Battle Angel

  And the dog kept barking and barking at Maddy. Then, suddenly, its hackles were raised and the fur stood up on the back of its neck. Maddy heard something behind her.

  In horror, Maddy realized what the golden retriever truly was barking at. And it definitely wasn’t her.

  Craning her neck in pain, Maddy saw it: a hideous Dark Angel. Most likely the one who had attacked her. It had come to finish the job.

  The demon was enormous, each of its arms as big as a Corvette, its spined wings spread ominously behind it. Twisted horns ran along its shoulders and arms, and all the way down its back. Its shape continued to shift, black flames coursing around its enormous limbs, its scales shimmering as it moved. The only things that remained constant were its terrible eyes. They glowed with hatred, as if they’d come straight from hell. And then . . . did it smile?

  With a shot of blood-chilling terror, Maddy realized that this was the demon from her nightmares. This was the Dark Angel who, in her dreams, had transformed from a normal demon into something bigger and more powerful. Something indescribably worse.

  It took a step toward her.

  Panic coursed through Maddy’s pain-wracked frame. She attempted to stand, but her body wouldn’t listen to her. Stabbing pain stuck into her legs as she tried to lift herself up by pushing down with her palms, and she collapsed down onto the rubble once again. Her left wing was still in good shape, but her crushed right wing just flopped down.

  Maddy could hear the demon’s footsteps now, crunching as it walked along. And she could feel its oppressive heat. She knew she had to do something.

  She raised herself up off the rubble as much as she could. Her head, her head . . . Everything hurt so badly.

  Panting, Maddy reached out her arms and began miserably dragging herself forward, inches at a time.

  Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

  The dog, previously frozen to its spot in terror, finally snapped out of its barking frenzy and ran away, tail between its legs, not looking back.

  Groaning, Maddy pulled herself another six inches with her arms. The footsteps grew louder, and the heat was getting stronger now. She didn’t want to look back. She couldn’t. She just needed to get to the edge of the pile. Just two more feet.

  With all the effort she could muster, Maddy grabbed onto a broken two-by-four board protruding from the edge of the rubble pile. Using the board as leverage, she hurled herself over the edge, with no idea what was below. Dropping at least ten feet, she landed on a mound of drywall and broken roof tiles. She cried out in agony as her battered body crash-landed and the wind was knocked out of her. She began rolling down the slight slope of the pile before her body came to a stop against a half-smashed concrete pillar.

  Every breath was painful. As she struggled to pull herself up, she heard it. A deep, raspy baritone.

  Was the demon . . . laughing?

  Maddy looked up and saw it just standing there, watching her.

  Suddenly it jumped down from the top of the rubble and landed just below, sending a tremendous rumble through the pile. With slow, confident steps, it started walking toward Maddy again.

  Frantic, Maddy used every bit of willpower she had to get up on her knees and scurry a few feet forward and around the concrete pillar, then tumble down the rest of the rubble pile to the street below. Her head smacked against the asphalt and her bad wing rolled painfully under her as she came to a stop.

  But now, try as she might, she couldn’t get up. She could feel the blood on her head, sticky and warm as it dripped down across her eyes. Somehow she hadn’t really noticed it before.

  The demon took its time coming down to the street, apparently relishing in this experience. Then, with a deafening roar, it pounced and landed right in front of Maddy, missing her by less than an inch.

  Hyperventilating, Maddy used the last of her strength to reach behind her for her sword. Of course! But it wasn’t there. Both the sling and the sword must have been ripped off her body when she fell.

  Now Maddy truly began to lose hope. She pulled herself along her side on the asphalt, which was scattered everywhere with dangerous debris. She dragged herself through the harsh surface, her fingernails growing bloody as she desperately tried to escape. The demon’s heat had become nearly unbearable, as searing and piping hot as steam.

