The Liberator

Blue hasn’t said a single word to me since I returned, but he did punch me in the face. After Valery told him what Aspen chose to do, and that I left her behind, I expected nothing less. To be honest, I savored the feel of his fist. It felt deserved.

Annabelle has stayed by Charlie’s bed for the two days she’s been asleep. The two of us have grown closer, and she’s been the one to comfort me when I think about Aspen, which is always.

When the Quiet Ones finally inform us that Charlie is waking up, we all rush in to see her—Max, Valery, Kraven, Blue, Annabelle, and me. As soon as her eyes open, I reach for her hand.

She smiles.

My heart splits open.

“They promised me you were okay,” I say, swallowing a lump in my throat.

Charlie glances around, taking in each of our faces. “Where’s Aspen?”

I bite the inside of my cheek, and Blue glares at me. Valery fills her in as Kraven stands in the doorway watching. When Charlie has heard everything, tears stream down her face. It reminds of when we mourned Blue’s death. I can only hope Aspen’s story ends as well.

“It’s my fault she went down there,” Charlie says. “It’s my fault she’s still there.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Kraven retorts. Then he raises the question no one else dares ask. “Charlie, what happened down there? What happened with your hands?”

She studies them. When her eyes widen, I know she remembers. “I don’t know,” she whispers. “It was like…instinct.”

Kraven nods. But I know he’s just as clueless as the rest of us.

I lean over and kiss Charlie, and even though everyone is watching, it doesn’t seem like there’s anyone in the room but her. When finally our mouths part, I say, “I have something for you.”

Kraven has already explained to me that Charlie’s soul can’t be returned to her body. But it can be turned into heaven. Kraven and I stand close together, and I tell Charlie, “Watch.”

We press our chests together.

Kraven’s face strains.

Nothing happens.

When he hasn’t pulled away after several seconds, I say, “Can we move this along, buddy? I know you like being this close and all, but it’s starting to make me uncomfortable.” Kraven releases me and shakes his head. A chill explodes inside my chest and the floor seems to drop out from beneath me. I know what he’s saying by giving up, but I don’t want to know. “Why are you shaking your head? Take her soul. Take it!”

The liberator glances at Valery, then back at me. “Are you sure you collected her soul?”

“Of course I am,” I say, my tone stiff with panic. “I recognized it right away. It’s like my body knew—” I stop talking and the room spins. Everything suddenly makes sense.

Charlie’s soul isn’t inside of me.

It’s my own.

That’s why Rector let me walk out of there. Now that I work for the other side, Lucille doesn’t really care about keeping my soul. In fact, I bet my soul just lingering down there disgusted him. Maybe he would have kept it out of spite, but once Rector saw an opportunity to get my hopes up and crush them, he took it.

Anger shoots through my limbs. I feel like a ticking time bomb, like I will detonate if I ever hear Rector’s name again. Squeezing my eyes shut, I whisper, “I stole back my own soul. I only thought it was Charlie’s.” My hands clench at my sides. “I’ve ruined it all. Everything. I never should have left Aspen down there.”

“It’s okay, Dante.” Charlie reaches for me. The tilt of her head says she’s devastated about Aspen, but that she’s also relieved that I’m safe.

That makes one of us.

Valery steps forward. “Maybe it was Aspen’s destiny, Dante,” she whispers. “Maybe that’s why she was so important. No other collector or liberator harbors their soul. With your soul back in place, there’s no telling what you can do.” She reaches out to me. “Perhaps you’ll be able to protect Charlie better this way, and that…that’s important.”

“No!” I growl. “Aspen being here is more important than my soul.” My mind spins in circles and lands on the one thing I haven’t thought about since returning to the surface. “She could read the scroll.”

“What?” Kraven moves toward me. “Who could read the scroll?”

“What scroll?” Charlie asks.

Blue and Annabelle look equally confused.

Kraven races from the room. He’s back within minutes, the scroll in his hand. He looks at Valery. “There are still no words.”

Valery reaches out, and Kraven hands it to her. She bites her lip in frustration. Then she walks over to the bed and lays the scroll on Charlie’s lap.

“What are you doing?” Kraven asks. “The message can only be read by the kings.”

“Maybe not,” Valery snaps.

Everyone holds their breath as Charlie scans the gold sheet of paper. She looks up and asks with a shaky voice, “You really can’t read this?”

Valery gasps.

“What does it say?” Kraven asks, his entire body quivering with anticipation.

Charlie looks back at the scroll. The walls quiet their creaking. The ocean stops whispering. We all wait for Charlie Cooper to read us our fates. “It says,” she whispers, “that there will be a great battle on earth between heaven and hell. It says the victor will rule the earth and all those who live upon it.” She narrows her eyes at the bottom of the page. Her body recoils from the scroll like she doesn’t want to say the last part.

“What is it?” Blue asks. “What else does it say?”

Charlie meets my gaze. “It says the battle will be won by two girls born on the same day, in the same year. Two girls—a savior and a soldier.”

The world tilts, and I’m falling. I catch myself on the edge of Charlie’s bed.

“Oh, God,” Valery says, “Charlie is the savior and…and…”

Blue grabs a nearby lamp and launches it across the room. “And Aspen is the soldier!” he roars, pointing a finger at me. “She’s the soldier, and you left her there. You left her!”

“Blue, stop,” Charlie begs. But he’s already gone.

I cover my face, remembering when Aspen said it was her birthday. When she told me it was she who taught Lincoln how to fight, and not the other way around.

There it is—the reason Aspen Lockhart is so important. She wasn’t meant to help rescue Charlie’s soul from hell. And she wasn’t meant to return my own soul to my body. She was destined to stand beside Charlie in a war between heaven and hell, and now she’s locked beneath the earth.

I raise my hand like I’m asking a question, but honestly, I’m not sure what I’m doing.

Everyone looks at me.

“It’s okay, right?” I run a hand over my forehead, thinking. “We’ll go down and get Aspen. All of us. And then we’ll be ready for this battle, if it ever happens.”

Valery’s gaze lands on Kraven. He shifts uncomfortably.

“What?” I ask. “What else are you hiding?”

“Not hiding. It’s just…” Kraven clears his throat. “All liberators must complete training.”

I laugh. What he said is just too ludicrous. Beside me, Charlie reaches out her hand. I press our clasped hands against my thigh. “You’re crazy if you think I’m waiting more than a day to go back for her,” I tell Kraven. “We’re going. We can’t leave her there. You heard what the scroll said. Plus…plus she just can’t be in hell. She’s our friend. She’s been with us—”

“Dante.” Valery moves toward me.

I shake my head. “I’m not listening to this. We’re not training while she’s in hell. I won’t sit here and—”

“Dante!” Valery’s tone shocks me into silence. She straightens her green dress and touches a hand to her chest. There’s something else she knows, something she’s about to say but I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to freaking hear it. She says it, anyway. “Our king handed down orders.”