The Liberator

32 Meant to Be

Aspen stands tall, awaiting an answer.

Valery rises from her chair. “What are you talking about, sweetie?”

“Cut the crap,” Aspen says. “I overheard what you said. Those people, the sirens, they might hurt Charlie. And Dante wants to get her soul back from hell so they’ll back off.”

“It’ll only buy us so much time,” I interject. “If they lose her soul, they’ll just regroup and form a new plan to collect it again. Or they may just give up and kill her for the fun of it.”

Valery shoots me a why are you telling her this look.

I shrug. “She already heard everything.”

“I’m going with you,” Aspen says. “When you go down into hell to get her soul, I’m coming.”

“Not happening,” Valery says.

Aspen looks at me, and I open my hands. “You’ve been overruled.”

“You didn’t vote,” she says through clenched teeth.

“Fine. You’re not going.” I study the determined set of her shoulders. “Why do you even want to go?”

“What else have I got to do?”

I try to hide my smile. “Not good enough.”

Valery breaks in. “We’re not discussing this. Aspen, you can’t tell anyone what you heard here. Do you understand?”

Aspen ignores her and plunges on. “I want to go because I want to do something big with my life. Because I heard you say I was important and because I’ve always felt like I was supposed to do something important. Because Charlie is a good person, and she’ll make the world a good place, and because I have a lot of wrongs to right.” She pulls in a breath. “You came to liberate my soul, and this will complete your assignment. If I do this, then my soul will go to God, right? It’d be like I was risking my life for her, and for everyone, so that would have to be enough.”

“Aspen, listen—”

“Also, I can fight,” she says, her voice rising. “Better than you can. I’ll do whatever you tell me to when we’re down there, and if something bad happens, then I can help you escape.” Aspen rushes to the bed and kicks the side of it. My head jerks up. Her face is flushed with fear and excitement, and I can almost smell the resolve rolling off her. “Because you said you wouldn’t leave me. So I won’t leave you. Or Charlie.” She looks at Valery. “Or even you.”

Valery meets my gaze, and it appears as if she’s considering this. The thought ignites in my stomach. I wouldn’t be alone. I don’t want to be alone down there. Not in the least. But I can’t allow Aspen to do this. She means too much to me already.

Looking at her now, at the fire in her stance, I see myself in her a thousand times over. She’s confident, stubborn. It’s why I can’t let her go with me. One Dante Walker sneaking into hell is enough.

I open my mouth to tell her this, but she cuts me off again.

“You can’t tell me no.” Aspen points a finger at me. Her gloves are orange today. I wonder where she got them. “This could be why you were sent you to liberate me.” She nods her head. “Maybe my mother was meant to leave. Maybe I was always meant to hate my father. Maybe I was supposed to befriend Lincoln and learn to fight and then meet Charlie Cooper and help you save her.” Aspen’s hand drops to her side. “If I save her, it’ll make it better for my sister. And Sahara, she deserves that. So who are you, who are either of you, to tell me no? You want to know why I’m so important?” Aspen poses. “It’s because I’m supposed to help rescue Charlie’s soul. I know this. I can feel it.”

Valery steps forward. “Okay.”

“What?” I try to get out of bed and am relieved to find I actually can. “You can’t tell her she can come. This is my journey. This is my—”

“Your quest. Right.” Valery shakes her head like I’m an idiot.

“Quest is an awesome word,” I mumble.

Aspen clears her throat, and I glance in her direction.

“All right,” I groan. “You can come. But you’ll have to train alongside Kraven and me. And let me tell you something, that guy is off his effing rocker. Cyborg my ass. More like Psycho.”

A grin parts Aspen’s mouth, but the gesture is short-lived. She wraps her arms around herself, nods once, and leaves the room.

“What are we doing?” I ask Valery when Aspen is out of sight.

Red holds a hand to her mouth. Through her fingers, she says, “I have no idea. But it could be good. Maybe she’s right. This could be the reason Big Guy assigned you to her, the reason she’s so vital to Charlie’s path.”

I sit on the edge of the bed. “It’s almost like Big Guy assigned her to me instead of the other way around.”

Blue’s voice booms from the lounge area. “What’s wrong? Aspen, talk to me.”

Valery and I exchange a confused look before rushing from the bedroom. My muscles hardly ache as I move. It’s so amazing, I almost forget about the panic in Blue’s tone.

Aspen sits on one of the dilapidated couches, her gaze far away. Blue kneels in front of her as if he’s praying at an altar. His hands hover over her thighs like he wants to touch her but isn’t sure he should.

“Aspen,” he whispers.

My chest tightens hearing the way he says her name. He doesn’t rush it. It’s more like he lets it linger in his mouth, tasting it. It’s the same way I say Charlie’s name.

Where is Charlie?

