“I thought I might find you here,” the voice said.
“It’s you?” Sylvester said.
“Yes. It’s me.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Maddy stood on the deck and watched the dawn light creep up from the East, back toward Angel City. Purple clouds splashed with pink shimmered along the horizon, and streams of golden light stretched up into the sky.
Looking down to the water, Maddy felt dizzy. Hundreds of feet below, the dark Pacific foamed as it churned along the side of the massive ship.
She couldn’t sleep. It was the nightmare again, more vivid than ever this time, and with one major, disturbing change. Instead of the 101, the dream took place on the aircraft carrier. Her legs were paralyzed as an enormous Dark Angel, twice as large as the one she had actually seen, towered over her, its eyes smoldering with the purest hatred. Was this Sylvester’s head demon? Tom was in the dream, too, but every time she reached for him, he seemed to drift farther away. And though she didn’t see him, she could feel Jacks’s presence, too. Right when the demon was about to close in on her, she’d woken up with a silent scream. She’d banged her head on the bunk above her as she’d bolted upright, gasping for air.
Now on the carrier deck, Maddy heard footsteps. She turned around to find a pleasant surprise.
“Up with the roosters?” Tom asked. Maddy smiled.
“I wanted to see the sunrise,” she lied, not wanting to get into her grisly nightmare.
Tom stood behind her and tentatively placed his arms around her waist.
“It’s okay,” she told him.
Why was he being so cautious? Maddy knew she had to do something to reassure him, so that, for just a moment, they could pretend it was just a normal day, that they were just a happy couple, sharing the first morning light together. Maddy leaned back into Tom’s strong frame and let him hold her even tighter. She turned and nuzzled against his chest, lightly pursing her lips to make a silent kiss against his upper arm. Together they stood in near silence, the only sounds their breathing and the crashing waves below.
So why did Maddy feel afraid?
She felt fear, but she also felt comforted. Maybe she r
eally had made the right choice.
“I should get ready,” Maddy said. “They’ll need me soon.”
• • •
Maddy stood on the deck in her customized flight suit, a breeze running through her hair. It was time to start her job. There was a briefing at 0700 hours in the combat control room, and she was determined to be fresh, sharp, and attentive.
Inside the control room were dozens of suspended computer screens glowing with green maps, each one marked at its center with the demon sinkhole. Maddy saw tiny digital crescents representing aircraft carriers and warships moving across the screens in real time.
“All right, all right, settle down,” Captain Blake said as the pilots noisily made their way inside. He assigned Maddy to a seat right beside him, which once again made her feel like a bit of a fraud.
The captain cleared his throat. “We have business to get to. We’ve been at war six days, and we’ve not made much progress. So I’ll cut to the chase. We’re running blind right now. We don’t know when the demons are going to strike next. Each and every aircraft that has been sent out to monitor the situation has been destroyed. Now the demons are patrolling a two-mile wide radius, taking down all our high-flying drones. So we’re relying on satellites, but the demons have caught on to that, too, and have found a way to interfere with our signals. We can’t get a clear picture. But we know one thing’s for damn sure: the sinkhole’s growing. And seismic activity in the area has spiked in the last twenty-four hours. The boys in scientific intelligence predict we’ll be seeing some action within twelve to twenty-four hours.”
A buzz erupted in the room as the pilots reacted to the news.
“Settle down, settle down,” the captain said. “Now. We can’t be caught by surprise like last time. We need to strike before the enemy does. And that’s where Lieutenant Commander Madison Montgomery Godright comes in. She’s been hand-selected by President Linden to help our frontline forces get the upper hand.”
Groans and grim expressions cropped up around the room. Maddy’s face flushed and she tried to keep a brave face as the pilots turned to look at her.
“Now, I know a lot of you may have some personal opinions about the Immortals, especially right now. But today I am ordering you to check those opinions at the door. And I want you to remember that Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Godright is on our side, always has been. So put aside any prejudices and let her help us. We have to trust her. She might be our best hope.”
He turned to Maddy, gesturing for her to stand up.
“You can take it from here, Lieutenant Commander.”
“I, um . . .” Maddy scanned the eyes in the room, most of which eyed her back with distrust. She felt panicked, and was reminded of how she felt the first time she went to a red-carpet Angel event. All those expectant faces, not all of them friendly. Finally she spotted Tom, nodding reassuringly and mouthing, “You can do it.”
She took a breath, thinking about what Susan Archson had taught her about concentration and staying in the present moment whenever she felt nervous. Maddy looked around the room and met each mistrustful gaze with pure grace.