Free The Liberator (A Dante Walker Novel) (Entangled Teen) by Victoria Scott

be Zack, either; he doesn’t have it in him to harass me alone. There’s one other collector it could be, but even thinking his name causes my throat to tighten.
    Rector, Rector, my mind taunts.
    Racing from the room, I grab my cell phone and call Charlie’s number.
    “Come on, pick up. Pick up,” I mutter.
    Panic fires through my body when her voicemail kicks on.
    As I listen to her recorded message, I pull the ivory horn from my pocket and concentrate on where she is. Not at home, but not far from there, either. I can’t get a read on her emotions and curse the horn for not giving me more. Since I’ve already left two messages tonight, I push end and glance at the clock: 1:28 a.m.
    I pace the wrecked room, wondering how quickly I can get a flight back to Alabama. I punch Valery’s number into my phone and beat my fist against my thigh as it rings.
    She picks up, and her voice is muffled with sleep. “What do you want?”
    “A collector has been in my room,” I bellow. “Where’s Charlie?”
    I hear a faint click and gather that Red is switching on a lamp. “Charlie is at a party,” she says. “Max is there. I just spoke with him. What do you mean, a collector has been in your room?”
    I glance around the floor, at the clothing and socks and boxer-briefs strewn about. “Someone threw all my crap around and left a note on the bathroom mirror.”
    “Well, what does it say?”
    “It says, ‘Can you hear me now, liberator?’” I drop down onto my bed. “Are you sure Charlie is all right?”
    “I’m positive,” she answers. “About the note…” Red trails off like she’s thinking. I expect to hear a note of alarm in her voice, but it isn’t there. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”
    “Come again?” I say. “I don’t think I caught that last bit. It sounded like you said, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ which I know isn’t right.”
    Through the phone, I hear Red sigh. “Look, sometimes I’m going to tell you to take action. And other times I’m going to tell you not to worry about it. Right now, don’t worry. We’ll handle this.”
    I look around for the hidden camera, because this has to be some kind of freaking joke. “So, you guys just want to slap some liberator dargon on me and dole out pointless assignments? Well, let me tell you something, princess. I don’t roll that way.”
    “You didn’t roll that way when you were a collector,” Valery says evenly. “You work for Big Guy now, and there’s a certain rank among us, just like there was in hell.”
    “And my rank is…?”
    “Bottom feeder,” Red says. “I’m going to bed now.”
    “How can you be so dismissive? There was a collector in my room. A collector . We haven’t seen these guys in over a month, and now they’re back. Above ground. They know where I am. And they’ve probably come to steal back Charlie’s soul. Is any of this registering?”
    There’s a long silence on the other end of the line. “Charlie is safe. I assure you. Finish your assignment so we can discuss you returning to Peachville.”
    “ Discuss me returning?” I roar. “Oh, I’m returning, Red. I’m coming back, and when I do there’s—”
    “Dante, stop,” she interrupts, her voice suddenly authoritative. “I want you to listen to me very carefully. It’s crucial that you liberate this girl. Do you think Big Guy would ask you to take on this assignment after everything that happened to Charlie, and to the human, if it weren’t important?”
    So she was talking about Aspen when she was on the phone at the airport. “That human that died helping us,” I say. “His name was Blue.”
    “I’m going to bed,” Valery answers. “I’ve said too much.”
    “You haven’t said anything useful whatsoever. Tell me why Aspen is important!” I wait for an answer before realizing—
    Valery’s hung up.
    Shaking with fury, I throw the phone across the room. Then I tear the blankets from my bead and hurl them toward the wall. Next, I