Natural Born Angel (Immortal City 2)

She knew what she wanted to talk to the Archangels about: the

idea she had for a charity programme for the disadvantaged who couldn’t afford Guardians and who weren’t one of the lucky few to win protection via lottery. This proposal would of course face some spirited debate, she imagined. Her idea was to get this front and centre in her Guardianship, even during her introduction and training. But now, faced with the monumental architecture, she was starting to think she would have to do her best just to survive the encounter.

This was just a formality, Jacks had assured her. A time for Maddy to meet the Archangels and go through a brief pre-training interview process.

The valet snapped to attention as soon as he saw Jacks’s Ferrari.

“Hello, Mr Godspeed, Ms Godright,” he said. Maddy raised an eyebrow – she’d never been called by her father’s last name before. “They’re waiting for you upstairs.”

Jacks and Maddy entered the elevator. It dinged as the door closed and rapidly ascended towards the main NAS floor. Maddy’s stomach lurched. Jacks smiled his warm, angelic smile at her and took her hand in his. She felt briefly comforted.

The elevator dinged again, and the doors slid open noiselessly on to the waiting area. Sleek modernist Italian leather sofas offered Protections and other guests a place to sit while waiting for their meeting with the Immortals. An entire wall of flat-screen TVs played the latest, greatest footage from the Angelcams. Angelcams had quickly become one of the most popular additions to the Angel industry ever, and the technology had already made huge strides in the year since they’d been introduced. All Angelcams now beamed HD-quality footage directly to the NAS TV team, which then provided it to the networks and posted it on SaveTube, where millions of ravenous fans waited to see the next save and who the new famous Protection would be.

The beautiful blonde human girl at reception greeted Jackson and Maddy as soon as they stepped off the elevator. She looked like she could be a model in her free time – but her beauty still somehow wasn’t on the level of the Immortals.

“Just a moment,” she said, smiling, then speaking under her breath into her headpiece. When Jacks looked away for a moment, Maddy saw the girl give her the up-and-down. Maddy gave her a look.

Within seconds the frosted glass doors that led to the offices opened up. Mark’s assistant greeted them, speaking faster than Maddy thought humanly possible, barely pausing even to breathe as they walked at a fast clip past the rows of assistants sitting at their desks outside the Archangels’ offices.

“Jacks-so-good-to-see-you,” he said, shaking Jackson’s hand. Then, with a big smile, “Maddy-I’m-Max-good-to-finally-meet-you-in-person-they’re-all-waiting-for-you-in-the-conference-room-do-you-want-anything-we’ve-got-waters-and-coffee-in-there-already.”

“Um,” Maddy said. “Water’s fine?”

“Great!”

Jackson started peeling off. “Hey, Max, I’ll just wait in Mark’s office, cool?”

“Already-have-the-game-on-in-there-for-you,” Max said. “Need-anything-let-Claire-know.” Jacks had described the workings of Mark’s office to Maddy to prepare her, and she remembered that Claire was Mark’s second assistant, who never seemed to leave the desk directly outside his office. Jacks had joked that he’d never even actually witnessed her leaving for so much as a bathroom break.

Maddy looked desperately at Jacks as he turned away from the conference room.

“Don’t leave me,” she silently mouthed to him.

“I have to. This is as far as I can go,” Jackson said sympathetically. “Remember: you’ll be great.” He disappeared down the hallway towards Mark’s massive corner office, leaving Maddy at the mercy of Max.

“Ready?” Max smiled at her, placing his hand on the steel handle of the opaque glass doors to the conference room.

Maddy took a deep breath and nodded.

The doors opened, and Maddy was met by the gaze of over a dozen Angels, mostly men, all in expensive tailored suits. The view, through a wall of tempered glass, looked out on to Beverly Hills and Angel City beyond. The Archangels were arrayed around a long, gleaming, dark wooden table. All waiting for her. The effect of all these flawless Immortals turning their eyes on her was overwhelming. Maddy felt her legs start to fail, but she just kept moving forward, aided by Max. Maddy recognized Mark among the unfamiliar faces. He secreted her an encouraging grin, and then his face flashed back to serious. An older Archangel near her stood up.

“Our newest star,” he said, flashing a million-dollar smile at her. The Archangel reached forward to shake her hand. “We can’t tell you how glad we are to see you here today.”

Most of the heads in the room nodded in assent, but Maddy also could see a couple more serious faces among the ranks of the Archangels that didn’t nod so quickly. Or even at all.

“Please, take a seat,” the Archangel said, motioning to the chair at the head of the table.

“OK, uh, thanks,” Maddy said, wishing now more than ever that she had her grey hoodie and iPod earbuds to hide behind. OK, uh, thanks?? Could she have sounded any lamer? Why had she ever agreed to any of this? She was starting to bitterly regret her choice. Pure adrenaline filled her veins as she settled in her chair and looked at the prestigious Archangels, the leading lights of the Immortal City, each one famous worldwide, all waiting to hear from her.

“Here’s-your-water-Maddy-would-you-like-lime?” Max rapidly spat out, filling a glass with ice and pouring Perrier in, finishing it with a lime wedge without waiting for her response.

Another Archangel spoke up.

“Madison, my name is Archangel Uriah Steeple. We’ve asked you here today just to speak with you during the preliminary phase, before your training. As we all know, your preparation for the life of a Guardian has been less than standard.”

“That much is undisputed,” an Archangel with a goatee near the end of the table stated. Maddy thought she recognized him from photos as Archangel Charles Churchson, uncle to Steven and Sierra Churchson, who had been Commissioned with Jacks the year before.

The others glared at him.