Immortal City ic-1

by Scott Speer

  The man followed quickly. They found Jacks crouched like an animal waiting to attack. His wings trembled in the air, ready. In a blur, he had thrown the man against the lockers.

  The Angel’s eyes burned in fear, almost unrecognizable.

  “Jacks, wait!” Maddy said.

  “It’s. . gone. .” the man choked. “Please, it’s gone.”

  It was several seconds before Jacks released his grip on the man’s throat. The man slumped, coughing, against the lockers. Jacks’s chest was heaving. His eyes darted to Maddy and then back to the man.

  “Wait a minute, I know you,” Jacks said furiously.

  “My name is Sylvester. I’m a detective with the ACPD.

  We met when I interviewed you at your house earlier this week.” Jacks’s face tensed. Sylvester held up a hand in surrender. “I’m alone. If my intention was to arrest you, this place would be swarming with police right now.”

  “What are you doing here?” Jacks asked. Sylvester rubbed his throat.

  “Up until tonight I was leading the investigation into the Angel attacks on the boulevard. I started tracking the demon two days ago. I tracked him here.”

  Demon, Maddy thought. She had heard the word before but never thought they were real.

  “It just left,” Jacks said, his eyes bewildered. “It was right there, facing me, and then it just disappeared.”

  Sylvester nodded. “I was hoping this would work if I ever made contact, and it did, but it likely won’t again.” He opened his fist. A small amulet with an ancient inscription sat on the palm of his hand. He retrieved the brass ornamental box from the pocket of his jacket and carefully placed the object on the crushed purple velvet inside. He closed the box securely.

  Jacks studied the tall, tired man before him. His eyes narrowed.

  “You’re an Angel,” Jacks said in disbelief.

  Sylvester nodded again. “Yes, I am.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “Not every Angel is still a Guardian, Jackson,”

  Sylvester said, “and not all Angels are loyal to the Council.”

  Jacks stepped back. Sylvester straightened up and smoothed his coat.

  “You have a theory?” Jacks said. “About this. . this thing?”

  Sylvester shrugged. “It’s just a hunch.”

  Jacks considered his words. “We need to talk,” he said after a moment.

  Sylvester’s brow furrowed. “Technically I should be bringing you in.”

  “But you’re not going to do that,” Jacks said carefully.

  “Are you?”

  Sylvester sighed.

  “No, I’m not,” the detective said. He removed his glasses and rubbed his face. He looked between Jacks and Maddy.

  “My car is parked out front. I’ll pull it around.”

  They rode in the back of Sylvester’s unmarked cruiser through the sleeping streets of the Immortal City. The car tracked past the pockets of nocturnal homeless and criminals, fluorescent-lit twenty-four-hour donut shops, the occasional fogged window with lights creeping out from behind drawn curtains. Unsavory business getting transacted.

  The Angel City underworld. In another hour or so, it would start to get light, street sweepers would scour the roads and alleys, and the Immortal City would be camera ready again.

  Maddy settled into the seat quietly next to Jacks and let the relief course through her veins. She had never experienced fear like that she had felt in that biology lab. She wasn’t sure she trusted the rumpled detective who was driving them to who knew where, but at least they were headed away from the school. At least for now they were safe.

  Maddy looked down at the small gap of vinyl between her and Jacks on the seat. When they had gotten into the backseat, she had instinctively left that space between them, like she always did. A minimum of protection from Jacks’s intoxicating presence.

  In the terror of the moment she had almost forgotten the new deal she had made with herself. To believe he actually had feelings for her. To let him in. Carefully, she leaned toward him and closed the gap between them. Her heart thudded irregularly as her shoulder touched his, and the wave of his warmth washed over. It was so lovely to be close to him. Jacks reached over and rested his hand on her leg.

  The casual touch was thrilling. Like he was familiar with her. She sat there feeling the warmth of his hand through her jeans, listening to the sound of her pounding heart, and trying to control her suddenly erratic breathing as Sylvester pulled up a narrow driveway and parked.

