Battle Angel (26 page)

B
efore Maddy had a chance to ask any more questions, Jacks was making as polite an exit as he could. He left a shocked President Linden to deal with the crowd and whisked Maddy to one of the waiting black sedans that had brought them to the event. Jackson told the driver to go to Kevin’s Diner, then sank into the leather seat beside Maddy.

“I didn’t want to bring it up like that,” said Jacks. “But I couldn’t just play along with Linden. It wouldn’t have been right.”

Maddy just stared at him, speechless and confused. After all that had happened, was Jackson now saying that the Angels wouldn’t be cooperating with Linden and humanity?

“Jacks, what’s happening? What did you mean back there?”

He flashed a weak version of his trademark smile, then turned to look out the window, a strange expression casting over his face. “How long has it been? And you still can’t just trust me?” he said.

Maddy didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. It was just that too much was changing too fast, and she didn’t know how to process it.

They spent the rest of the ride in silence. Maddy stared out the window. They reached the restaurant within a few minutes, and they got out of the car and stepped into the empty parking lot.

She hadn’t even bothered to ask why Jacks told the driver to take them there. That was the least of the mysteries facing her today. The diner had remained closed to the general public in these days after the demon attacks. Not because it had been damaged, but because Kevin had volunteered to sponsor a relief kitchen to feed those displaced by the destruction. They had an enormous setup in the Angel City High School cafeteria, where he was whipping up his trademark omelets, hamburgers, and milk shakes with a team of five cooks working under him. The displaced were stretched out on cots in classrooms, hallways, and the gymnasium, and though it certainly didn’t feel like home to them, Kevin’s cooking was slowly helping them regain their health and happiness.

So Maddy and Jacks had the diner to themselves. Maddy opened the door to the darkened space and flipped on the overhead lights. They settled into one of the worn, cracked booths she knew so well.

Maddy sat silently, then looked warily, expectantly, at Jacks.

“Maybe we should have a cup of coffee,” Jacks said.

Maddy stood up to put a pot on, but Jackson put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. “I’ll do it. I’m not just some helpless Angel, you know,” he said with a wink. He stood up and went to the kitchen. “How hard can it be?”

She heard a lot of clinking and clanking from the kitchen that didn’t bode well. With a slight roll of her eyes, Maddy smiled weakly. Just then she realized that the last time Jacks had been in the diner was the fateful afternoon she had saved not only her Protection, Jeffrey Rosenberg, but also Lauren, his assistant. That was what had started the big crisis with Linden and the Immortals Bill. Tom had been there and then Jacks had come in. . . . There he was again. Tom. Maddy’s mind kept returning to him, no matter how hard she tried to put his memory to peace in her heart. She just kept replaying the dismal scene on the smoky street, when he’d told her “
Don’t stop.
”

Jacks emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later, holding two steaming cups in his hands. He handed one to Maddy. Whatever was in them at least
looked
like coffee, and Maddy took a cautious sip. Not bad. Definitely not as good as her uncle’s, but for a first-timer, not bad.

Jacks cleared his throat again. Maddy eyed him more than a little expectantly.

“I’m really sorry about what happened, Maddy,” said Jacks. “I really did want this to be different. I didn’t know Linden would do what he did today.”

It took all of Maddy’s willpower to stay patient, and she was feeling more than a little exasperated. “Will. You. Please. Tell. Me. What’s. Happening.”

Jackson looked at her, coffee cup between his hands.

“Maddy . . . considering everything that’s happened . . . with Gabriel’s turn to evil and the corruption of the Council . . . the NAS and Protection for Pay causing the Angels to lose sight of what’s important . . . and now with the demon attack in our wake . . . It’s clear.”

“
What’s
clear?” asked Maddy.

“We must leave,” Jacks said.

What?
This was not what Maddy had been expecting.

“
Leave?
To go where? What do you mean?”

“The Angels’ time among the humans is done,” said Jackson. “We must return to the way things used to be. We have to go.”

“What?” Maddy said, shocked. A burst of butterflies began fluttering everywhere in her stomach.

