The Liberator

19 Forever

When I wake up, it’s midday. The sun is slipping through the curtains, casting a soft glow over Charlie’s bare skin.

As I watch her sleep, curled into the blankets, love seeps from every pore in my body. I hesitate for a moment, taking in the sight of her, safe and blissful, before placing my lips against her shoulder. She makes a small sound and rustles beneath the sheets.

My heart feels as if it’s outside my body as it remembers last night. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It’s nowhere near my first time being with a girl, but it’s the first time I’ve been more concerned about the person I was with than how things felt for me. Even now, I can’t help worrying about how she’ll feel this morning. I may have lost the horn my father gave me, but it’s okay because now Charlie and I are connected in this incredible way. I only hope she doesn’t regret that connection.

“I need pancakes,” I hear Charlie mumble.

I laugh too loud, relieved she seems normal. Laying my arm across her slight frame, I curl my body around hers and breathe in. I can smell the orange scent of her shampoo on the pillow beneath my head.

It’s enough to drive me mad with lust all over again.

“Was I not clear about the pancakes?” she says.

Chuckling, I kiss her once, twice on the ear, then move to find her something to eat. As I start to get up, she grabs my hand.

Her eyes connect with mine, and an easy smile glides across her face. “I’m okay.”

“I wasn’t worried,” I say. She raises a single eyebrow, and I know she doesn’t believe me. She shouldn’t. “You really are all right?”

“Me and you, Dante.” She leans back on the pillow. “Just like you said.”

“You wanted bacon, correct?” I say, tugging on my jeans.

“Dante.”

“A crispy, heaping pile of it. Check. I’ve got my phone if you need me.” I head toward the door, ready to harass whoever I need to in order to feed my woman. But I can’t help pausing before I leave the room. “I meant what I said last night, Charlie. Forever.”

“Forever,” I hear her echo quietly. And then right as I walking through the doorway, she asks. “Dante, do you like the way I look now? I mean, better?”

I step back into the room and make sure she meets my gaze. “You are breathtaking, Charlie. You are stunning now, you know that. But you were stunning before, too. Not everybody could see it, but sometimes that can make a girl so much more appealing. The beauty who doesn’t know she’s beautiful. The girl everyone seems to ignore, but to the right person she’s like this…like this beam of light. You were a beam of light, Charlie,” I say. “I’m just sorry it took me so long to see it.”

Charlie smiles so big, my heart aches. I hate myself for not telling her this sooner.

“I’m out of Skittles,” she says, grinning. “Go and fetch me some, prince.”

And so I do.

The door clicks shut behind me. I head toward the elevator, then to the lobby. Though my heart seems to be back in the room with Charlie, I can’t stop the concern that creeps in as I move farther away from her. Not just about what happened between us last night, and the question she just asked, but because of what’s out there, lurking.

Those people, the sirens, they could be hunting us at this very moment. Before, Salem and Easton’s goal was to have Charlie kill herself and call it an accident. Now what? Will they do the job themselves? What about Gage and Lyra? Maybe they know about this Big Something that Blue says Big Guy is testing me for. Perhaps they even know why He wants Aspen so badly. Why else would they have lurked around Aspen, influencing her to sin? They wanted me to fail my assignment. And what about the siren who tried running me off the road? That was all kinds of jacked up.

Dwelling on all this reminds me that I need to check in with Max. See if he’s found anything out. For the past few days, all I’ve done is lose myself in Aspen, embracing her lifestyle instead of helping her. But now I’ve got to be on my game, and I need all the help I can get.

Digging my phone out of my pocket, I find a quiet corner and call Max’s number. As it’s ringing, I wonder what it would be like if I lost my phone and someone came across it. They’d have themselves a nice speed-dial list of demons and angels.

I’m smiling to myself, remembering just how amusing I am, when Max picks up.

“Bro,” he says, and it sounds like it took everything he had to speak that one single word. I want to ask him if he’s all right, but know it’s business first.

“The collectors have recruited humans to work for them,” I blurt.

Max doesn’t say anything.

“Max?”

“You’re kidding.” His voice perks up. “Are you for real? How do you know?”

I explain everything to him and he oh, snaps and oh, shits several times.

“Okay, I’m going to call Val,” Max says. “We’ve got to get to you guys.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m calling her now.” I pause a beat. “Hey, have you been keeping an eye on her like I asked?”

“Like an eagle, dude. Like a freaking bald-assed eagle.”

“So have you learned anything?” I ask. “Like something she’s hiding?”

“Oh, that,” he says. “No, not really.” I realize Max just basically admitted to stalking his own fiancée. “Oh, wait. I heard her saying something on the phone the other day. Something about stoles, whatever that means.”

“Stoles?” I say, confused. Then I remember something. “Do you mean scrolls?”

