Immortal City (21 page)

Was it Vivian’s words still ringing in her ears? Maybe. But if she was honest with herself, it was more than just that. It was everything about the night—the decadent party, Mitch’s distrustful expression, even the discussion in the car on the way over. Something was wrong about the whole situation. Or at least, there was something wrong about
her
in it. Vivian’s words reverberated in her head.
You don’t belong here.

As much as she hated herself for it, she couldn’t help but agree. She unlaced her fingers from around Jacks’s neck.

“What wrong?” Jacks asked, his eyes still drunk with the electricity of their connection.

“Why did you invite me here, Jacks?” Maddy asked. “Tell me the truth.”

Jacks looked at her with a questioning expression. “Remember? I told you I would help you get out a little. You know, live life.” He gestured around the room, smiling to her. “It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Maddy bit her lip. He reached for her, but she stepped away from him.

“I’m sorry,” she said abruptly, “I just. I can’t do this.” She turned without meeting his gaze and walked quickly away.

She didn’t know where she was going, or even really why. She just had to get out. She saw the twinkling patio through the back door with its shimmering, turquoise pool and headed toward it. She had just gotten outside when Jacks caught up to her.

“What’s wrong?” he said, spinning her around. “Is this still about what Vivian said?”

“It’s the
truth
, Jacks,” Maddy said bitterly. “I don’t care what Vivian thinks . . . but she’s not exactly wrong, is she? We’re different. We don’t see things the same way.”

Jacks’s eyes searched Maddy’s face. “What do you mean?”

“Well, first of all, don’t you see how
unfair
all this is?” she blurted. “How selfish? Do you think everyone lives this way?”

“No, of course I don’t!” he said. He spun his arm to the party. “But it’s part of my Commissioning, Maddy. This is how it’s always done. I don’t have any control over it. And besides”—his expression grew hurt—“you’re making it sound like this is all somehow a
bad
thing, when Angels are the greatest force for good in the entire world.”

“Yeah, maybe for executives and their kids!” she countered. “Certainly not for anyone I know.”

Jacks felt punched in the gut. He had been trying so hard to show her something—how he felt. And she was throwing it in his face yet again.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Maddy said. Jacks remained silent, bowing his head slowly and turning away. Sounds from the party inside filled the silence. After a few moments he spoke.

“Honestly, Maddy, sometimes I really don’t get you. I take you out to a party anyone else would kill to go to, and you’re unhappy about it.” He shook his head. “In fact, you think the whole thing is unfair. There’s no pleasing you.”

“Would you save
me
, Jacks?”

It came out in a rush.

All of a sudden Maddy realized it was the nagging she had felt deep inside her. It was this single question. It had been gnawing at her ever since he had come to pick her up earlier in the night.

Jacks’s eyes darted to hers, intent, then looked away. “If you were my Protection, yes.”

“No. As I am now, tonight,” Maddy pressed. “If something were to happen, would you save me?” When she spoke again, her voice was gravelly and raw. “Would you come for me, Jackson?”

He just stood there. Maddy watched a procession of emotions move across Jacks’s face like rolling thunder. Anger. Annoyance. Doubt. Even sadness?

Finally, he spoke.

“I’m sorry. It doesn’t work that way, Maddy,” he murmured.

The words cut like a knife.

“It’s just not allowed,” Jacks said, carefully. “As Angels our duty is to our Protections.”

Maddy blinked back the first threat of tears.

“Protections? You mean rich people,” she muttered.

“This isn’t even up to me. It’s just the way things are,” Jacks said.

“That’s ridiculous!” she shrieked. “It’s your choice!”

“It’s not! Look, if we just went around saving random people . . .” He paused, his eyes burning. “I mean, my family has to eat too, you know!”

“Your family eats all too well,” Maddy snapped.

