The Liberator (A Dante Walker Novel) (Entangled Teen) (4 page)

“Do what you think is right, and don’t worry about anything else,” she says.

I squeeze my eyes shut against the sound of her voice. It’s so sure, so soothing. I don’t want to be away from the sound of her voice. I don’t want to be away from
her
. Charlie is my happily ever after.

When I remember this, that this assignment is only a blip of time, and that it’s the only way to ensure we aren’t apart for the long haul, I know I have to go. I wanted to ignore my new placement as Big Guy’s soldier. I wanted to live my life as Dante, not as a liberator. Not as something I will never really be.

But for Charlie, I’ll pretend to be anything.

I squeeze the ivory horns in my pocket and pull in a long breath. “I’ll go,” I say. “But only if we have one hell of a send-off.”

Max pulls out his new phone, the one he hasn’t shut up about for the last six days, and pushes a few buttons. Pulsing music fills my ears, and I raise the bottle in the air. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Max dances in place, Charlie hands me a plate of bacon and waffles, and Valery comes to stand beside me. She takes the champagne from my hand, holds it up even higher, and says above the music, “To Aspen.”

Then she puts the bottle to her lips and drinks.

4

Connection

The day flew by in a blur.

Grams woke up a few minutes after our makeshift party started. She didn’t seem too upset, though. Just came downstairs, sat in her nearby oversized love seat, and nursed her water bottle. Of vodka. Max and I acted like morons and insisted Valery, who was now sober, chauffer us around in her Mercedes. We hung our heads out the window and howled at the afternoon sun, and later, the moon. Charlie sat between us as we cruised Peachville, Alabama, stopping here and there to complete dares, and capturing the idiocy with Max’s new phone. We also stopped at The Wireless Hut so Valery could buy herself a cell and, in a moment of coolness, buy Charlie and me phones, too. I would have done it myself, but I couldn’t since I was now cut off from my hell-issued AmEx Black Card.

When we get back to Grams’s place, I say good-bye to Max. He hugs me, slaps me hard on the back, then pulls on his shadow and vanishes from sight. I turn to Valery. “Thanks for the phone.”

“I enjoy helping the needy,” she says.

I scrunch up my nose. “I am many things, but needy isn’t one of them. Though speaking of, when am I getting my new card? Is it all blue and sparkly to represent the heavens?”

“You’ll get it tomorrow, once I get you to the airport.”

Groaning, I hook my arm around Charlie. “What time?”

“Seven in the morning,” Valery answers.

I shake my head. “You did that on purpose.”

Valery smiles and waves before she disappears inside her Mercedes. As she drives away, her windows down, I can hear the clatter of empty bottles clinking against one another in the backseat.

Charlie squeezes me around the middle. “I had fun today.”

My eyes close as I breathe her in. Whoever said “like attracts like” had their head stuffed up somewhere dark and stank-like.

I bury my head in the side of her neck and lay my lips on the warmth there. My stomach tightens as I feel her hands roam over my back and across my sides. She moves them farther down until her fingers dig into my pockets. Then she pulls me closer. “Stay again tonight?”

I raise my head. I’m not sure how she can even question this. There’s no place I’d rather be. When I even think about how I’ll be away from her—in Denver—my insides revolt. I can’t imagine spending my days wondering where she is at any given moment and questioning whether she’s safe. “Course I’ll stay.”

I expect her to smile, but instead her eyebrows pull together in confusion. “What’s this?” she asks, wiggling her fingers deeper into my pocket.

Restraining myself from saying the dirty thing that’s on my mind, I step back. She withdraws the ivory horns my father gave me. In all the talk of whether I was going to Denver, and then celebrating—err, mourning—my decision, I’d forgotten to tell her what else was inside the assignment envelope.

A rush of excitement races over my skin at the chance to talk about my father. “My dad sent them for me.” Charlie’s mouth falls open. “My thoughts exactly.”

“What are they?” she breathes, her full pink lips stretched into a smile.

“Beats me.” I pour both of them into her outstretched hand. It’s a difficult transaction considering I’m hopped up on enough bubbly to intoxicate a tractor.

Charlie rolls them around in her palm. “Kind of heavy,” she says, rubbing her thumb over them. “And so smooth.”

“I just don’t understand why there wasn’t anything about them in the assignment,” I say. Charlie drops the horns back into my hand, and we both stare at them, bewildered. “You know what might help me figure it out?” I add in a whisper.

