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 controlling 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.