Immortal City

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“We’re going where?” Gwen’s tone was incredulous as she drove. She had just picked up Maddy in her mom’s blue Volvo, greeting Maddy with a crushing BFF hug. She was wearing a Team Maddy shirt that she had perfectly dis-tressed to match her denim skirt and high-heel sandals.

“Relax,” Maddy said, “I know how to get there.”

“Oh, really? And how’s that?”

Maddy produced the crinkled, dusty Angel map from her back pocket, the one Gwen had bought last summer that had almost gotten them both grounded.

“This thing really works, right?” They took the turn onto Outpost Road from Franklin and wound their way up into the Angel City Hills.

“And how did you even know about those shirts anyway?” Maddy asked, looking again at Gwen’s outfit.

“Duh!” Gwen chirped. “You tweeted about it.”

“That’s not me, Gwen.” Maddy groaned. “It’s someone pretending to be me.”

“Really? OMG, you have, like, impersonators? That is so cool!”

As Gwen navigated with the map, Maddy took out the envelope and placed the note in it. She unclasped her mom’s necklace from around her neck and slid the heavy ring off it.

“Is that a Divine Ring?” Gwen gasped in disbelief.

“I’m returning it,” Maddy said, dropping the ring in the envelope. “I’m just going to leave it at the front gate.”

Gwen looked like she might hyperventilate, but seeing Maddy’s expression, she did her best to stifle her excitement and nodded solemnly. Maddy turned the envelope over and wrote JACKS on it.

They had nearly reached the top of the hill when a tall, ivy-covered fence came into view. Beyond it, Maddy could just see the spires of a breathtaking mansion. The fence ran almost a full block before a gated drive appeared. Gwen looked at the map, then squinted out the windshield.

“I think we’re here.”

They parked, and Gwen cut the engine. Being so close to Jacks again, Maddy was surprised she didn’t feel the painful emotions she was expecting. She still sensed the despair and the regret, the pain of what had happened, but these were crowded out by an altogether different, new emotion. She was uneasy. She had expected to find the street full of people by now, swarms of paparazzi and live television reports, a grand homecoming for the prodigal son. Instead, the street was empty, almost eerily so. Had Darcy forgotten to tip off the media that Jacks was coming home? It was possible, but still, it bothered Maddy.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Gwen asked.

Maddy shook off her anxiety.

“That would be great, thanks.”

Getting out of the car, they walked toward the looming gate. It was quiet. Maddy reached the mailbox and discovered it was locked. She should have figured that. What now? She looked at the gate, not really expecting to find any solution there, and paused. She stared. The gate had been left open. Maddy’s intuition flickered again. Why would the gate be open? Someone could have forgotten to close it, but that was silly. She was sure Jacks’s family had a staff that monitored the grounds.

Maddy walked toward the gap between the ironwork doors and peered through it. It must have been left open on purpose, she thought. But why would you leave a security gate open? The answer came quickly: so someone could get in.

“Just leave it inside the gate, Maddy, and let’s go.”

Maddy looked at the envelope in her hands.

“I’m sorry, Jacks,” she whispered. “Goodbye.”

That’s when she heard the scream.

It echoed down the long drive and seemed to die just inside the gate. Had she not been standing so close, she was sure she wouldn’t have heard it at all. It was a woman’s scream, one of sorrow, not of pain. A wretched sound that sent a shiver down Maddy’s spine.

“Did you hear that?” Gwen asked, startled.

Maddy hesitated only a moment before squeezing through the gate and motioning to Gwen.

“Come on,” she whispered. “Follow me, and stay quiet.”

They stayed low against the wall of the driveway and crept noiselessly up the curving drive.

“Wait,” Maddy whispered, and pulled Jacks’s Divine Ring out of the envelope and threaded it back around her neck for safekeeping. They moved forward, and the spectacular estate came into view, nestled in immaculately mani-cured gardens.

“OMG, his house is amazing, right?” Gwen whispered behind her.

“Shhh!” Maddy hissed. She stopped where the wall was just high enough to conceal them and looked at the house. Jacks’s Ferrari was in the driveway, but there were also three black Escalades with tinted windows parked in front of the house. They stood, ominous. The front door to the house had been left open. She could hear an argument coming from somewhere inside.

“I need to get closer,” Maddy whispered. Scrambling forward, she ducked down behind a circular fountain next to the SUVs that sat directly in front of the house. Maddy could make out the words of the argument now. She flinched at their hostility, their agony.

“It was the only way to bring him in quietly,” a deep, authoritative voice barked.

“He’s your son! You promised! Do something!” It was the woman again, her voice jagged like broken glass.

“I’m just doing my duty, Kris,” the deep voice retorted.

Maddy felt her heart twist. Kris. Jacks’s mother. Then someone was coming out of the house, or being led out of the house. Maddy froze.

It was Jacks. Four broad-shouldered men in black suits led him. They had chiseled, flawless faces. Not men.

