Battle Angel (Immortal City 3)

And without saying anything more, Jacks rocketed into the sky, robotic wings hissing through the air, and was gone.

Maddy felt a gentle warmth as Tom took her hands in his.

“Maddy? Will you look at me, please?” Maddy realized her face was still turned up to where Jacks had disappeared into the sky. She turned and met the green eyes tha

t were waiting for her.

“Are you okay?” Tom asked. Maddy was done being strong. The fearless Guardian Godright was all used up, and only the vulnerable Maddy Montgomery was left.

“I’m so afraid, Tom,” she said, her voice small. “If something happens to you—”

“I’ll be fine.” Tom smiled. “I’ve got you. That’s all I need.”

Maddy’s smile was tight, and her throat was closing in. Her cheeks were hot and wet. The truth, Maddy thought. What was the truth, anyway? The truth was that no one knew what to expect. Not even Jacks. Not even the Angels. So why did she know he was right? They couldn’t win. What had Jacks called it? Not a fight, an extermination. An enslavement.

Just then, Maddy became aware that they were no longer alone. The dock had filled with sudden life as the carrier and the soldiers prepared to leave port. Families were saying goodbye to their loved ones, wishing farewell to fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. Children. She wanted to know what was going through their heads. Did they feel hopeful? Were they scared? She wondered what Tom was thinking, too. In her mind, there was only the ringing of Jacks’s words. An extermination.

Maddy put on her bravest face.

“Take care of yourself,” she managed.

“I better.” Tom grinned. “I have to get back to you.”

He kissed her, and Maddy kissed him back, but it felt strange on her lips. Not like a kiss of love. A kiss of goodbye.

And before she could process the feeling, he was gone. She stood alone as Tom walked toward the gangplank, eventually disappearing into a small sea of officers and sailors. It was all Maddy could do to fight the awful feeling that she would never see him again. She closed her eyes and tried to push the thought away. She listened to the wind. To the clanging rope-on-metal sound of the flagpole. To the flap of the flag. She opened her eyes to find it was the American flag that was flying, the Stars and Stripes. She hadn’t noticed until just then, but there it was, fluttering overhead on this near-perfect day. This, she realized, might be one of the last. Very soon, there might not be any more nice days for Angel City. Only time would tell what they were in for.

At least she had done it. She had to focus on that. She could hold on to that, couldn’t she? She had come here today to tell Jacks it was all over, that it was Tom who had stolen her heart, whom she had fallen in love with. She had told Jacks she didn’t love him anymore. She had done it.

So what if it wasn’t true?

CHAPTER THREE

In the car, the tears came again. She still hated the feeling of the hot liquid spilling over her cheeks, the quiet dap dap as the tears found her jeans. Crying made her feel weak. But she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Holding on to the wheel with one hand, she pulled her sleeve over her palm and wiped her face with the other. This, she thought, was a very human moment: driving and crying at the same time. She wondered how many trips people had taken in tears, having to balance those two things, steering with one hand and wiping with the other. It should be called cryving, Maddy thought. She should trademark it. She gave a crooked half-smile through her tears.

Maddy turned onto an on-ramp to send her gleaming Audi racing down to the freeway. But she was stopped at the entrance by a National Guard roadblock.

Two soldiers holding machine guns and wearing Kevlar helmets stood there in front of a Humvee.

“I’m sorry, miss, but by order of the governor we have closed off all freeways to all nonemergency vehicles. Any citizens who are still in the area are advised to seek shelter and await further instructions.”

Maddy pulled her sunglasses off and tried to smile at the soldier. It was funny; she had always thought using the Do you know who I am? move to get something you want was a terrible abuse of Angel celebrity, but she needed to get back to Kevin.

And it worked; another soldier off to the side lit up in recognition.

“It’s Maddy Montgomery!” the soldier said.

“I just got here,” Maddy said. “I need to get back to Angel City. How could I know you’d be blocking the freeways?”

The first soldier looked unsure, but the second one, who was obviously an Angel fan, approached and intervened.

“Let her through, Ernesto,” the second soldier said. Maddy tried to maintain the smile, even though on the inside she was crumbling with sadness and fear.

“I don’t know . . . ,” the first soldier, Ernesto, said. But the second soldier was already moving the barricade.

Maddy shot him a thank you wave and stepped on the gas pedal before the soldier could change his mind. As she zipped down the on-ramp, she peered out the windshield at a sight she had never seen before. The Angel City Freeway was completely empty. It was eerie. And just another reminder that this was not a normal day. Because normal days were over. The massive five-lane freeway looked naked with no traffic, no honking drivers, no cars changing lanes without signaling first. Deserted, Maddy thought, just like the humans. And empty, just like she felt. There was a strange silence to driving down this empty open stretch, with only the hum of her car and the whistle of the wind to remind her she was alive. If she closed her eyes, she would be able to convince herself she wasn’t driving at all. She could be running. Nowhere in particular, just running away.

She switched on the radio and heard nothing but a long, monotonous tone for several seconds before a voice broke in.