Charlie leans close, her eyes widening slightly.

I nod my head toward her room. “Taking you upstairs.”

She throws her head back toward the night sky and laughs, and I can’t stop myself from staring at her throat. At the soft, sun-kissed skin that travels from her jaw, to her collarbones, to her chest. “You’re bad,” she coos.

“The baddest.” I circle one arm beneath her shoulders and the other behind her knees and pull her up into my arms. It’s a Don Juan move, if I do say so myself, but it’s not quite perfect, because I end up dropping one of the ivory horns in the process. I try to lean over to grab it while keeping hold of her, but Charlie insists I don’t have the proper motor skills to do both. Finally, in an attempt to help a dude out, she reaches her arm down and snatches it.

“Success,” she yells, punching her fist into the air.

And then something happens.

Something
electric
.

A current fires through us, and I drop Charlie to the ground. She hits the driveway pavement.

“Are you okay?” I ask. “I didn’t mean—”

But then I stop, because there’s this sensation between us that I can’t wrap my head around. Charlie gets to her feet slowly, her eyes locked on mine as she moves. We stare at each other, breathing fast.

“Can you feel it, too?” she murmurs.

I lick my lips and nod.

“Are you doing it?”

I shake my head but don’t speak. I can’t. I’m too overwhelmed by what’s happening.

“I can…,” she starts. “I can
feel
you.”

Closing my eyes, I try and gather myself. But even with my lids clamped tight, nothing changes. I can sense Charlie. It’s like I know where she is without even seeing her. “How is this happening?” I ask, finding my voice.

“Maybe we drank too much,” she offers, though when I open my eyes again, I can tell she doesn’t believe that.

“It feels the same way it does when I sense a collector or liberator nearby.” And suddenly, understanding pours over me. I open my palm and look down at the ivory horn in my hand. Charlie sees me eyeing my horn, then looks down at her own.

“Amazing,” she says. I meet her eyes, and she smiles. “Your dad did this. Maybe he meant for you and me to share them.”

My eyebrows knit together as I try to process this.

“So that even when you’re gone,” she continues, “we’re together.”

I grip the horn like it’s a lifeline, because it is. I fight the emotion rolling through me. My father did this for me. He knows how I feel about her. I take Charlie’s face in my hands and pull her mouth to mine. I may be leaving for Denver tomorrow morning, but in a way, I’ll always be here with her.

And as long as I have that, this assignment will be cake.

5

A Little More Like Me

When Valery calls from outside Charlie’s house at the crack of dawn, I am not pleased. She, on the other hand, looks like a kid on Christmas morning. Like she can’t wait to see the angry look on my face.

Throwing the strap of my Louis V. bag over my shoulder, and rolling a matching suitcase behind me, I head toward her Mercedes. My Escalade is still parked out front. I hand the keys to Charlie, who’s walking beside me.

She grips them in her hand. “No way.”

I laugh despite feeling like the sun is trying to karate kick my brain. “All yours until I get back.”

Charlie throws her arms around my middle, making me grunt. I turn away because I don’t want her to see how I feel like screaming. How getting on a plane to Colorado makes me want to tear my damn eyes out.

“Hey, sunshine,” Val says after I put my bags in the trunk and crawl in the backseat. I nod and refrain from cussing her out. It’s too early for cussing, even for a gangster like me. Charlie climbs in beside me and lays her head on my shoulder.

“Max still asleep?” I ask.

“Like a hibernating grizzly,” Valery answers, and I’m glad she knew the answer to my question.

“Hey, Valery,” Charlie says, “I like your trench coat.”

Red turns around in her seat. “Really? Been waiting for an excuse to wear it.” She nods toward the window at the fat purple clouds and the barren trees. “Not quite cold enough to warrant it, I don’t think. Even in December. But I’m making it work.”

“Can we go?” I ask. Valery glares at me in the rearview mirror as I pluck the gold-framed shades hanging from my shirt and slip them on. “Now, please?”

“You’re despicable,” she says, but she puts the car in drive, anyway, and heads toward the airport.

“How am I paying for my goodies in Denver?” I ask. “Papa needs play money.”

Valery reaches over, keeping her eyes on the road as she digs through her oversized, satin purse. “Glad you reminded me,” she says. “Here.”

I take the card from her and turn it over. “Pull over.”

“Why?” she asks. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to be freaking sick. That’s why.” I flick the card back into the front seat. It hits the windshield and plunks to the floor. “My name is Dante Walker, and I do not carry Discover cards. Discover is for senior citizens and
budgeters
.” I say the last word with a shiver.