Aspen runs her hands over her long, dark hair. “It’s okay. Everything is the way it should be.” She finally lifts her gaze and meets my stare.

Blue stands and closes the distance between us in a flash. “What did you do to her?”

My mind buzzes. Is this right? Should I tell Aspen the deal’s off?

I look at her again, and she nods. It’s like she knows what’s going through my head and is trying to assure me it’s all right. I pull in a long breath. “I didn’t do anything, Blue. Everything is fine.”

“Bullshit. I’m tired of all the secrets.” He points at Valery. “You carry some” —he jabs a finger into my chest— “and you carry some. And Kraven holds the rest. I’m tired of it. All of you say no more secrets, but there are always more.”

I’ve never seen Blue’s face so red. His head looks like an oversized strawberry. I move to squeeze his shoulder, but he bats my hand away.

“Don’t touch me,” he snarls. “You make everyone’s life worse, Dante. You infect everyone around you, and I don’t want your disease.” Blue stomps toward the hallway as I try to breathe again. Because what he just said hurt worse than any siren’s blow.

As he edges through the doorway, he passes Annabelle, Max, and Charlie coming in. Charlie takes one look at my face and rushes forward.

“Are you all right?” She wraps an arm around my waist, lets her fingers slide just beneath my waistband. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”

“I’m fine.” I press my lips against the top of her head.

Annabelle sits across from Aspen, and Max gawks at Valery’s chest. “Hey, babe,” he says to her. “I didn’t know where you went.”

A blush creeps over her cheeks. “You can’t call me that.”

“What, babe?”

She tries to look serious but can’t help smiling when he waggles his eyebrows at her.

“What’s going on with you two?” Annabelle asks.

“Everything,” Max answers, moving toward Red.

“Nothing,” Valery says, stepping back.

Annabelle crosses her legs and combs her fingers through her chin-length hair. “Looks to me like Valery’s playing hard to get. Better not play too hard, or Max may go hunting elsewhere.”

Valery’s head jerks toward Anna. “What the hell do you know, Annabelle? You’re lucky you’re even here. I would’ve left you in Peachville if Dante hadn’t insisted you come.”

Annabelle gets up and acts like she’s cranking something next to her hand. Her middle finger reels upward with each crank.

I’d laugh if there weren’t so many hurt feelings rolling around here today. It’s like we’re a walking advertisement for anger management.

As Annabelle exits the room, waving her middle finger over her head like a flag, Charlie starts to go after her. I reach out and tug her back against me.

“Don’t go,” I say. “Please.”

Charlie’s brow furrows like she’s not sure what to do. So I make the decision easier. Cupping the back of her head, I yank her closer until our mouths connect. Her lips move slowly at first, like her mind is elsewhere—probably with Annabelle. But soon enough she collapses against me, her fingers climbing up my back.

“Ew,” Max says. “I wouldn’t want to kiss that mouth. Who knows where it’s been?”

Charlie breaks away like she’s forgotten there was anyone else here. “I’ll have you know I brush twice a day.”

Max laughs at that, then looks at Valery. Red is working her bottom lip, and I can tell she’s already wondering how to fix things with Annabelle. She sits across from Aspen, who’s lost in thought again.

“She’ll come back and I’ll talk to her,” Valery says, as if we asked.

A couple of hours later, Charlie is spooning tomato basil soup into my mouth, though I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself. Every once in a while she looks at the door. I know she’s hoping Annabelle will come back like Blue finally did.

Blue stays in the lounge area out of sight, and I’m fine with that. I don’t want to see him any more than he wants to see me. Charlie tries twice to go after Annabelle, but Aspen talks her out of it. She insists we’ve been in close quarters for too long. That we could all do with a little space. Each time, Charlie caves. But I’m not sure how much longer she’ll be able to resist searching for her best friend.

My knee jerks nervously beneath the covers. Three days, three nights, and then we descend into hell. In the back of my mind, I hear a low whistling noise, the distinct sound only a demon makes. It’s a noise Aspen and I will have to avoid hearing at all costs.

Charlie lays a hand on my knee. “You’re going to spill your soup.”

What I don’t say is that I don’t want soup. Who even eats soup for dinner? Senior citizens and runway models, maybe. But me? I need a good slab of steak and a baked potato. Hold the vegetables. Hold the garnish. Just bring me the rib-sticking shit.

The next time Charlie airplanes another spoonful of tomato grossness my way, I turn my head. Then I take the bowl from her and set it aside. The chatter from the lounge area dies until I’m certain everyone has crept off to bed.

Three days.

Three nights.

I wish I could spend every second of both with her.

There’s only one thing I know of that will take my mind off what I’m going to do for Charlie, and that’s Charlie herself. Every last part of her. I tug off the covers, swing my legs over the side of the bed, and guide her so that she stands between my knees.

My gaze meets her wide blue eyes, and I tell her, “I want you. Now.”