“There is one who is higher than us all,” Jacks said.

“You mean . . . God?” Maddy asked.

Jacks smiled. “He has many names, Maddy. And it is time to go Home to him.”

Maddy was silent. Stunned.

The Angels were leaving?

“Home?” Maddy said, still in shock. “Can you even do that?” She had heard rumblings of this place during her time with the Angels. It was where the Angels had come from. But the way people talked about it—or, really,
didn’t
talk about it—it had just seemed like a nebulous, old-fashioned rumor among the flashy cars, paychecks, and parties of the Immortal City.

“I can’t describe to you how I know we should go,” Jackson said. “But I just know that this is the right thing to do right now.”

Jackson’s gaze drifted out the window at the city. His brow darkened.

“Mark and all the other Guardians who were killed . . . and even Tom—will they have just died in vain?” Jacks looked up at Maddy. “Our heroes can’t have died just so we can go back to the way things were. Maddy, you’re always talking about change. About getting out of here to do something bigger and more important. And now the time for all that has come.”

The sun began to set outside, revealing a brilliant Immortal City awash in the orange light of sundown. Beams of rich, reddened light streamed in through the diner windows.

“This is what my father, my birth father, would have wanted. And I think it’s what Mark would’ve wanted, too, if he’d lived to see the end of the battle. It’s what the Angels are now supposed to do. Gabriel was the one who led us out of hiding and into the public eye, and he turned out to be a traitor, leading us away from our destiny for the sake of his own greed.”

Jackson pierced straight into Maddy’s soul with his pale blue eyes. “We’re going Home,” he said.

It suddenly made sense to Maddy. Of course they were going to leave.

Yet she was still speechless as she tried to sort out all the conflicting emotions and questions that flowed through her body and mind. Jackson was . . . leaving? Along with all the other Angels? And with a bolt of shock she realized—wasn’t she an Angel, too? What was Jackson trying to tell her . . . ?

“I’ve asked you to make these kinds of decisions before,” Jackson said. “But this one’s the most important, Mads. Once you’d made your choice, there’s no going back.” Time stopped for Maddy as she waited for what he was going to say next. “Will you come with us Home as one of the Immortals, or stay here on Earth?”

Maddy was overwhelmed. What did it even mean, going Home? She stammered, “I-I—”

“I don’t need an answer this instant,” Jacks said. “I wouldn’t expect one. I can only imagine what you’re feeling now, which is why I didn’t want to have to spring it on you like this. But think very carefully about it, Maddy.” He reached out and touched her hand. A flow of what felt like pure energy shocked between their fingertips, just like when they’d first met, just a few booths away. “I want to make sure you do what’s best for you. But you do know what I hope you’ll say. . . .”

She was stunned. “I have so many questions, Jacks,” she said. “About . . . everything. All of this.” Their hands remained clasped, his steady and hers trembling.

“I know you weren’t raised as an Angel, so the urgency here might not make sense to you,” Jacks said. “But just know that Home is where we belong. It’s where we can all be True Immortals, and do the most amount of good for the most amount of lives. For Angels and humans alike.”

“But how can I make a decision like this?” Maddy asked. “Angel City is the only home I’ve ever known, Jacks. What would the Angel Home be to me?” Uncertainty ran across her face. “How would I know if I even belong there?”

“Look into yourself, and you’ll find the answers,” Jackson said. “The knowledge of Home is there already. It lives inside you. You just need to find it. You’re an Angel, Maddy, in every sense of the word.” Their fingers became intertwined, and a rush of feeling came over her as she thought back to their night together at the temple.

Maddy opened her mouth but closed it before she could speak. Jacks pulled himself closer to her.

“This wasn’t my plan all along, Maddy,” Jacks said. “I wasn’t sure we were going to leave until earlier today. I don’t want you to think that what happened between us that night . . .”

“Even if you had known, Jacks . . . ,” Maddy started. She blushed.

“I’m going to let you go,” said Jacks, smiling and squeezing her hand. “You have some thinking to do.” He stood up and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

And then the perfect Immortal was gone, the door to the diner jingling as he went through it.

