Battle Angel

  And pinned nearby was a large photo of Lieutenant Tom Cooper, U.S. Navy.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Maddy slipped past the security guard quietly. She knew he’d let her in if he saw who she was, but she just didn’t want to deal with being recognized right now. She didn’t want to explain why she was there at 1:45 in the morning, especially when she didn’t really know herself. Another night wide awake. She’d put on her hoodie and jeans and crept out of the house, careful not to wake Kevin, who was safe and snoring down the hall. Maddy got in her car, but she hadn’t had a destination in mind. But something had drawn her to the temple, and this was where she found herself now.

  • • •

  She stood in front of the ruined arches of the Temple of Angels, here and there a spot in the wreckage still smoldering, a full week after the battle. For years the temple had been the focus of the most glamorous and prestigious Angel events, a thousand camera shutters clicking every second as the perfect Immortals exited their limousines to walk the red carpet. Maddy stepped carefully among the rubble that used to make up the grand entrance, where all the on-carpet interviews were done—where, every year, Tara interrogated every beautiful Angel about “who” she was wearing. Now it was just a heap of marble and stone. A crow jumped around the top of the debris, poking its beak into the stones. It cawed at Maddy as she approached.

  “Shoo.” She waved at it and it flapped away into the night.

  Walking farther inside, Maddy’s eyes scanned up to the skeletal flying buttresses, the only standing remains of the collapsed half of the temple. The back half of the temple remained somewhat standing, with the roof sagging and broken in parts, but still proudly hanging on. Par-tially broken panes of stained-glass windows looked up to the stars. This used to be the site of all the pomp and circumstance of the Angels, Maddy thought, the focal point every year for the world to observe everything Angel. Would it ever stand again?

  Maddy heard a noise and jolted upright.

  “Hello?” she said cautiously.

  A face emerged from the shadows. She would have recognized the pale blue eyes and full cheekbones anywhere.

  It was Jackson.

  “Jacks? What are you doing here?” she said in shock.

  “I could ask the same of you,” he said, walking out of the shadows and into the moonlight spilling into the mostly collapsed church.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” said Maddy.

  “Me neither,” Jacks said. He looked at her with those eyes. “How’d you get in?”

  “Snuck in. You?”

  “Slipped the guard a hundred,” Jackson said.

  “What were you doing hiding out over there?” she said, pointing to the shadows behind the pillar.

  “We’re not supposed to be here, you know,” he said. “I heard someone, and I wanted to see who it was. And turns out it was Maddy Montgomery.”

  “Turns out,” she said.

  “Everything . . . okay?” he said.

  “I don’t know,” Maddy said. “What about you?”

  “I don’t know, either.”

  A meaningful silence settled between them, and they began walking together through the ruins. They came to the famous entrance where Guardians were led just before Commissioning. The stone arch had collapsed, but the monument at its center was still intact, though it now lay on its side, partially buried in the wreckage. Most of the big block lettering etched into the stone was still legible.

  “I read that oath right before my Commissioning,” Jacks said to Maddy. “‘Do Your Duty.’ Those words flashed through my head right before I left to save you outside Ethan’s party. And I wasn’t thinking about my duty to the Angels. I knew I was being called for some higher duty. It seems so long ago now.”

  “You’ve done your duty, Jacks,” Maddy said. “We all have.” Her voice quavered as she spoke.

  Jacks put his arm around Maddy to comfort her as they sat down on the edge of a slab of marble that had toppled down and cracked into three giant pieces. “I haven’t had a chance to . . .” His voice trailed off. He didn’t know what to say. But he did know that, when it came to Maddy, he didn’t really need to say anything.

  In this predawn winter hour, Maddy’s body felt cool under his arm. “You’re cold,” he said. “Here, have my jacket.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t want you to be cold, Jacks. I’m fine. . . .” she said unconvincingly.

  “Yeah, right. You’re shivering, Mads,” he said. “Just take it.” He wrapped the jacket over her shoulders.

  “Thanks,” she said, smiling slightly.

  They sat there in silence for a while, just being.

  Until Jackson broke the silence.

  “Remember our first date?”

  “At the diner?”

  “That didn’t count,” Jackson said. “Our first date, not when we first met.”

  “You mean up at the viewpoint.”

  “And then flying,” Jacks said. “You were so suspicious.”

  A wisp of a smile came across Maddy’s face. “With good reason.”

  “I was just trying to be nice,” Jacks said.

  “You were trying to show off.”

  “Well, it worked, didn’t it?”

  “I guess you’re right,” Maddy said. “Maybe.”

  “You have to admit you liked it.”

  “The Ferrari was a bit much.” A thoughtful, dreamy expression overtook Maddy’s face. “We flew over Angel City. My first time. The city was so beautiful.” She looked out at the ruins around her. “That’s how I want to remember it. Not like this. Not . . . broken.”

  “It can be rebuilt,” Jacks said.

  Maddy nodded but kept her gaze fixed on the destruction.

  “Let’s go back inside, where it’s warmer,” Jacks said. They made their way back into the section of the temple that was still partially covered. The half-wall blocked out the cool breeze, and it was almost cozy.