“Oh, yeah. Scrolls.” Max clears his throat. “Twin scrolls. It was something about one being in heaven’s possession and the other being in hell. Apparently no one can read what they say. I think, like, Lucille and Big Guy can read them, but that’s it. So the rest of us are in the dark about what the H is going on. Which is awesome.”

Twin scrolls that can’t be read by anyone other than the kings—the thought makes my skin crawl.

“Anything else?” I ask.

“Valery barely talks to me,” he mumbles.

I rub a hand over my face. Max is my best friend, but when humans are trying to hurt or kill Charlie, I don’t really have time for his love life concerns. “Max—”

“I know. We’ll talk later. Not over the phone,” he says. “Too painful.”

“Call me if you hear anything else.” I roll my eyes. “And try to stay cool about Valery, man. You guys will be fine.”

“You think?” he says, his voice sounding very much like an eight-year-old girl’s.

“Got to go, dude.”

Max grumbles and hangs up the phone. Seconds later, I’m ringing Red. I woke up ten minutes ago, but already I feel like we need to get moving. I can’t be stagnant when the collectors and sirens are out there. Red picks up on the second ring.

I fill her in on everything that’s happened, and just like Max, she agrees we need to get to one another.

“We thought about booking a flight to get home faster,” I say. “But we didn’t want to be stuck in one place too long.”

“No, that’s good,” Valery says. Her voice is almost back to normal, though I can picture the worry lines etched across her face. No one expected this. The collectors returning? Sure. But them playing with humans? Lucille is obviously getting less wary of igniting war. “I’ll call Kraven and get you guys back here quickly.”

“The dude with wings?” I ask, enjoying the fact that Red used our nickname for ex-Boss Man even though it’s out of character for her formal fashion.

“Yeah, Dante. The dude with wings.”

“He going to fly us out of here on his back?”

Valery doesn’t respond to that. She doesn’t like talking about Kraven’s ability to wing out. Probably because she doesn’t know how he does it, or why he can do it when she can’t. “I’ll get back to you soon.”

“Hey, Red,” I say. “Thanks for telling me about Blue. That was swell of you.”

“Charlie wanted to tell you herself,” Valery explains. “Besides, I wasn’t very pleased with him after he paid you a visit in Denver.”

Well, that’s something. At least Valery was pissed that Blue screwed with me by writing creepiness on my hotel mirror. Ass. Though it would have been nice if she’d admitted she knew it was him when I expressed concern that night. Or if she had, I don’t know, told me she knew I didn’t have Charlie’s soul.

“You know, I guess the sirens are after me, right?” I say, testing her. “I mean, they just want Charlie’s soul back.”

Valery doesn’t say anything.

“Hello?” I say, sarcasm dripping from my voice. “Did our connection go bad or something?”

“Blue told me you know,” Valery finally says. “Look, Dante, we just found out ourselves. Kraven paid you a visit a few nights ago and reported back that you didn’t have her soul. But we didn’t want to say anything until we were sure the collectors had it.”

I don’t ask when Creeper Kraven paid me a visit, or how they finally figured everything out. I don’t care. “You should have told me. The second you suspected, I should have known.”

“I wasn’t allowed to. There’s structure among the liberators,” she says. “I’ve told you this before, but you have no idea how bureaucratic it can be.”

“Angels and red tape, who knew?” I growl, my temper rising. “You know what? Maybe I’ll take Charlie and run. If the sirens found us, it won’t be long before the collectors do, too. If you guys won’t keep me in the loop, then it’s time for me to work alone. And let me tell you, my gut says to get Charlie out of the country without an assignment or a new liberator tagging along.”

“Listen to me,” Valery snaps. “Aspen’s safety is Charlie’s safety. Understand?”

“No, I don’t understand that at all!”

Valery sighs. “Look, I promise I’ll try to keep you more in the loop. I know you care about Charlie, and you’ve made a lot of changes that prove it.”

Guilt sits in my stomach like a hot coal. Because how much have I really changed when all it took was for Charlie to be out of sight for me to revert back to my old ways? “It’s okay,” I say, finding it hard to speak. “I know Big Guy can’t divulge everything, but you’ve got to tell me this: what are the twin scrolls?”

“Who told you?” Valery barks.

“Who cares?” I respond, happy to have surprised her. “What are they?”

Red pauses. “I’m not supposed to—”

“Yeah, yeah. Hierarchy and bureaucracy and paperwork and all that crap. Just forget it; I’ll figure it out on my own.” I’m being difficult, but I’m also giving Red an out, because I really don’t want her to get slapped around for not playing Honorable Liberator. I know she respects the system, and nothing I say is going to change that.

