The anchor back in the studio whispered: “It seems the Council is in the newer chapel. And it looks like Gabriel is walking to the podium. Let’s listen in during what could be a historic moment for human- and Angelkind alike.”
One True Immortal stepped forward. It was, of course, Gabriel. He seemed even taller, more impressive than usual as he walked to the podium with the microphone. The Immortals behind him closed ranks, shoulder to shoulder, to fill the hole he left. Gabriel’s piercing eyes and sharp features, framed by his famous white hair, looked straight into the camera.
He began speaking.
“It is with true sadness that I have to stand here today. Unwarranted aggression, envy and spite have brought us to this point. For almost a hundred and fifty years we Angels have existed with humans in harmony, doing our divine duty: saving lives. Throughout, we have found a willing and reasonable partner in the United States government, which has always appreciated the invaluable services we provide.
“Recent developments have strained that bond to the breaking point. It is true that mistakes have been made. The deplorable behaviour of Archangel Churchson shocked us on the Council as much as it surely did you. And there is certainly room for . . . adjustments within the National Angel Services.
“But I am not lying when I say that this is not the way to help us reform. And we will not stand by as our divine rights are trampled upon by a newcomer president and his lackey Congress. We have been here far too long for that, I assure you.
“Thus it is with great reluctance, but also strong resolve, that I now say we will not allow any action to be taken against Angels. Retribution will be swift, effective and immediate. We are a united front of supernatural stature. Humans have yet to see an Angel at war, but if President Linden and his Global Angel Commission have their way, they shall see one soon enough.
“Thank you. And good afternoon.”
The almost empty bowl of granola and yoghurt Maddy was holding on her lap fell out of her hands. Her eyes were wide in total shock. The bowl rattled on the floor but didn’t break.
On screen, Gabriel stepped back into the shadows towards his fellow Council members as they nodded in assent, his skin nearly luminescent. The footage from the chapel began to fade to black.
The bearded anchor back in the studio was in disbelief as they cut back to him, his mouth hanging wide open. “We’re back on. OK, we’re back on. And, yes, an official statement from Gabriel and the Council of Twelve. And it seems . . . it seems, folks, that Gabriel just threatened some kind of Angel . . . military action against the government if the international ban is enforced. Marcy, can we confirm that with the NAS? OK, yes, and you saw it here, Gabriel promising, quote, ‘swift, effective and immediate’ retribution.”
Maddy’s hand managed to find the remote and mute the TV. An Angel war? What would that even look like? Maddy asked herself.
Her iPhone buzzed on the table in front of her. Jacks was calling.
Maddy looked at the black vibrating phone like it was a snake about to bite her. Her mind raced immediately to what had happened with Tom the night before. After the second ring, she picked up.
Jackson’s voice was serious, urgent. “I need to see you.”
“OK.” She breathed the word out before she even knew it.
“Is there any way you can get out without being followed?”
Maddy peered through a crack in the brown curtains and saw the three-ring media circus still set up outside. “I don’t know, maybe. They’ll see my car.”
“Slip out on foot. Meet me just up the hill on Ivar Avenue in twenty minutes.”
Putting on an old pair of sweatpants and an even older hoodie, Maddy was able to walk straight out the front of the diner and sneak out the back of the car park between the bushes before anyone across the street noticed. Her pulse was beating harder and harder as she slipped on to a street parallel to Ivar and began walking a few blocks north, her sneakers crunching the fallen leaves underfoot.
Jacks’s voice had been urgent, distraught: I need to see you.
What could he say?
Maddy didn’t even know where her
feet were taking her, they just kept moving. But as her feet moved, one after the other, she felt somehow as if they were leading her to some kind of destiny. The residential street was quiet in the early afternoon, and she didn’t have too much trouble keeping herself unrecognized.
She reached the meeting point, slightly up the hill on the tree-lined street. She anxiously looked around, not seeing Jackson. Just a minute later, Jackson’s cherry red Ferrari squealed to a stop next to her.
“Get in,” Jacks said. Sunglasses hid his blue eyes as he opened the passenger door from the inside for her. Maddy got in the car and felt the six hundred horses roar under the engine as they peeled their way further up the street. After a little searching, Jacks found a dead end further up the hill and pulled to a stop. The engine died, and he stepped out of the car. Maddy soon followed.
Jacks stood there in a T-shirt and jeans, pacing back and forth at the end of the shabby road. It dead-ended to a guardrail, beyond which was grass and a gentle slope down to some houses below. No one was near. Jacks ripped the sunglasses off his face and looked at Maddy. Maddy had never seen his beautiful eyes set in such gaunt pain and anxiousness.
“You know the Council— ” Jacks started.
“I saw,” Maddy said sadly. “I saw Gabriel.”
“So then you know . . . war is inevitable.”