  “Kris and Chloe . . . ,” Maddy said, thinking of Jackson’s mother and sister, who were suffering the loss of Mark Godspeed, too. “How are they?”

  “In shock. We all are. Everyone’s lost someone. No Angel family is untouched. Gabriel’s evil has run deep.” Jackson’s voice was breaking up as he spoke of his stepfather. “I know he and I had some differences in the past. But even if he wasn’t my real father, he was always my dad.”

  Maddy put her hand on his shoulder.

  “Jacks, what you did . . . ,” she said. “The deal you must have made with Linden to get me and Tom to safety . . . I don’t know what to say.”

  “I wanted you to be safe. And . . . not alone,” Jacks replied. “I never thought we’d survive the demons.”

  Jackson moved closer to Maddy.

  “You loved him, didn’t you?” he said.

  She hesitated, looking at him.

  “Yes,” said Maddy. “I did.”

  She turned away. Jackson reached out to touch her shoulder, triggering her to turn back around to face him.

  “I’ve loved you,” Jackson said. “I never stopped loving you.”

  All of a sudden, Maddy was overwhelmed by a rush of tenderness. Every emotion she’d ever felt for Jackson hit her all at once.

  “Jacks . . .”

  But before she could get the words out, Jacks was kissing her. She reached her arm around his waist and pulled him in closer. Opening her mouth, she embraced the kiss, their lips and mouths becoming one.

  The human-Angel war, the demon sinkhole, their fight on the carrier, the siege, the loss of Tom, Angel City brought to its knees—it all collapsed in on itself at this moment.

  None of it mattered right now. She just needed him. And he needed her.

  Together they breathed deeply as they kissed, their bodies pressed close—a perfect fit, as if melded together.
br />   Maddy took one small, slow step back, then another, and drew the Angel toward her. As they continued to kiss, Jackson pulled his jacket off her, one arm at a time. Her body no longer felt cold.

  He softly laid the jacket on the ground behind her and then slowly lowered Maddy down onto it. She reached up and pulled him down to her, rolling his shirt off as she did.

  And she realized this was how it was going to happen. Of course. It was perfect.

  Jacks pulled at Maddy’s shirt, and she let him take it off. Then, shivering from excitement rather than cold, she wrapped her arms around his bare torso and let every muscle, bone, ridge, and valley of his chest press against her. She wanted to feel him as close against her as she could so she could feel the warmth of their bodies commingling in the early-morning air.

  Jacks pulled back slightly and looked at Maddy, his face silhouetted by the waning moonlight. With a whoosh his wings emerged. Maddy ran her hands upon the strange new wings, which bristled and felt hot under her touch. The sensation was both familiar and strange—part old, part new.

  “Is everything all right?” Jacks asked.

  “Yes,” she breathed, and they kissed again.

  Finally they broke apart, catching their breath. Jackson’s gaze glimmered toward her.

  “Do you want to?” he asked after what seemed like an eternity.

  Maddy nodded, biting her lower lip. “Do you want to?”

  “Yes,” Jacks said.

  Maddy curled up into a shadow, slightly embarrassed.

  “I’m feeling shy,” she said.

  Leaning forward, Jacks placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead. “Maddy, you are beautiful.”

  She smiled and pulled his face close to hers.

  Maddy looked into Jackson’s blue eyes. She felt his weight upon her and embraced it, and she pressed her lips, hard, against his.

  She cried out, and it echoed through the remains of the temple.

  “Are you all right?” Jackson’s worried voice said.

  “Yes,” Maddy breathed, overwhelmed with sensation, emotion—everything. She placed her hand around his waist and pulled him closer. “Everything’s all right.”

  • • •

  She was trembling. She couldn’t stop; waves of energy were crashing over her body.

  “Was that . . . okay?”

  “Yes,” Maddy said, running her hand through her hair.

  Jackson placed his hand on Maddy’s cheek and gazed into her eyes. “I’ve dreamed about this, Maddy, being this close to you. But this was better than anything I ever dreamed.”

  Maddy nodded, biting her bottom lip slightly. She felt the warmth of his body next to hers, his skin so warm, and she pulled him even closer. “Come closer, Jacks,” she breathed in his ear. “Come as close as you can.”

  • • •

  After some time, Maddy dozed off in Jackson’s arms, her head resting on his chest. She had no dreams, or nightmares. Her sleep was quiet and deep, and when she woke she saw some tendrils of pink dawn peering through what was left of the once-glorious stained-glass windows. Jacks was awake next to her, his arms still wrapped warmly around her. His eyes were focused on the remnants of the windows, which now told a shattered and fragmented history of the Angels.

  “Hey . . . ,” she whispered.

  “Hey,” he said back quietly. He touched his lips lightly to her forehead. “Did you get some sleep?”

  She nodded.

  Jacks turned his gaze to the rising light. “We should get going before it gets too light.”

  “Okay.”

  Wrapping his jacket around her, Maddy slipped back into her clothes. Jacks turned around and did the same, although Maddy couldn’t help but sneak a look and smile.

  Outside they made their way through the rubble to where they could sneak out under the fence unbothered and unseen. The pink-purple glow of the dawn bathed the scene in a dream-like light. But when Jacks reached out for Maddy and squeezed her hand, Maddy knew he was real.

