Natural Born Angel (Immortal City 2)

“What was it?”

“Nothing.”

“Jacks,” Maddy said. “No secrets. Remember?”

He sighed. “It was from Emily.”

Anger flooded through Maddy’s veins. “Why is she texting you? How’d she even get your number?”

“I don’t know. It’s stupid. You know how girls like Vivian and Emily can get. Vivian probably gave it to her. I deleted it. I’m not writing back. They’re just trying to get at you. They knew you’d be sitting right here when I got it.”

Maddy seemed to realize her raised voice had drawn the attention of the tables of Angels and Protections around them. “She never stops.”

Jacks scanned around the courtyard of the café. He suddenly had the impulse to get away from all those eyes, the Angels watching. Even Maddy herself.

“Are you OK, Jacks?” Maddy asked.

“Sure, I’m fine,” he lied, trying to keep his voice light. She seemed to believe him.

Maddy glanced over at her phone on the table and suddenly realized what time it was. “I’m going to be late! I almost forgot – I have my first flight lesson with that pilot. Professor Archson thinks it’s going to help.”

Maddy stood up and kissed Jacks on the cheek. “I’ll talk to you after, ’K?”

“Sure,” Jacks said, his mind swirling with the day’s events. He managed a weak smile at her. “Have fun.”

Maddy slipped between the tables of beautiful Angels, towards the street. Jackson watched her go.

He let out a long sigh and looked at the menu in front of him. Although he’d been hungry just a little bit ago, now he had no appetite. A waitress showed up, eyeing the solo Jackson Godspeed.

“Just coffee for me,” he said, handing the menu to the waitress.

CHAPTER 15

The small airstrip was on the far edge of Burbank, on the other side of the freeway from the glitzy Angel facilities. Maddy pulled in next to a guard shack, and the guard waved her through, barely looking up from his phone as he opened the gate.

Dust swirled on the old runway as she parked her Audi between an ’87 Dodge pickup and a Toyota Corolla with peeling white paint. A small hangar lay off the side of the airfield. Stepping out of her car, she realized how much hotter it was over here than in Angel City. A blazing wind rolled over the mountains that loomed behind her.

Walking towards the hangar, Maddy noticed a young man in a khaki naval-service dress uniform step out from the hangar, wearing aviator sunglasses and a stony expression. He had a striking jawline and chiselled cheekbones. He was tall and his shoulders were broad, his glossy hair dark though not as close-cropped as she thought it would be for someone in the military. The pilot was also younger than she thought he’d be – maybe just twenty-one. Maddy smiled in a friendly manner as she approached him, her heels clacking on the asphalt. His face remained unchanged. She guessed he must be her instructor.

Maddy was here on this dusty airstrip because of Susan Archson’s suggestion that she might need to learn to think like a human pilot. Maddy wasn’t entirely sure, though, how aeroplane training was going to help. She wasn’t going to be flying a plane; she was flying herself. But Susan had prevailed and said the young pilot was the best around and would be happy to work with Maddy.

Now, on the tarmac, she was meeting him for the first time. Reaching the boy in uniform, she put out her hand.

“Hi, you must be Tom, er, Lieutenant Cooper. I’m Maddy Mo—”

“You’re late,” the pilot said, looking down at his watch. His voice was deep and direct. Almost cold. He examined her outfit incredulously: heels and a skirt and a flirty top she’d had her stylist pick out for her since she had an appearance later.

“I, uh,” Maddy floundered. She checked her phone; she hadn’t realized she’d been running so late. There had been so much to take care of before this appearance later tonight that she’d let the time get away from her. . .

“I’m sorry, I had to meet with Darcy before, and she was stuck at an event with another client, and— ”

“Darcy?” The pilot raised an eyebrow above his aviator shades. “Who the hell is Darcy, and what does she have to do with your flight training?”

Maddy looked at him, speechless.

Tom examined the express

ion on Maddy’s face. “Yes?”