I’ll send help.”

He pinned her with a pointed look. “Catch that jerk and send him on to his next life!”

“I will.” She patted his arm and took off, pulling out her phone as she raced to the elevator. She tapped