Immortal City (Immortal City 1)

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this is your life, and it’s great. But it’s not mine. My life is down there. I’m going to wake up in the morning, and I have to go back to being Maddy Montgomery.”

She looked up at him and realized, with surprise, they were face-to-face. Jacks seemed surprised too. It had happened again. It was like a force greater than the two of them was drawing them together. Their lips were now inches apart. The air between them was thick with their body heat. Her lips wanted nothing more than to close the tiny gap between them and kiss. It was more than just how he looked. It was that same feeling she had felt in the back room of the diner. A connection between them. An electricity. As her heart began to pound, it was all she could do to whisper.

“I should go home now.”

• • •

They drove back listening to the purr of the Ferrari’s engine. Maddy watched the view disappear as they descended. Jacks wore the expression of a man trying to work out a difficult puzzle and getting nowhere.

“Here,” he said, pulling out his iPhone, “I want you to have my number. Just . . . in case.”

Maddy took down his info and added it to her phone’s address book simply as Jacks. In silent amusement she stared at the screen. What Gwen wouldn’t do for this number. She slipped the phone back into her pocket as they pulled up outside the darkened diner. “I did have a good time,” Maddy said at last. “Thank you again.”

Jacks nodded and gave her a vague kind of smile. She got out, closing the door quietly behind her so as not to wake Uncle Kevin. She had turned to go when she heard the window rolling down.

“Maddy, wait.” She peered back in the car. Jackson hesitated, considering his words. Then he spoke. “I want to take you somewhere. Out. Tomorrow night.” His expression was strangely conflicted, but his tone intent.

“Tomorrow? I—I don’t know,” she stammered.

“You’re not afraid to fly, but you’re nervous to go out with me?” Even in the dark car, his eyes pierced her. “Come with me, Maddy. Please.”

The word was out of Maddy’s mouth before could stop it.

“Sure.” What? She hadn’t even thought the word before saying it.

“Great. I’ll pick you up,” he said.

“Wait, Jacks,” she said, panic rising in her stomach, but he was already rolling the window up. “No, wait. Jacks, I can’t!” she yelled, but her protest was lost in the throaty rumble of the Ferrari. In another moment, he was gone. Maddy just stood there letting the dawning anxiety overtake her. What had she just done?

She slid her key as quietly as she could into the lock. Thank goodness Kevin was a heavy sleeper. She went upstairs. Slipping off her jeans and hoodie once again, Maddy sank exhausted into her bed. She turned her head on the pillow and looked at the glowing Angel City sign on the hill.

Absolutely confused and awash with the tingling sensation that she was still flying, Maddy drifted away into sleep.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

By the next morning Maddy had nearly convinced herself it had all been a dream. Not just the previous night, but the whole thing. Jackson Godspeed entering the diner. Coming into school. Flying. She sat up in bed and looked around the room. The window was shut and locked, as it had been the previous night, and her hoodie and jeans were still lying over the chair back right where she had left them before bed. She got up, grabbed her uniform off the floor, and fis

hed a pair of shorts and a tank top from her dresser for school. Outside her window palm trees swayed in a hot autumn wind. It was going to be a beautiful day.

It wasn’t until halfway through the morning shift that Maddy had it proved she hadn’t dreamt the whole thing. Kevin switched on the TV, and there it was. A breaking story on ANN that even had Jamie Campbell frazzled. Wearing a pantsuit and the usual caked-on makeup, she announced,

“In an unprecedented development, we’re hearing unconfirmed reports that Jackson Godspeed was spotted flying over Angel City last night and that he wasn’t alone.”

Maddy froze where she was standing with a plate of pancakes in her hand. The room seemed to shrink as she listened.

“Rumors of a mystery girl have been spreading across the Internet like wildfire all morning, easily becoming the number-one trending topic on Twitter and the most common search on Google. But who is she? Where is she? If you’re watching right now, mystery girl, you might as well come forward. The entire world is looking for you.”

Maddy didn’t even realize the dish had slipped from between her fingers until she heard it smash on the linoleum. She gasped. Someone in one of the booths started clapping. Kevin came around from the counter and eyed her, concerned.

“What happened?”

“I’m sorry, Kevin. I just totally lost my balance.” His expression turned to frustration, but he said nothing, and returned to the kitchen. Maddy got down on her knees and began gathering up pieces of the syrupy, broken plate. Mystery girl?

The TV continued squawking. “Stay tuned for more on Jacks’s mysterious midnight flight that has tongues wagging worldwide.”

Maddy spent the rest of the shift in a sustained panic. She was so used to being invisible, she even liked being invisible most of the time. Could they really have been seen? Of course they could have, she thought. They had gone all over the city last night. Yet she had never planned on anyone finding out—Kevin especially—but really anyone at all. What did this mean for tonight? And how had she ever agreed to go out with Jacks again in the first place? She felt a wave of nausea in her stomach as she realized she had just invited the prying eyes of Angel City—and probably the entire world—into her quiet, uneventful life.