These were Angels. One of them had his hand on Jacks’s shoulder. Another turned to say something over his shoulder, and Maddy saw a split tailored into the back of his jacket. For wings. Angel Police, Maddy thought. Her heart sank.

It had all been a lie. Kevin couldn’t have known, or Jacks’s mom, but they all three had been fooled by it. The

“deal” must have been nothing more than a trick to get Jacks to turn himself in so he could be quietly dealt with. No big Angel battle with the whole world watching. No black mark against the Immortals. No scandal. Sylvester had been right, Maddy thought. The Archangels were willing to do whatever it took to protect themselves.

And she had helped them. She had delivered Jacks.

They were walking in her direction now, headed toward the waiting SUVs. Jacks’s face was expressionless. His eyes had turned colorless and gray. His arms hung limply at his side.

“Fight,” Maddy whispered furiously. “Dammit, Jacks, fight.”

But he didn’t. He let them take him. His face was the same blank mask she had seen at the station. Maddy fought back a paralyzing despair. She had taken the fight out of him. Once again, everything was her fault.

Maddy focused all her energy on overcoming the paralysis. She had to think. Because she had to do something. She watched carefully as they loaded Jacks into the middle vehicle, and made a note of which seat, which side. All three Escalades started up and began to move.

Already leaving.

A new commotion erupted from the house. Maddy’s eyes darted over. A middle-aged woman was struggling against her husband and another Angel in a suit. She was trying to leave the house. If she hadn’t been screaming with her hair tangled in her face, she would be strikingly beautiful. Regal, even. It had to be Kris Godspeed. Behind her, in the hall, Chloe stood helpless and crying, her face wrought with grief.

Suddenly, as Maddy watched, Kris’s wild eyes darted in her direction.

Maddy froze. She watched recognition dawn on Kris’s face. She knew Maddy was there, crouching behind the fountain, and she knew who she was. Maddy fought the urge to turn and run. Would Kris give her away? Sic the Angels on her? Instead, something flickered in Kris’s eyes. An unspoken message. Some understanding had just passed between them, but in the adrenaline-fueled rush of the moment, Maddy wasn’t sure just what.

Kris pulled hard against the two Angels holding her and, with a small cry, sent all three of them slamming into the wall just inside the foyer. Maddy heard the unmistakable sound of keys dropping to the floor as the three Angels collapsed to the ground in a chaotic tumble. Kris’s eyes narrowed in concentration. Her free leg kicked. The keys, which she had knocked off the wall next to her, jingled across the tile and came to rest in the open doorway.

Maddy didn’t think. She didn’t have time. She leapt to her feet and ran toward the front of the house. She heard Gwen yell behind her, but the rushing wind and pounding of her heart drowned out the words. She hit the doorway at a full sprint, more running into it than stopping, and flattened her body against the outside wall. Kris had done enough flailing to keep her captors occupied. Maddy slid down onto her knees, reached her arm out into the doorway, and grabbed the keys. The ignition key with a prancing horse on the yellow shield looked right at her.

Kris’s eyes shot over and fixed Maddy with a meaningful gaze.

Go.

In an instant Maddy was on her feet again and sprint-ing toward the Ferrari. She fumbled with the smart key while she ran, finding the unlock button. The Ferrari chirped to life. She hazarded a quick look down the driveway. The SUVs were already turning out the gate. In another moment, they would be gone. She saw Gwen running out from behind the wall. She must have seen Maddy’s frantic dash for the keys. Gwen reached the car first, jumping into the driver’s seat just as Maddy arrived.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Maddy gasped.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Gwen said.

Maddy opened the door. “No way. I don’t want you getting involved.”

“You need all the help you can get,” Gwen hissed.

“Seriously, get in.” Then she put both hands on the wheel.

“God, this car is so sexy.”

“Move over, then,” Maddy said as she got in, pushing Gwen into the passenger seat. “I’m driving.” She might not have a car of her own, but she’d never gotten less than an A in any class she’d ever taken, and that included driver’s ed.

She fed the key into the ignition and adjusted the rearview mirror. In the reflection, she could see Kris’s husband looking in her direction. She might only have seconds.

She punched the start button on the Ferrari and six hundred horses roared to life. The machine crouched like a wild animal, ready. Maddy depressed the clutch and moved the manual transmission into first. The Ferrari purred with anticipation. Gwen lifted an instructorly finger.

“Always adjust your side mirrors before putting the car in drive—”

Maddy released the clutch and shoved her foot down on the gas. The Ferrari lurched forward much faster than Maddy thought possible, throwing both girls violently into their seats. Maddy heard a voice behind her but didn’t dare look back.

“Put your seat belt on,” Maddy commanded. Gwen immediately obeyed. Maddy pushed the clutch in again, shifted to second, and smashed the accelerator. The Ferrari shot down the driveway like a whip and cleared the gate like a red marble out of a slingshot. She threw the wheel over, pivoting the screaming race car on its front right tire, and stomped on the gas again. In an instant they were rocketing down the street in pursuit of the caravan.