So it surprises me when Valery speaks next. “The twin scrolls are two separate documents, both with the same exact verbiage, created centuries ago,” she says, her voice hesitant. “When Lucille was cast out of heaven, and he stole the dargon which made our cuffs, he also stole one of the scrolls. I’ve been told he can read it, but that none of the other demons can.”

My mind whirls. I can’t believe Valery knows that Lucille stole the remainder of Big Guy’s dargon. I figured that was a story only I knew, but I guess Big Guy is more generous with the information.

“What Lucille doesn’t know,” Red continues, “is that whatever was written on the document he stole was meant for him. God knew he’d steal it, and it was intended as a last-chance sort of thing.”

“Last chance?”

“Right. God decided he wanted Lucille to know about his plans for humankind’s future. His thinking, if I understand this correctly, was that if Lucille allowed God’s plans to continue without interrupting them, then he would be allowed back into heaven.”

“Why would Big Guy give him that chance?”

“Because he’s merciful.”

“Because he’s vengeful,” I respond. “Because he can’t wait to kick Lucille back down when he fails.”

“One day, you’ll get it, Dante,” Valery says. “But I’m not going to try and convince you how amazing he is.”

“Oh, so you’ve met him?”

Nothing.

“Didn’t think so.”

“I’ve got to go,” she says. “I’ll talk to Kraven. We’ll get you back here. Just take care of yourself.”

I hang up, and only after the line is dead do I realize Valery told me to take care of myself. Not Annabelle or Aspen or even Charlie. Myself. I’m not sure how Big Guy operates, but some of his liberators are pretty cool, I decide. And maybe that means something.

Stuffing the phone in my pocket, I see Blue walking toward me. I’m still furious that he kept the secret of Charlie’s soul from me. I mean, Valery has her recent promotion to protect, so I know she doesn’t want to mess anything up. But Blue? He’s a new liberator like me. I thought we were friends. Kind of.

As he gets closer, I forget about my anger and instead remember what took place in my room last night. If he knew about Charlie and me, how would he react? It doesn’t matter, because I’d never tell him, or anyone else for that matter. That moment was between us, and I don’t want to share a single piece of it.

“Hey,” Blue says, wiping powdered sugar off his mouth. I glance down and see a package of mini doughnuts in his hand. Guess some things never change. “I wanted to apologize for not telling you about Charlie’s soul. I almost told you outside Aspen’s cabin.”

“So why didn’t you?”

Blue’s gaze falls to the floor, and some of my irritation dissipates. He runs a hand through his curly hair. “I’m trying to believe in Big Guy’s plan.”

“That’s it?” I say. “That’s all you got?”

Blue’s head snaps up. “If he has a plan that includes keeping Charlie safe, then I’m all in, no matter who gets hurt in the process. She’s my priority. Got it?”

I raise my hands. “All right, Casanova. Keep your dick in your pants.” Some dudes would be insecure that Blue felt the need to protect their girl, but I’m relieved. If anything were ever to happen to me, he’d die before he let something bad befall Charlie. He’s already died for her once.

Blue grins. “We cool?”

I bump his fist. “We’re cool. But next time I’ll pop you in the mouth, foreskin.” Glancing around, I say, “Have you seen Aspen? We need to get a move on.”

“I was just thinking that,” Blue says. “I’ll go get Annabelle and Aspen up and meet you down here in ten. Cool?”

I nod, and he starts to walk away. Then I remember something. “Hey, where’d you get the doughnuts?”

He cocks his head toward the front of the lobby. “Vending machine.”

After draining the contraption of mini doughnuts, glazed cinnamon rolls, and Skittles, I head back toward my room. I open the door as quietly as I can and find Charlie curled in the bed, snoring softly.

I smile to myself…until I remember.

Until I remember that her soul is gone. For some reason while standing over the bed, my arms filled with junk food, I remember with painful clarity that it’s my fault. That I’m the reason she collected sin seals, and the reason she forfeited her soul so that Rector, the head collector, would spare my life. The collectors and sirens are trying to kill Charlie, and it’s my fault.

My heart aches inside my chest.

I did this to her. But I will undo it.

No matter what it takes, I think. I will get her soul back.

Brightly colored packages fall to the floor. Something is happening, something horrible. A ripping sensation spreads over my back, and my ears ring. My entire body feels like it’s turning inside out, like my ribs are pushing their way through my spine. And I can smell something burning. It burns.

I faintly grasp that Charlie is beside me, calling my name, but I can hardly hear her. Someone is screaming. I’m screaming.

Wrapping my arms around my body, I fall to the floor. I roll to my side and cry out. Charlie runs from the room. The pain still comes, faster, stronger. Bones snapping. Muscles tearing.

I’m being torn apart.

I scream until my lungs explode, until I can’t breathe.