  Maddy felt she should say something, anything, to let him know what she was feeling. The night—their night, Maddy and Jackson’s first time—couldn’t just end like this.

  “Jacks, I—”

  He looked at her expectantly.

  “Never mind. . . . It’s nothing, actually. I just want to remember it like this. Us like this,” she said. “The other part can come later.”

  Jacks nodded and smiled. “Of course, Maddy. Whatever you want.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  The spectators along the street were silent as President Linden, Maddy, and Jacks took their sad tour past the destruction along Angel Boulevard The charred remains of palm trees loomed over the broken sidewalk that had once been the polished Walk of Angels, with its Angel Stars and throngs of tourists and their incessantly snapping cameras. The tatters of the Angel billboards presided over them all, smoke-blackened reminders of a different place and a different time.

  This was a solemn procession of the United States government and a full delegation from the GAC, along with Maddy and Jacks, who had become the most public symbols of the heroic resistance against the demons. A small group of selected reporters had been allowed to come along to cover the occasion. Jacks wore a dark suit that fit him like a glove, and Maddy was in a chic yet simple black dress. It was one of the few items she’d taken from the giant wardrobe in her apartment. She’d recently learned that the luxury building had been caught in the crossfire and was little more than expensive debris now. Her extensive wardrobe had also been a casualty, but Maddy found she still preferred her usual jeans and hoodie combo anyway.

  Jacks and Maddy exchanged secret nervous glances. This was the first time they had seen each other since the morning before, when they’d left the temple after their momentous night together. That whole experience had seemed so unreal to Maddy. It had ended in an otherworldly dawn glow, and now that they were out in broad daylight, it was hard to say where they stood. All Maddy knew was that Jacks had called her before the procession and said he had something to tell her, in person. His voice had sounded slightly strange. Not bad strange, but still strange. She was simmering with curiosity, but it would have to wait until after their public appearance.

  And Maddy herself didn’t know where she stood. There were so many conflicting emotions and sensations running through her, causing her to feel both exalted and totally exhausted. It was enough just to lose her virginity, but now, after all that had happened, while she also grieved for Tom . . . She almost wished she felt guilty about it. She had no idea what the future held, but that night at the temple with Jackson had felt so natural, so right. She wondered if Jackson felt the same way.

  The entourage reached the makeshift memorial. Footage of Maddy’s appearance there just a few days before had spread around the world, with many taking strength and courage from her words. She was becoming a symbol of renewed strength after tragedy.

  Linden paused at the memorial, a somber look on his face as he and his group took in the almost overwhelming display of grief and respect. The entire nation, and even the whole world over, was now looking to him for hope and strength. He had transformed from a fringe candidate to leader of the free world in such a short time. Many of his enemies and detractors were waiting for him to falter, but he had not so far. He had shown himself to be strong, even when faced with near-impossible decisions. Linden had followed his own moral compass. And the people were now grateful to him.

  The president now focused on the picture of Tom that Maddy had left at the memorial. Then he looked up and cleared his throat as he turned to the cameras.

  “I’m told a brave young man named Thomas Cooper, an ace navy pilot, died in Angel City. He didn’t perish in his jet, but rather fighting on the street. For something—and someone—he loved.” Maddy could feel her hands growing clammy, her face losing color. A
lump grew in her throat, but she had promised herself to hold it together, at least until the cameras stopped rolling. Linden continued. “His story is one of hundreds that will be told over the coming generations. Let us not forget them, ever.

  “And as for the Angels, much blood was spilled as they came to aid humanity in our greatest hour of need. Archangel Mark Godspeed was one of many who sacrificed all.” Linden looked behind his shoulder to the memorial that had been built up around Mark’s photo.

  He motioned next to the memorial for Louis Kreuz. There was a black-and-white 1930s-era photo of Louis at the height of the days of the Guardian Training System, when he had unparalleled power. Of course, he was in his trademark pose, with a cigar stuck in his mouth.

  “Then there was the heroic Louis Kreuz,” Linden said, “who sacrificed everything to bring vital information to those fighting the demons. This information ultimately led us to defeat the army. Louis was a larger-than-life character who was synonymous with Old Angel City. We will always be in Mr. Kreuz’s debt.”

  A surge of emotion came over Maddy as she thought about her past with Kreuz, how he had at first been so rude and brusque with her when she started Guardian training, but then had later revealed himself to be a great ally. Louis had been trying to protect her the whole time.

  “And now, I must say it is a humbling honor for me to be standing here with two battle heroes. It was our darkest hour, and Jackson Godspeed was able to rally support within the Angel community, support without which I would not be standing here today, speaking to you.” Linden turned to Jacks. “Jackson, on behalf of the Global Angel Commission, and indeed on behalf of all humans around the world: thank you. And I want to state again how much we feel for your and your family’s loss. Your stepfather was a great hero.”

  Linden reached forward and shook Jackson’s hand. Cameras snapped and whirred, but Jackson noticed that they weren’t shouting and hollering, like the paparazzi would have. They were solemnly documenting the occasion.