“Do you think this is a game?” he said, his tone low and intense. The frustration and bitterness welled up quickly. “Tomorrow I’m being Commissioned, and I’m no longer just Jackson Godspeed. Or even just an Angel. I’m a Guardian. I have people’s lives in my hands. Do you have any idea of the responsibility that comes with that? Or the pressure?”

“What I know,” Maddy said curtly, “is that if I could do what you do, I would use my power to help as many people as I could. I wouldn’t use it to get rich.” A few traitorous tears spilled over her cheeks, and she wiped them quickly away. “I would save people because it’s the right thing to do.” Her smile was bittersweet. “I guess that’s what makes me human.”

“Maddy,” Jacks said, his voice like stone, “you don’t know what they would do to me.”

“I don’t care,” she said hatefully. She could feel the rage welling up inside her, an uncontrollable anger, and if she didn’t get out of there quickly, who knew what might happen. With fury coursing through her veins, she made up her mind and glared at him. “I’m sorry, Jacks, I shouldn’t have come tonight. The truth is I don’t want anything to do with any of this, and that has to include you. If you were ever my friend at all, you’ll stay away from me and just leave me alone.”

“You don’t—” Jacks began to speak, his eyes in pain as he looked at the girl across from him, but then he stopped himself. He was quiet for a moment, then nodded. His face was bleak and unreadable. “You’re right,” he said. “I guess it’s for the best. To tell
you
the truth, I really don’t know why I bothered anyway.” His words twisted in her gut. Maddy turned without saying anything else and ran.

She ran through the party and then out to the front of the hotel. The glamorous arrival had long since closed, and workers were now unceremoniously unstapling the red carpet and rolling it up. Maddy spotted a lone taxi sitting along the curb and ran to it.

She waited until they had pulled away from the hotel to let the real tears flow.

J
acks walked through his darkened house, not stopping until he had reached his room and gone inside. He closed the door silently so as to not wake anyone and flipped on the light.

Mark was sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting. He still wore his suit from earlier in the day, but it was unkempt now, his jacket laid next to him on the bed, his shirt collar unbuttoned, the tie drooping in a loose knot around his neck. He had rolled his sleeves up and sat with his hands on his knees.

“Late night?” he said in a subdued tone.

Jacks came in and looked at him evenly.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said as normally as he could manage. “I was going to head to bed.”

Mark nodded but didn’t move. The silence hung heavy between them. After a moment Jacks went around the bed to the closet and pulled off his jacket.

“I have, of course, seen the pictures from tonight,” Mark said. “Chloe showed me, but it would be impossible to miss them, really. They’re all over the Internet, and TV too.” He laughed a little. “I’m sure the magazines will be having a field day.”

Jacks slipped off his tie. The tie made a
zip
sound as it cleared his collar. Jacks hung it over the rack and turned around to face his stepfather.

“You don’t have to worry, Mark,” Jacks said. “It was nothing. And besides, it’s over now.”

Mark nodded again, thoughtfully, and moved over on the bed.

“Sit down, Jackson.” He patted the mattress next to him. Jacks came over wordlessly and sat.

Mark regarded his stepson.

“That . . . girl . . . you brought to the party tonight. She’s not part of your world, Jacks. She can never
be
a part of your world, and you know that. You know if anything were to happen to her, anything at all, there would be nothing you could do for her.”

“I know the laws,” Jacks said.

“And there’s a good reason for those laws,” Mark said. “It’s not a”—he paused, choosing the word—“a prejudice, Jackson. It’s a safeguard. The laws safeguard the institution of Guardianship.”

Mark rose and walked slowly to the window. He looked out at the twinkling city, the palm trees black in the night. Jacks sat on the bed, watching him.
Guardianship.
Duty.
The words seemed empty, tied to parties and press junkets and paparazzi, all of it some kind of hollow dream being acted out in the Immortal City when he thought about how he felt standing next to Maddy. But that was over now. He tried to cast these thoughts from his mind. He was just upset, that was all. It would pass.