  Then Maddy saw it, gleaming like a beacon. Her Divine Sword. It was only about fifteen feet away, resting on some crumbled concrete as if waiting for her. Her Divine Ring sparkled brilliantly. With hope once again rising in her chest, she feebly lunged for the sword, only getting herself a foot or two closer. The demon moved forward quickly, confidently. Almost gently, but certainly firm, it put its terrible clawed foot down on her arm. Just enough to hold her in place. Maddy’s mouth curled open. At first no sound would emerge, but then a wild scream escaped her throat as the demon’s heat blistered the skin on her arm.

  Like a revelation before dying, Maddy realized why she had dreamt of this demon so often. She had been dreaming of her own death, the death she never could have predicted for herself. It seemed so obvious now as the darkness closed in.

  In her final seconds, Maddy’s mind once again looked back over everything that had happened since that fateful night at her uncle’s diner. An Angel in suit pants and a hoodie walking into Kevin’s and changing her life forever. Jackson winning her over. Saving Jacks on the library tower. And then her choosing to become a Guardian instead of going to college. She thought of the attendant fame and fortune and glamorous events, of how she’d gotten caught up in it all. She thought of everything. The kaleidoscope of memories flitted before her eyes in splashes of brief, vivid moments.

  Until, finally, her memory settled itself on one image: her parents.

  She’d finally get to see them.

  As her brain flickered toward unconsciousness, she could have sworn the demon was leaning down close to her, its terrible mouth full of blackened, twisted teeth, to whisper in her ear:

  “Maddy . . .”

  It knew her name. Just like it had in the dream.

  The Dark Angel pulled its putrid maw away from her face and raised its thorny arm for the fatal blow. Maddy closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. It was useless to try to fight back. The heat grew stronger and stronger. She tried to move her face away from the onslaught but could only turn one cheek. Her arm was already blistered and burning, and now steam began rising from her exposed skin. Maddy gasped in agony, her breathing labored and her lungs burning with pain.

  Now her only solace was that death would come soon.

  The darkness was just about closing in on her when suddenly Maddy was aware of a distant popping sound. Repetitive. She came to slightly. As her eyes fluttered open, she realized it was gunfire.

  Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.

  The demon moved back one step and began swatting at itself, as if it were being bitten by flies, before turning around to face whoever was attacking it.

  Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.

  The Dark Angel roared so loudly that Maddy was deafened for a moment once again.

  “Hey! Hey! Hey!” a voice yelled to the demon. “Over here! Over here! Come on, you dumbass!”

  Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.

  That voice . . . Maddy recognized it. . . .

  Tom.

  Somehow he had found her.

  She pulled herself up slightly and saw him standing there, wearing his olive-green flight suit and a bandage on his head. He had an M-16 in one hand and a pistol in the other. They locked eyes instantly, and for a flash they shared a look of understanding. They both knew what he was about to do, and Maddy’s heart crumpled just as soon as it had soared. She shook her head.

  In response, Tom trained his M-16 on the demon and began firing again. Squealing, the demon began moving away from Maddy, toward its attacker down the dark street. Its unthinkable face twisted
into a snarl, black teeth glinting in the red light of a burning pile of wreckage on the concrete below.

  “That’s it, you ugly SOB, follow me,” Tom shouted as he ran backward down the street, trying to draw the demon farther away from Maddy. He knew he couldn’t kill a demon. But he could distract it. Maybe long enough to save her. “Run, Maddy!” he yelled.

  Maddy was frozen to the spot, watching him with terrified eyes. How could she just leave?

  “Go, Maddy! Go!” Tom unleashed a round of ammunition into the demon again and continued running down the street.

  It was as if Tom had somehow willed new energy into her body, and she was able to stand up on one leg, then the other. Tom was farther off now, too far for her to help in her injured state. She felt her crushed wing throbbing against her back, and it made her feel beyond helpless. She should be the one saving him. Her eyes welled up at the thought of the sacrifice he was making. She took a few hobbling steps away, then stopped and turned to look over her shoulder.