  The apartment was in a Spanish-style building from the 1930s. Old Angel City, Maddy thought, a reminder of a forgotten past. They followed him upstairs and into his corner unit. The apartment was simple and unadorned.

  There was a living room with a fireplace at its center instead of a television and chairs for sitting instead of a couch.

  Through the glass door of the tiny balcony she could see an old Catholic church. She had never noticed it before; it was beautiful.

  Newspaper clippings and articles haphazardly covered the walls. The apartment must double as an office, Maddy thought. She went to the wall and read some of the clippings. Bizarre sightings, unexplained tragedies, natural disasters. Descriptions of a strange, burning creature with wings. Maddy began to feel uneasy. When Sylvester spoke, it made her jump.

  “I know it’s not much,” Sylvester said, a little self-conscious, “but please make yourselves at home.” Maddy turned and glanced at Jacks. He gave her a nod as if to say he thought things were okay. They sat in the old chairs.

  “It’s not every day I have a Godspeed and a Godright over,” Sylvester said as he settled into his chair.

  “You know?” Jacks said, surprised.

  “Of course,” Sylvester said, looking at them both. “I’m one of the very few who does.”

  Jacks nodded. He was silent for a moment as he considered this.

  “That thing,” Jacks said finally. “At the school. I’ve never felt anything like it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Most of us haven’t,” Sylvester said grimly. “It’s been years since anyone has encountered a Dark Angel.”

  “A what?” Maddy asked.

  “A demon,” Jacks said.

  The word hung ominously in the tiny room.

  “But there’s no such thing,” Maddy said, as if saying the words would make it so. Sylvester looked at her evenly.

  “If you can accept there are Angels in the world, then you must also realize that there are demons.” His face was deadly serious. “Just as there is a world above us, there is a world below us too, Maddy.”

  “But they were destroyed. Thousands of years ago,”

  Jacks said.

  “The world is a darker place than you think, Jackson.”

  Maddy thought about the thing. She felt the claw trace down her back again. A demon. It sent a chill slither-ing down her spine.

  “Demons can be found in the darkest corners of our world. They’re in the shadows, causing catastrophic earth-quakes, tsunamis, even hurricanes. I think if someone went looking for a Dark Angel and looked hard enough, they could find one.”

  “Even if what you’re saying is true,” Maddy said, “and even if they do still exist, what was one doing in my high school?”

  Sylvester’s face faltered. “I don’t know. Ancient writ-ings, even the Bible, describe demons attacking cities and laying waste to villages. Causing chaos. What’s going on in Angel City is entirely different. This demon is attacking specific Angels. It’s choosing its targets. It tracked Jackson there. It feels like premeditation to me, like there’s a motive behind it. It feels like a good, old-fashioned, regular crime.”

  Jacks studied Sylvester intently. “Meaning what?”

  Sylvester removed his glasses and began polishing the lenses against his shirt.

  “Meaning I think someone could be controlling it.

  That’s my theory at least. We talk about demons in our lives, and we talk about controlli
ng them. Where do these meta-phors come from? I think a long time ago it was possible to hire a demon, much like Angels are hired today. Not with money, of course, but with something much more valuable.

  Something the demon wants. It may still be possible today.

  Someone might have brought a demon to the city and be using it to carry out these attacks.” He finished his polishing and returned his glasses to his face. “I know it sounds incredible, but I think someone is playing a very dangerous game with a force they can’t possibly comprehend.”

  Maddy’s heart was racing. “But who would do that?

  Who would be using it to kill Angels? And sending it after us?”

  “The Archangels,” Jacks said miserably, thinking about the stain on Mark’s jacket. “It has to be the Archangels. They must be using it to eliminate their enemies, and now that includes us.”

