“I won’t leave you,” she cries, her back still pressed to mine.
Her words make me want to spin around and press my mouth to hers. “You’re not leaving me. I’ll go when you go.”
Charlie doesn’t respond, and I pray she’ll do as I ask.
I grab the closest demon to free the path in front of her. “Run!”
She runs.
She runs for several seconds without looking back. Just as I’d hoped, the demons don’t chase her. Instead, they turn their attention to me.
Good-bye, angel.
Charlie turns. Our eyes meet, and unadulterated sorrow crosses her face.
Then her expression changes. Her eyes widen so that she almost looks crazy, like she’s lost her mind to fear. I shove the demon in front of me aside so I can see her face one last time.
She races toward me.
“No!” I holler. “Keep going!”
But she doesn’t stop. She flies down the stairs like she has wings of her own.
My heart hammers in my chest because I feel it—I feel that something big is about to happen.
Charlie Cooper reaches the demon closest to me and lays her hands on it. She screams so loud, I’m sure my eardrums must burst.
An electric white light forms beneath her palms. “Get back!” she roars.
The demon soars through the air.
It lands a hundred feet below and doesn’t move. The other demons study Charlie for a moment. Then they retreat. They click down the stairs to get away from whatever power just came out of her hands. The faces in the walls pull back one by one and disappear from view. Pop-pop-pop!
I watch the demons’ flight for a split second, my head spinning, then grab Charlie’s hand and scramble upward, out of hell and into the afternoon sky. She gasps when my black wings spread out against the snowy backdrop, a storm of feathers arching over our bodies.
Her eyes roll back in her head.
I catch her when she falls.
44 
Kiss You in the Dark
As Charlie sleeps and the Quiet Ones dress my wounds, Valery explains again what happened. Charlie had eavesdropped on Red’s and Max’s discussion about what he needed to get to hell’s entrance. Then she jacked Valery’s credit card and went after me.
I guess there’s a loophole when the men you hire to transport you to hell don’t ask questions.
But I’m still pissed at Max. I don’t believe Charlie was as “crazy in the face” as he describes. Apparently, she jumped off her snowmobile, found the knife, and threatened to kill herself if he didn’t tell her how to find me. Once Charlie descended, he says he called Valery for reinforcements.
Max is my best friend, and he cares about Charlie, but I guess I don’t blame him for not wanting to be tortured for eternity because my girlfriend wanted a joyride in hell.
Valery hasn’t left Max’s side since we’ve been back at the Hive. Though they still aren’t allowed to be married, the way she looks at him says she’s happy that he didn’t enter hell with me or even Charlie, and word on the street is that Big Guy is pleased with the potential Max has shown. This doesn’t resolve Valery’s and Max’s relationship issues, because those two won’t be pleased until they’re allowed to be together entirely. But it’s a start.
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.