Natural Born Angel (Immortal City 2)

Mark seemed about to protest again when a voice spoke. Faces turned. It was Archangel Churchson.

“Let him stay.”

CHAPTER 8

Maddy’s alarm woke her from a strangely dreamless sleep. It was her first day of training to become a Guardian Angel. Turning her head, she looked again at the Angel City sign perched above the Hills. It seemed different today.

Maddy stepped into the bathroom, turning the shower on scalding hot. She looked at herself in the mirror as the water heated up. You are not scared, Maddy. You are not scared.

She shook her head. She couldn’t lie to herself. You are totally scared, though!

Taking off the T-shirt she slept in, Maddy turned her back to the mirror and looked over her shoulder before she stepped into the shower. Her Immortal Marks, delicate and fair, shone on her bare back. Recently the marks had become even more pronounced, and Maddy could swear she even saw them give off a sparkling light every now and then.

After showering and towelling dry, Maddy had to choose what she was going to wear for her first day of training. Against her best efforts to discourage him, Jacks had insisted on taking Maddy shopping with his money – she would be getting her first Guardian-training stipend cheque soon, along with an enormous signing bonus, which itself would be more money than she’d ever dreamt of seeing in her life, but the Angel lawyers were still working on the contracts. Maddy was still trying to decide how far to give in to Darcy’s insistence on va

rious photo shoots and endorsements. She had heard that Nike was interested in a special “Maddy” shoe, even.

She’d laid some of the new clothes Jacks had insisted on buying her across the back of her old wooden desk chair. She slipped into a skirt and then squeezed into a finely cut shirt by a designer whose name she couldn’t pronounce. She closed her bedroom door and looked at herself in the full-length mirror that hung on the back.

She had to admit that the clothes had a certain charm. If she were really going to admit it, they looked great – the sales girl had definitely known what would look good on her. But Maddy looked at herself behind the clothes and saw how uncomfortable she appeared, like she was afraid she’d rip something just by sneezing. She seemed stiff and awkward.

Walking to her wardrobe, Maddy rummaged around for a bit before ultimately coming up with what she was looking for, her old favourite pair of jeans. She slipped off the skirt and put the jeans on. Now just to find the other piece. . . Pawing through a small pile of clean laundry near the door, Maddy found it: her grey hoodie. Finishing her trademark uniform, Maddy looked at herself in the mirror. She was so much more relaxed, it was almost shocking. Jacks may complain, but Maddy wasn’t going to start her first day as an Angel wearing clothes she didn’t feel like herself in.

She did grab one of Jacks’s purchases, a pair of Dior sunglasses she secretly loved. Sticking them on, Maddy flipped off the light switch and headed downstairs. Stealing a quick glance out of the front window, she was shocked to see the largest crowd of paparazzi she’d had to contend with yet.

When the Archangels announced last week that Maddy would start training to become a Guardian, the response from the media had been quick and overwhelming. The press had been focused on the shocking bombing of the Angel offices and the grisly casualties, but now a scintillating and unheard of story started replacing the sombre coverage of the violence: the future Guardianship of an ordinary girl from Angel City. A! and ANN and almost all the other networks quickly put together hour-long specials about Maddy. Fox ran a new episode of American Protection as a lead-in to their “Maddy” special. The networks had got their paws on old yearbooks and showed the worst possible pictures Maddy could have imagined, including a disastrous one from seventh grade, or “The Year of the Braces”, as she shuddered to think of it. Old classmates she didn’t even really remember were interviewed, talking about Maddy like they had been best friends for years. Practically everyone who’d ever met Maddy seemed to be getting in on the action. Worst of all, Maddy thought, was how each of the specials went into gory detail over the dramatic events around Jackson’s Commissioning: Jackson saving her, the Dark Angel attack, the deadly freeway chase, Jackson’s mangling at the hands of the hired demon, and her own near-death.

The Angel blogs were even worse, running over every piece of gossip they could pick up. Every other hour, it seemed like Johnny Vuitton had some new “blind” item, and with everything horrible that came up, Maddy would get a breathless text from Gwen at college in Arizona.

As for Maddy’s publicist . . . Darcy was beside herself every day: her office was being swamped with requests, but Maddy was still turning down interviews, photo shoots and appearances.

“Maddy, just be reasonable,” Darcy had pleaded yesterday, practically on the verge of anxious tears. “For the love of whatever you believe in, please let me do my job!”

But Maddy, for now, was steadfast – she wanted to focus on her training. With the spotlight trained on her, she was going to need every last bit of concentration as she prepared to become a Guardian.

She ran past the paparazzi to Kevin’s old station wagon, slamming the door shut and peeling out of the drive as quickly as she could. Once away from the clustered pack of photographers, she turned on the radio. DJs on every channel seemed to be talking about her.

“Angel fanatics across the globe are beside themselves today as Madison Montgomery Godright, the human girl formerly only known as superstar Jackson Godspeed’s girlfriend, steps into the spotlight as she begins her Guardian Angel training in glamorous Angel City! Maddy, who is the only part-Angel, part-human ever known to exist, still doesn’t have her wings yet – but that isn’t stopping the Archangels from getting her into training with other future Angel nominees, like Jacks’s bestie, Mitch Steeple, and the sexy Australian Emily Brightchurch! Stay tuned all week as we cover all things Maddy, the girl who became an Angel!”

Maddy flipped to another channel, but it was more of the same. The host, Jason Shipley, had a raspy voice, but that didn’t disguise his enthusiasm.

“For years, hopefuls around the country, and even the world, have moved to Angel City in hopes of someday becoming a Protection and joining the sexy and elite circle of Immortals! But now they have an even bigger dream, as this week former waitress Maddy Montgomery starts training to become an Angel! And Angel Magazine is offering a cool $1 million for the first photo of Maddy’s wings! So if you’re in the Immortal City this week, have your camera ready and you could have a great payday!”

One million dollars? Maddy hadn’t known that. A stab of anxiety hit her as she imagined having her wings come out in public. She hoped against hope that she’d have some kind of control when they decided to make their debut.

She pulled up to the guard shack that led to the entrance to the Angel training campus. The security officer leaned down, eyeing the old station wagon suspiciously over the brim of his black hat.

“Hi,” Maddy said, smiling tentatively.

“Who are you here to see?”

“Um, no one – I mean, I’m here myself – I mean, I’m here for training.”

“ID?” the guard barked. Maddy could see another guard in the shack. It looked like he had some kind of rifle slung across his shoulder, too.

She handed her California driver’s licence to the guard. As soon as he read the name on the plastic ID, his expression brightened.

“Oh, right this way, miss,” he said brightly. “I didn’t recognize you. Never can be too careful, especially with those HDF wackos making more threats everyday.”