Battle Angel (Immortal City 3)

“Maddy, come on,” he said.

“I made a promise, Jacks,” Maddy said.

“A promise to him,” Jacks said. “But what about the promises to me?”

“I’ve kept all the promises I’ve made to you, Jacks. Don’t be unfair.” Maddy stared intently at him. “I’m not just some waitress anymore, Jacks,” she said.

“And I’m not just some red-carpet Angel,” he said.

“What do you want from me?”

“I’m not here to change your mind. But I needed to come. I realized, this is my real duty. Detective Sylvester helped show me,” Jacks said. “And . . . Gabriel,” he added cryptically. “You may find it hard to believe that this isn’t just about me trying to get you back,” he went on. “But I feel it somehow. It’s somehow different.”

Maddy could tell Jacks was serious.

He put his hand up to Maddy’s cheek and lightly brushed it. She allowed it to rest there for a moment before turning away.

“Tom might see us,” Maddy said.

“Seriously?” Jackson said. “You were my girlfriend for how long, Maddy?”

“I don’t want any more problems,” Maddy said. “Jacks. It’s . . . it’s too late for this.” Maddy burned with guilt. “If this isn’t about . . . you and me, then why are you and Tom sti

ll fighting?”

“I can’t . . . help it,” said Jacks. “Even just seeing him near you, I start to feel crazy.” The Battle Angel sighed. “But I know this is bigger than either of us, Maddy.”

“I know,” Maddy said, somehow not able to look Jackson in the face. She was afraid of what would happen to her, inside, if she did. She thought of Tom’s warm embrace around her, and the promise she’d made to him.

“After you saw me, Detective Sylvester found a way to come see me in the underground sanctuary.” A darkness cast over Jacks’s face. “To persuade me to join the humans.”

“Sylvester convinced you?” Maddy asked. “And what’s a sanctuary?”

“There’s a lot you need to get caught up on,” Jacks said. “And he didn’t convince me right then. Although, he did help widen the crack of doubt I first felt when you and I met at my house. I was so angry when you met me.” He paused, and Maddy remained silent. “I was almost blind with rage. But our abandoning humanity, no matter how right it may be for the Angels, it didn’t feel right to me. Deep down, if I admitted it, I had doubts all along.

“In the end, to be honest, I did come because of you,” Jackson went on. “But not why you’re thinking. Gabriel wanted me to do something. . . .” The Angel’s expression turned inward for a moment. “I almost did it. I was so close. But then I thought about you, Mads. Your face came up. And I was ashamed.

“I realized how far I’d gone. Toward hate. Because of hurt. Or whatever it was. And I knew I couldn’t do what Gabriel had asked. He wanted me to take another Angel’s life.” Jacks paused, and Maddy looked at him with deep concern. “And not only that. But I knew I needed to help the humans. And protect you. Even if you were with . . . him. That it was the right thing to do. That it was my real duty. No matter what Gabriel and the Council would think. How much they would damn me and defame me to the rest of the Immortals.

“I remembered something my mom said to me: to not forget what kind of Guardian I was. And I had,” Jacks said, his voice coloring with emotion. “So I approached those other Angels I thought might want to come with me. Guardians I knew who would follow me. And others came, too, those I didn’t even ask. They believed in me. It was a strange feeling, after so much doubt and anger about you turning me down and turning away from the Angels. To have these other Guardians believe in me, to want to follow me.” His gaze drifted back to the coastline. “We left before the Council even knew what was happening. I had to do it; no matter how much I may agree with Gabriel on other issues, this isn’t one of them. And these Angels came with me.”

Maddy looked softly into the Angel’s eyes as he finished telling the story of how he had become a traitor in the eyes of Gabriel and the others. How difficult it must have been for Jacks to make that decision and bring these Angels to humanity’s side.

“Sylvester has a theory that something is controlling the demons,” Jacks said. “That there is a leader moving them beyond chaos and destruction into something more calculating and planned. And much more dangerous.”

“He told me about it,” said Maddy. “But what can we do?”

“It just makes it that much harder,” said Jacks. “We won’t be able to predict their moves. They’re not just going to be moving in to kill. If Sylvester’s right, they have some other plans, too.”

Maddy looked at him with questioning eyes.

“Like . . . what?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Jacks said grimly. “We need to flush the head demon out into the open. But how we will do that, I don’t know. We might have to wait until they’re actually attacking. And then we can make our move.”

“But how would you ever find . . . it?” Maddy thought back to the chilling vision from her nightmare this morning, of the Dark Angel that was larger and more terrifying than any she’d ever seen.

“I don’t know yet,” Jacks admitted, looking down the hallway. “But if we can find it and kill it, we could end this whole thing. It might be our only hope. But we will have to hold them off long enough.”