Valery manages to reach down and find the card. Then she throws it into my lap. “You’re a liberator now, which puts you on a
budget
.”

“Oh, hell, no. I may have agreed to this assignment, but I’m used to a certain level of sweet, sultry excess,” I say. “Plus, why would I be on a budget while you’re driving a Benz?”

“It was a bonus for doing my job well.” Valery straightens her turquoise necklace. “Don’t be so dramatic, Dante. It’ll do you good to see what it’s like on the other side.”

I stick the Discover card into my back pocket and instantly feel like I’m covered in fleas and soot. Like I just got done cleaning some fart stain’s chimney, and I’m right about to beg for more porridge.

Valery’s phone vibrates in her purse. She yanks it out. In the rearview, I watch her face change from delight at limiting my spending to alarm.

I sit up straight. “What is it?”

She glances at me in the mirror, and her face relaxes. “Nothing. You may be surprised to learn I have a life outside of toting you around.” Red may be trying to pass off the text she read as something innocent, but when she punches the accelerator, I’m not so sure.

…

When we get to Birmingham Airport, my stomach is in knots. Charlie’s hand never leaves my knee, but I can hardly look at her. Somehow, between last night and today, I lost my confidence in being separated. I still have the ivory horn in my pocket, and I know she must have hers, because I can feel it. But it doesn’t seem to be enough.

Valery parks, and we walk toward the check-in area, the three of us. I’m not sure why Red feels the need to tag along for this part. Probably wants to make sure I follow through with my assignment.

The airport is bustling even at the crack of Sunday morning. Beneath the fluorescent lights, guys in business suits and kids with candy cane–stained faces hurry past, headed to who cares where. The sounds of rolling suitcases is deafening, only broken up by sporadic announcements by an airport attendant who sound like he’s moments from taking his own life. Ah, Christmas cheer.

There’s a horrendous snack stand with turd-colored coffee and flaky danishes that probably shouldn’t be flaky. But I’m hungry. I bypass the line and smile to myself when the peeps behind me mumble complaints. Telling their families and friends about “this dick in the snack line” will be the highlight of their day.

When my gut is reasonably satisfied, and there’s not much left to do besides check my bags, I turn and look at Charlie. “Hey, uh…,” I start. “Think I can talk to Valery for a sec?”

Charlie looks a little surprised but nods and smiles, anyway. “Just make sure I get the final send-off.” She motions toward some benches along a wall a short distance away. “I’ll be over there.” I want to tell her I know, that I’d sense her there even if she hadn’t told me. But I just walk over to Red, who was trying to give us space.

“Before I do this—” I begin.

“You’re not doing
me
any favors; this is your rear on the line.”

“Before I do this, I have some questions. For starters, I want to know if we’ve heard any word about Blue’s death, and about whether Big Guy’s going to seek vengeance.”

I can’t be certain, but I think I detect the corner of Valery’s mouth quirk upward. “It’s been handled.”

“Yeah?” I say, grinning and throwing punches in the air. “Did we send someone in to tear crap up? Show ’em not to mess with the big dogs?”

“So you’re a big dog now?”

“Always have been, girl.
Ruff
.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t think he wants war over what happened. But you never know. Things are shaky right now.”

“This is all from Kraven?”

Valery purses her lips as a man with a sad toupee nearly barrels into her. “Yes, from Kraven.”

“He who has all the answers,” I say, tucking my thumbs beneath my belt buckle. “Okay, what about Charlie’s soul? When can I turn it in?”

The hint of a smile I saw before vanishes. “Charlie’s soul is a special classification. He has to be sure they’re prepared for it.”

“And in the meantime I’m supposed to carry it around with me? How can that be safer than
anywhere
up there with Big Guy?”

“Do you have a problem carrying it?” she asks, stepping closer. “Because if you do, I’d be happy to take the burden.”

“No,” I snarl. “No one touches it but me.” Glancing up at the harsh lighting, I say, “It’s just that her soul feels different than it should.”

“You expect it to feel like all the others?” she asks, straightening her spine.

I know she’s probably right, but I needed someone else to challenge my thought that it
should
feel the same. Looking over at the benches, I glimpse Charlie on her cell, though I can’t imagine who she’s talking to. Her blond hair falls over one side of her face, and she neatly tucks it behind her ear. She’s right there, so close I could get to her in a heartbeat, but already she feels too far away for comfort.

