Battle Angel (Immortal City 3)

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.