  “I wouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Sylvester said. “It’s one possibility. Although. . hmm.” He got up and started pacing. “I haven’t been able to put my finger on why the NAS would want to eliminate Godson, Templeton, and Crossman. They weren’t with the anti-Angel movement. I found no evidence of ties between them and Senator Linden, say, or the HDF. But Godson was known to be a wo-manizer and a drunk, and Templeton had a secret drug addiction. It could be that the Archangels are pruning the tree, cutting off embarrassing branches. I’ll have Garcia look into Crossman’s background.”

  “It’s the only possibility,” Jacks said through his teeth.

  “Kevin said the Archangels would do whatever it took to keep us apart. We’ll, that’s exactly what they’re doing.

  They’re going to kill us just like they killed Jacob and Regina. Just like they killed my father.”

  The detective looked unblinking at the young Angel in front of him.

  Jackson stared back, narrowing his eyes. “What happened to you? Did they take. .?”

  “Yes, the NAS took my wings. Punishment,” Sylvester said. Maddy’s eyes grew wide. “Not for missing a save, like most police at ACPD would think.”

  “What was it?” Maddy asked.

  “It was for saving someone who wasn’t a Protection.”

  “The Archangels let you live?” Jacks said, astonished.

  “It wasn’t public. They didn’t consider me a threat.

  Found it more of a punishment to mortalize me, discredit me, send me as a ‘failure’ into the human world.” Sylvester studied him gravely. “You can be sure they won’t have the same leniency with you. You’re too involved with Maddy, everyone was watching your Commissioning. You’re just too big, Jackson.”

  Maddy held her breath. The detective was silent.

  Jacks sat very still. She could see him thinking intensely.

  “What should we do?” Maddy said finally.

  “We’re getting out of here,” Jacks said. It surprised them both. “I want to get as far away from Angel City and from the NAS as I can.”

  He turned to Sylvester.

  “We need to figure out a way to get out of the city.

  Will you help us?”

  Sylvester looked back and forth between them with searching eyes, then nodded.

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Thank you,” Jacks said, giving him an appreciative nod. Maddy watched as despair washed in waves over his face. She wondered if he was replaying the detective’s words in his head, or Kevin’s words, or maybe even Mark’s. Was he remembering the chase through the skyline or the demon?

  Maddy wished she could know what he was thinking. That she could help. Jacks got up and left the living room. He went out to the tiny balcony and slumped down in a chair.

  After a moment, Maddy followed.

  The balcony faced the street, with a view of Sunset and of East Angel City. Jacks sat in one of the rusted metal chairs. A few dead plants sat in pots on a wire table. Maddy sat in the chair next to him. They watched the first light of the gray dawn spread along the streets.

  “Everything I’ve believed in is a lie, Maddy,” Jacks muttered. “Everything I’ve worked for since I was ten. Angels aren’t the heroes. We’re the villains.”

  Maddy shook her head firmly. “You are not a villain,”

  she said.

  He looked at her with searching, intense eyes. “Will you come with me? Leave the city. I mean, haven’t you ever just wanted to get out of here?”

  It was all she had ever wanted. She had always imagined it would be with her bags packed for college, and not escaping as a fugitive. But it was still leaving, all the same.

  “Yes,” she said. It was the only answer. Not just because it was what she had always wanted, but because, she suddenly realized, she was going wherever Jacks was going.

  It was just like when he had invited her to the party and asked her to come with him on the rainy rooftop. There was only ever one answer.

  “Good. We’ll leave this morning and never come back to Angel City again.”

  He smiled at her, but the smile was edged with sadness. Reaching over, she placed her hand over his on the table. Just as he had done for her at her house, she supported him by saying the most important thing she could say.

  Nothing at all.

  She felt the contours of his hand around hers and realized it was becoming familiar to her. Like much of him.

  Sitting next to him in silence, Maddy was surprised to realize she was totally happy in this moment. It was incredible.

  She wasn’t used to being happy. She didn’t want it to end.