“What if something happens to her while I’m gone?” I say. “What if the collectors return to finish what they started?”

Valery does something out of character. She puts a hand on my shoulder. “If the collectors ascend anytime soon, it’s not Charlie they’ll be coming for.”

I know what she’s saying. It’s something I’ve thought myself in the last few weeks, but never wanted to accept. “If I have her soul inside me, then it’s me they want.”

Valery hesitates and nods. Then she drops her hand from my shoulder and glances over at Charlie. “They won’t hurt her. Not yet. Not when they don’t have her soul. Because if they kill her now, her body and soul go to us.”

I shake my head. “It sounds like you’re talking about cargo.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

“If you knew they might come for me, why didn’t Big Guy send me on assignment away from Charlie right off the bat? Why wait until now?”

“Arrangements had to be made first.” Valery pulls a cigarette from her purse and lights it. I’m pretty certain she can’t do that here, but meh, what do I care?

“What kind of arrangements?” I ask.

Blowing out a puff of smoke, Valery looks past me. “I can’t discuss them with you.”

Rage rushes through me. “Then how about I stick around until you do tell me? Screw this assignment.”

Valery’s eyes connect with mine. “You’ll go. You’ll go because you know you shouldn’t have stayed. Because you know as much as you want to protect her yourself, you’re doing more damage by being nearby.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and pull in a deep breath through my nose. She’s right. I know she’s right. But it doesn’t sting any less to leave. “You’ll watch after her,” I say to Valery, more as a statement than a question.

“With my life.”

I yank Red into a hug. I didn’t consciously think to do it, and Valery immediately stiffens in my arms, but eventually she relaxes and pats me awkwardly on the back.

“Get off me, fungus,” she says into my shoulder, but her words hold no venom.

Releasing her, I look back at Charlie. Valery heads toward the benches, and Charlie moves toward me. When she gets closer, she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls my face to hers. As her mouth touches mine, she says, “I have a surprise for you.”

“I hate surprises,” I say.

“Even surprises that could kick your ass all over a court?” someone says from behind me.

I grin against Charlie’s mouth, then turn and see Annabelle standing nearby. Her short black hair and straight-as-Hugh-Hefner bangs make her look like that chick from
Pulp Fiction
. But her body is far from Uma Thurman’s. No, Annabelle’s built like a brick house…if a brick house married an Amazonian warrior. “I see you broke out,” I say.

“Nah, I burned the whole damn place to the ground.” Annabelle holds her fist into the air like she just led several thousand prisoners out of Alcatraz. Then she pulls me into a hug that nearly severs my spine.

“What were you in for again?” I ask when she releases me.

“First degree meets B and E, holmes,” she answers in her best street voice.

Charlie laughs. “Yeah, that or sneaking out to meet Bobby.”

I raise my eyebrows at Annabelle. She bites down on her bottom lip and sways side to side like a schoolgirl. “Very naughty, Annabelle,” I say. “I do approve.”

Annabelle places a hand on her hip. “What can I say? I’m a desirable woman,” she purrs. “Anyway, came to see you off. Char tells me you’re going to save a damsel in distress, but you’ll be back in a few days.”

“That’s the story.”

“Then I’ll leave you two to suck face.” Annabelle waves over her shoulder.

Watching her go, my shoulders tense. Because I know what comes next: the part where I tell Charlie good-bye. I’m trying to think of the right thing to say when Charlie lays her hand on my arm and looks at me with the most perfect smile. “Want to see something?”

I nod, but I can’t get over how happy she seems. It’s like my leaving doesn’t even bother her. I hear a man calling something else over the speakers as Charlie reaches down the front of her shirt and pulls out the ivory horn. It’s attached to an old-looking silver chain.

“My grandma gave me this chain when I showed her the charm.” Charlie grips the horn in her palm. “She was the one who found the small hole at the top.”

Narrowing my eyes, I pull my own horn out of my pocket and look it over. Sure enough, there’s a tiny hole drilled into mine as well. “Cool,” I say.

Charlie’s smile falters. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Are you?” I ask, my voice raspier than I intended.

Her face falls. “Of course I am,” she says. “Why would you ask me that?”

I shrug. “You seem pretty cheerful about this assignment.”

Charlie’s face brightens again, her blue eyes shining. “That’s because I know you’re going to do great.” She tilts her head, grinning. “Because I know you’re a good person, and you can do good.”