“As a Guardian, Jacks, your responsibility is to your Protections. If you allow yourself to be distracted worrying about . . . others, then it puts your Protections in danger.” He turned and faced Jacks again. “If a Protection were to get hurt because a Guardian was distracted, do you have any idea the damage that would cause? What would happen to the trust placed in us as Angels? What would happen to people’s belief in the system itself?”

He walked toward Jackson, who sat motionless on the bed. Jacks thought about how he would feel if Maddy was in danger, what he would do. If he were totally honest with himself, he knew what Mark was saying was right.

“Don’t you understand? Something like what you did tonight could destroy
everything
. Everything the Archangels have worked for, that your mother and I have worked for, even that your father worked for”—he was inches away from him now, standing over him—“fought for, and died for. Do I need to remind you why he fought the rebels? He gave his immortal
life
so that the good work of the Archangels, the good work of Angels on earth could continue.”

Jacks nodded wordlessly.

“There’s been another incident on the Walk of Angels, Jacks,” Mark said, narrowing his eyes at his stepson.

“Who?”

“Ryan Templeton. I wanted you to hear it from me. He was murdered. If this gets out into the media, they’ll blow these Angel disappearances out of proportion. There’s also a silly rumor going around that these Angels are being murdered in order of their stars. We’re sure it’s just coincidence. But your star would be next.”

“What?” A jolt ran through Jackson’s body. He felt something he wasn’t too familiar with: fear.

“If this gets out . . . with all eyes on you, it’s more important than ever that we keep a solid front. For years, those envious anti-Angel groups have been looking for just this type of opportunity. With Ted Linden being elected, it’s only going to get worse. You’re—I mean it’s—too important to give into fear now. We are putting your star on that sidewalk in defiance of whatever or whoever is out there trying to intimidate Angels.”

“But only an Angel can kill an Angel.” Jacks’s thoughts immediately cast back to what Sierra had said to him at the party that night—
Can’t wait for your star
. Was Sierra and Steven’s jealousy so great that it would lead them to something like . . .
this
? The look in her eyes had been dark and unblinking. But dark enough for murder?

“Jacks, this is more complicated than you could imagine,” Mark said.

The Archangel appraised his stepson. “I know all of this might not seem fair, but it’s part of the sacrifice that is asked of us,” he said.

Slowly, Mark sat next to Jacks again and let out a long breath.

“This is your Commissioning week, Jackson. I want you to think about your duty as a Guardian. Think about the Protection’s life you will be holding in your hands. Think about that. It will be
your
responsibility to make sure they come home to their families each night. So their children can have a parent. So their parents can have a child. So their siblings can have a brother or a sister.”

Mark put a firm hand on Jacks’s shoulder. “This is not about you anymore, Jackson. It’s about the Protections we serve. It’s about the duty we are all called to as Angels and as Guardians, and I will not have you mock that. I will not have you mock your duty, Jackson.”

Jacks stood up swiftly, irritated.

“You don’t have to lecture me about duty, Mark.”

In an instant, Mark had risen off the bed in front of Jacks, throwing him back across the room.

“Really? Then can you please tell me why I am seeing pictures of my stepson messing around with trash like that girl? Some
human
girl?”

Jacks steadied himself against the wall.

Mark’s tone was ferocious, echoing around the room.

“What were you thinking, Jacks? What were you
thinking
?” Mark spit out. “Do you think all this was coincidence, Jacks, all your media coverage, the success, the fame? Do you think we’ll just stand by and let you throw it away, that we’ll have groomed you for nothing, that we don’t need you to stand as a shining example against our enemies, who are growing every day?
Do you?
” The walls almost shook with his furious tone.

Jackson and his stepfather stood mere inches from each other, eye to eye. Neither blinked. After a few moments the heave of Mark’s chest quieted. He began composing himself. Jacks turned away, taking in the weight of Mark’s words. He knew it was true.