  Tom was running as fast as he could, his guns held out and at the ready. He ran forward and fired backward, shooting wildly at the demon as he fled from it. But the Dark Angel was closing in, loping closer and closer with every thundering footstep.

  “Tom!” she shouted.

  “Don’t stop!” he screamed.

  At the intersection of the street, underneath a shredded stoplight, another demon materialized, blocking Tom’s way. It was a regular Dark Angel and smaller than the other one, but at ten feet tall, this didn’t reassure Maddy one bit. Tom turned and fired at the second demon. The beast shuddered under the assault, but the bullets only slowed it momentarily. Already recovered, it continued advancing on Tom, who now dropped the empty machine gun and began emptying the clip of his Glock nine-millimeter.

  Then, out of nowhere, like a left hook to her jaw, Maddy watched from a distance as a claw plunged straight into Tom’s back and emerged through his chest. The enormous Dark Angel from Maddy’s nightmares had caught up to him. She stopped in her tracks and cried out as Tom dropped to his knees slowly. Blood dripped from his mouth as he looked down, strangely peaceful, at the claw that had impaled his body. Flames started to rise up around him, but it didn’t look as if he could feel any pain. The second demon was circling the scene now, and Tom’s gun fell to the ground with a clatter. The demons hissed with pleasure.

  Coughing up sprays of blood, Tom reached into his side pocket and produced his knife. With a decisive motion, he plunged the glinting blade into the demon claw protruding from his chest. He twisted the knife with the last of his strength.

  The demon howled and ripped his claw out of Tom’s chest.

  Tom smiled. He had saved Maddy. That was all that mattered to him.

  The claw had been the only thing holding Tom up, and when it was gone, he took his final breath and tumbled over onto the pile of dusty rubble at his feet. He had done his duty.

  Maddy witnessed it all from afar, rendered speechless with grief and shock.

  “No!” she wailed, tears blurring her vision. The demons circled the pilot, the black flames off their bodies rippling in the distance. They still hadn’t turned their attention back to Maddy.

  Suddenly she remembered Tom’s last words: Don’t stop.

  With every shred of strength she had, she fled from the grisly scene, looking for anywhere to hide. Her Divine Sword still lay near the rubble, unclaimed; she didn’t have the strength to pick it up anyway. She just needed to go. Blood pumped frantically through her veins as she hobbled. Then she took a left down a service alley behind a row of stores. She looking back behind her, down the smoky passageway half-lit by the fires in Angel City reflecting off the clouds, and she saw no demons on her trail. She came upon an old metal door that looked like it might lead to some sort of storage room or basement. She tried the metal handle. Locked.

  Hrnnnh. She lowered her shoulder and tried to smash against it, but the only effect it had was a little bounce. Pain shot through her body. Hrnnnh. Crying out in pain and grief, she tried again. Hrnnnh. Nothing.

  One more time with everything she had. She squared herself and set her jaw, and went for it with all her might. The door burst open and she tumbled into the pitch-dark room, which looked to Maddy like a janitorial closet. Panting, she frantically pushed the door closed and somehow managed to get it to stay shut. It wouldn’t keep the demons out, but at least they wouldn’t be able to see her from outside.

  It was pitch-black inside the small room, but she could sense she was alone. Maddy slumped down against the wall next to a mop and bucket. She tried to retract her injured wing, but she didn’t have the energy. She was beyond exhausted, spent. She decided to let her grief run out of her with big, gasping sobs. Tom was dead. He had saved her. And now he was dead.

  The tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

  Tom is dead. Tom is dead. Tom is dead.

  And then the darkness came again.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  A rocket screamed down and exploded in the street two blocks away, rattling the rooftop Jackson walked on. He didn’t even flinch as he scanned the sky for Battle Angel reinforcements. He didn’t know how many hours of pitched battle in the skies and streets of Angel City had passed. With the demon invasion came darkness that had shrouded the sun and turned the day into a permanent twilight. Had it already been a full day? Time seemed to stretch and compress before Jacks in the fog and exhaustion of this war that none of his studies could have ever prepared him for.