  “It’s going to be dangerous,” Jacks said, interrupting the silence.

  “I know,” Maddy said. She thought about what would be involved in trying to escape Angel City while not being recognized. Her stomach filled with a heavy feeling. There was something she was missing, even if she couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “I’m willing to risk it if you are,” he said.

  “Yeah,” Maddy said. “Me too.”

  “We’ll be okay so long as we’re together,” he said, leaning over and putting his lips in her hair.

  Maddy reached up and put her hand on his face. “We will, together.”

  They were silent a moment longer before Maddy heard Sylvester shuffling around inside.

  “We should get going,” Jacks said, drawing away.

  They got up and went back into the apartment, leaving the balcony and the dawn, silent behind them.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Kevin sat motionless in the sea of empty tables in Kevin’s Diner. He wouldn’t be opening today. The sound of silence in the usually bustling dining room was so loud it was nearly overwhelming.

  After the Angels left, he had just wandered about the abandoned tables and booths. He thought about going home, but he didn’t know if he could face the house without Maddy, if he could look at the gaping, jagged windows that had swallowed her into the night. So he had decided to stay in the restaurant, but it wasn’t much better. He still hadn’t slept.

  When dawn finally came, he rose from his seat and shuffled back into the kitchen. There was no great hurry.

  The cold kitchen smelled of stale grease and cleaning solvent. He picked up the coffeepot to rinse it out, but it was already clean. He checked the burners again to make sure they were off. They were. He picked up the broom from the corner and ran it over the floor. The bristles against the linoleum made the only sound in the restaurant. He stopped after a moment and put the broom back. Silent again. Absolute stillness. His gaze drifted to the counter, where he was surprised to see Maddy’s notepad. He must not have noticed it in the dark last night. It was sitting haphazardly where she had thrown it after her last shift. When had that even been? He couldn’t remember. It seemed like ages ago.

  Another life.

  He went to the notepad and picked it up. He flipped through the pages. He looked at her scrawl, which he always criticized her for. Even now he could barely read it. Did that say with onions? Or no onions? It’s unreadable, he used to scold her. I can’t cook the
food if I can’t read your writing.

  He would be okay with it now, he thought. He would be fine with however she wrote the orders, if only she were here to write them. He set the notepad back down and leaned against the fryer, fighting the first tears he had felt in years.

  The steel lock of the front door banged as someone tried to open it, followed by a knock on the glass.

  “We’re closed!” Kevin yelled from the kitchen. The knock came again. Kevin looked up. He could see a silhouette on the other side of the door framed by the colorless glow of the morning.

  “I said we’re closed!” he yelled again, anger edging his voice.

  More raps on the glass. Insistent.

  With an annoyed sigh, Kevin rounded the corner of the kitchen and walked to the front door. He unlocked the door with a jingle and looked out.

  Standing there was an intensely beautiful woman he had never seen before. She seemed to be middle-aged but was slender and impossibly striking. There was something about her that was strangely familiar.

  “I’m sorry, but we’re closed,” Kevin said in a suddenly softer tone, almost startled by her beauty. The woman just stood there, a dark Hermès scarf wrapped around her hair.

  “Mr. Montgomery?” she asked.

  “If you’re a reporter, I don’t have a comment,” he said.

  “I’m not a reporter. I need to talk to you about your niece, Maddy. And my son. It’s important.”

  “Your son?” Kevin asked.

  She nodded.

  “Jackson.”

  Kevin blinked at her. It was Kris Godspeed. He had only ever heard about her, and maybe seen a few pictures over the years. He had never met her. Now he knew why she had seemed familiar to him. The likeness between her and Jacks was almost uncanny.

  “Come in,” he said reluctantly. She quickly stepped in and Kevin locked the door again behind her.

  Kris looked around the diner. She appeared somewhat on edge, unsure of herself. She was clearly out of place. Kevin motioned for her to take a seat at a nearby booth.

  “Please,” he said.