• • •

Maddy couldn’t tell how long she’d stayed in the diner after Jackson left. She became lost in thought, her mind trying to make sense of all that had just happened. She thought about what he was asking. To go away with him. Forever. To somewhere he couldn’t even fully explain to her. To the place from which the Angels had come. To Home.

Suddenly, the front door jingled, and Kevin entered the diner, breaking Maddy’s daze.

“Hey, Mads,” he called, carrying some sacks into the kitchen. “I thought maybe I’d find you over here. I saw the light had been turned on.”

Maddy smiled at him but didn’t answer.

“I brought back some enchiladas from the shelter, if you’re hungry. They’re vegetarian.”

“No, thanks, Kevin,” she managed.

Kevin continued to talk as he walked into the kitchen, upping the volume of his voice so she could still hear him.

“Everyone was talking about your appearance with Linden at the shelter. What in the world is going on? Do you know?” Kevin came out of the kitchen and into the dining area. “Maddy, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Kevin,” Maddy said, trying to put on the best smile she could muster. “Just a little tired after all the excitement. I think I’m going to go back to the house.”

What could she say to Kevin? That she had to decide whether or not to leave him and the humans, forever? Maddy knew she was going to have to make this decision on her own, whether she liked it or not.

“All right, Maddy. Let me know if you need anything,” said Kevin. He opened the front door for Maddy and watched her walk out.

• • •

Upstairs in her bedroom, Maddy looked out the window toward the hill that held the remnants of the Angel City sign. It had been battered and bruised, and was now barely readable. But one of the first things the relief crews had done was train a temporary spotlight on the sign. The gesture provided a symbol to the people—and the world—that the spirit of Immortal City could not be stifled. The light radiated across the Angel City basin, illuminating an exhausted, but not defeated, city. They might be kicked down, bruised, even shattered—but they had not been defeated.

Looking at the sign, Maddy suddenly knew where she needed to go. She pulled on her hoodie and her favorite jeans. She slipped down the stairs quietly and went out the back door.

Maddy could have walked to this place in her sleep: down from Franklin, then right at Angel Boulevard toward the Walk of Angels. How many times had she made this walk when she was just a student at ACHS, dreaming of college and getting out of Angel City?

Most of the damage had been done farther west, across Highland. But still, the tourist shops here had yet to open up again, and most were boarded up or had their metal grates drawn down and locked with thick padlocks.

Maddy could see vague shapes moving behind a few grimy, darkened windows. She swiped away the dust on the outside of one of the windows and cupped her hand over the glass to look in.

Inside were all the souvenirs and tchotchkes you’d expect to see at your standard tourist store on Angel Boulevard. Something for every Angel fan in your family. There was the “My Wife Went to Angel City and All I Got Was This Stupid Mug” mug. The classic oversize “I Was Saved in Angel City” T-shirt, Immortal City snowglobes, costume Angel wings. And then she saw it—an action figure.

Of her.

The box read, M
ADISON
G
ODRIGHT
, G
UARDIAN
F
IRST
C
LASS
. WITH
R
ETRACTABLE
G
L
OWING
W
INGS! *
B
ATTERIE
S
N
OT
I
NCLUDED*
N
EW!
!

Her action figure came dressed in a sexy Angel gown—a red-carpet look—but the box advertised that inside there was an “action” outfit that resembled the training suit she’d worn during Guardian school. The doll’s wings were out, and they hadn’t done a totally bad job of making their purple color seem slightly translucent. They even looked like they glowed a bit.

Maddy was transfixed by the figure. She had seen an early mock-up of it, but not the finished product, because it came out right when her illegal save caused the huge scandal.

She thought of kids taking her figure home with them after a family vacation, looking to her as some kind of hero.

Maddy slowly backed away from the window. Her hand had made a clear print in the dusty glass. She turned and looked down the abandoned boulevard. There was no traffic; the street was still closed except to police and emergency vehicles. She walked into the empty street, stopping on the double yellow line in the middle at a portion that was cracked, probably from one of the earthquakes that had heralded the demon approach.