  Mitch was there by his side, assessing the situation. Both Angels looked battle-worn, their armor tarnished, marred by more than a few stains of demon blood.

  “They’re coming so fast, faster than we can kill them,” Mitch said. “How can we hold them? They’re wearing us down.”

  “I don’t know,” Jacks said. “But we have to. We have to get to the leader, Mitch. It’s our only hope.”

  “Well let’s hope the detective gives us something soon,” Mitch said. “We can’t hold them forever.”

  Jackson looked up and saw a small group of Battle Angels returning from the west. Archangel Godspeed was leading them. Their eyes were dead-set and determined.

  “Mark!” Jacks shouted, glad to see his stepfather all right. Suddenly, off to Mark’s left, they saw a line of Dark Angels flying just above the horizon, trying to speed around the Angel defenses. Jackson pumped his wings—once, twice—but Mitch put his hand on his shoulder.

  “Mark and I got this,” he said. “Right, Mark?” he shouted up to the Archangel, who was flying just above. He nodded at Mitch.

  “You, you, and you—follow me!” Mark yelled over the din of the battle to a cluster of Angels flying past. Mitch smiled at Jacks as he launched off the roof to join Mark in their pursuit of the demons. Jackson watched them disappear into the dark sky, his heart tugging as the image of Mark and his best friend faded from his sight into the storm of the demon assault.

  “Jacks! Jacks!” a voice screamed suddenly. Jacks felt the whoosh of an Angel rushing up past his battle aides. “I found you!” He was a Guardian whom Jackson had met only a handful of times. Jackson thought his name was Trevor. “I finally found you.”

  Demons clotted in the streets below, advancing faster and faster.

  “What is it?” Jacks said a bit impatiently.

  “Louis Kreuz—”

  The name grabbed Jackson’s attention. “Did he make it out?”

  “The ADC agents took him, Jacks. He escaped today . . . but not before they took his wings. He was injured pretty badly. . . . It was worse than just his wings.” Trevor’s brow darkened. “He had a message for you. He wanted me to give it to you personally.”

  “A message?” Jacks’s pulse quickened.

  “Well, I really don’t understand it,” the Guardian said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “What is it? What’s the message?” J
acks asked. He had to stop himself from grabbing the Angel by his collar.

  “It’s only one word,” Trevor said. “Well, a name, actually.”

  Jacks stared at the messenger, the anticipation nearly killing him. He knew Kreuz’s message could mean the difference between victory and complete, utter defeat.

  “The message is: Gabriel,” Trevor said.

  The name was like a bolt of lightning searing into Jackson’s body and soul.

  Suddenly it all made sense.

  “Jacks, are you all right?” Trevor asked, surely a little disturbed at the effect his message had had on the Angels’ battle leader.

  “Yeah. Yes, I’m fine, I’m fine. . . . Thank you for bringing me this message,” Jackson said, trying to recover so the Guardian would leave him alone. “Just, please, keep it to yourself.” Trevor nodded and backed off, much to Jacks’s relief.

  Jacks looked up to the Angel City Hills, his mind’s eye burrowing into the evil truth that was deep beneath them.

  Of course. Of course. Of course.

  It was Gabriel. Gabriel was controlling them.

  He was the head demon.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  This time when Maddy opened her eyes, there was no reprieve from the darkness. She felt woozy, but with some effort, she recalled that she had escaped to the service room off the street she’d run down. Then, in another instant, she recalled the fatal, terrible fact that pounded in her brain with every beat of her heart: Tom had died saving her. Misery welled within her, but she tried to quell it as much as she could. Though she would never get the chance to sacrifice herself to save Tom, which she would have done in a heartbeat, there still was someone she could help. It might not be too late. Maddy could still hear the muffled sound of explosions outside, confirming that the battle for Angel City had continued to rage for however long she’d been passed out.