Natural Born Angel (13 page)

“As you’ll see, for correct take-off technique, Emily is looking directly forward with relaxed shoulders. Her wings are only— ”

Before the instructor could finish his sentence, Emily had beat her strong and sharp wings, once, twice, and then was off like a slingshot. Maddy’s jaw literally dropped as she saw how fast Emily could fly. The young Angel twisted, dipped and turned with ease, her flowing red hair whipping behind her, as she screamed to one edge of the course, then back, dipping over a series of hills, flying through a line of suspended hoops, and then rotating sideways to fit through a large gap between two walls. She was almost a blur.

Before Maddy even really knew it, Emily was landing next to her and the instructor, having finished the course in less than fifteen seconds. She wasn’t even out of breath.

“That’s how you do it,” Emily said, narrowing her eyes at Maddy, her incredible wings spreading out behind her. “This is kids’ level. Should be pretty easy. Well, at least for a full Angel.”

It was going to be a long afternoon.

“Now your turn,” Instructor Trueway said.

Butterflies in her stomach, Maddy stepped forward on the balls of her feet like she’d seen Emily do. Emily’s gaze felt like it was burning a hole into her. Maddy took a deep breath, then flapped her wings, once, twice. . .

And flew two metres and careened over on her right side as she crashed into a heap.

Emily burst into laughter, but then cut it short as the instructor gave her a sharp glance.

Maddy blundered and fumbled her way through her first agility flying class; she soon found out the floor, ceiling, walls and obstacles were made of very soft foam as she crashed, miscalculated, and generally looked like a fool out there. Her wings, which had felt kind of OK the night before, now seemed not to want to listen to orders as she tried to make turns and quick changes in elevation to fly between a gap or through the hanging hoops.

Luckily, Emily had to leave for a class pretty soon after Maddy started training, so she didn’t have the glare of the Australian Angel beating down on her every mistake the
whole
time – just the stern face of the instructor, who may have looked pitiless, but who actually had some encouraging things to say to Maddy. But also, to her embarrassment, she’d seen that Professor Archangel Archson had walked into the room and was watching how things were going from the back of the space; Susan had seen how clumsy Maddy had been.

As Maddy stood, out of breath from the exertion, looking at the course before trying one more time, she thought of Kreuz’s snide comment about her flying ability.
I
will
master this
, she vowed.

Leaning forward on the balls of her feet, looking left then right to check the width of her wings, Maddy was about to start the course again when the instructor put a hand on her shoulder.

“Maybe that’s enough for today,” he said, giving her his first smile of the day. “You’ve made a lot of progress, yes?”

“I can go one more time . . . but if you insist,” Maddy said, secretly grateful she could take a break.

As she walked towards the exit, she was met by Professor Archson. Maddy’s face turned red for the thousandth time that day.

“I was terrible,” Maddy blurted out miserably.

A look of compassion passed across Susan’s beautiful face. “You were great, Maddy. For your first day, you were wonderful,” Susan said, smiling warmly. “But— ”

“But?” Maddy’s stomach plummeted further.

“But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t use a little help. Angels, we’re born with wings. But you need to learn to fly, just like humans do in planes. It’s not totally natural for you, and I think it will take you a lot of practice.” Maddy’s professor looked at her. “And maybe some training.” Professor Archson took her smartphone out and pulled up a contact. “I’m going to email you the contact info for a pilot I know,” she said, fingers flying. “His name is Thomas Cooper. He’s very talented. He might be able to help your technique.”

“OK,” Maddy said, feeling defeated and wondering how a human pilot could do anything to help her fly as an Angel. But she guessed if her teacher was suggesting it, she might as well try it.

“Good. I’ll tell him to expect your call,” Professor Archson said, smiling. She put a friendly hand on Maddy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it will get better.”

Once outside the training facility, the warmth of the afternoon sun penetrating her skin, Maddy started rubbing all her sore spots – she’d taken a beating in there. But she’d kept it up. She craned her face towards the sun, closing her eyes behind her sunglasses, letting the rays of California sun soak in.

She checked her email on her phone and saw that Gwen had sent her a link on SaveTube through her college email account.

“
Can you believe this
???” Gwen had written.

Maddy watched the clip on her phone: it was breakneck HD Angelcam footage of a female Angel Maddy had never met bursting through the cab of a Porsche Cayenne and pulling a girl to safety just as the SUV tumbled over a freeway median into the path of a semi truck. Maddy watched the footage again – it already had a million hits – thinking about her lame showing in agility flying training and wondering how she would ever be able to do something like that.

“Maddy?”

The voice startled her. She opened her eyes and turned.

It was Mitch, Jackson’s best friend, stockier and more square-faced than Jacks. If he’d been a bit cool towards Maddy when they first met, that had been forever wiped away when she saw him help attack the demon on the library tower. Among this year’s class of nominees, only Mitch was friendly towards her.

“I heard about your wings. That’s pretty cool. How’d it go in there?” he said, motioning towards the massive white hangar behind her.

“Oh, you know . . . pretty good,” Maddy said, trying not to let the truth colour her voice, but it quavered a bit.

Mitch clapped a big hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sure you did great. Everybody has to start out somewhere. Plus, don’t worry, you have Jacks to give you some tips. Has he ever shown you his awards?”

“Awards?”

Mitch laughed. “He always is trying to be all modest. But he’s got a cupboard full of awards and citations somewhere, best flying this, best flying that. He has, like, five records in the agility course, and almost all of them in the speed course. A lot of instructors said he might be the best flyer they’ve ever seen.”

“Oh,” Maddy said, nodding slowly. “I don’t think I really knew that.” She thought of the doctors, specialists, everyone working to repair his wings. And the lack of progress.

“You and Jacks coming to the
Angels Weekly
party next Thursday? It’s the biggest event before Commissioning. Everyone’s going to be there. Maybe even Vivian – I know how much you miss her!” Mitch said, grinning. “But, seriously, you guys should come.”

“I don’t know,” Maddy said, feeling tired. “I’ll have to talk to Jacks.”

Mitch laughed. “Jacks doesn’t have to come. You know how he sometimes gets about events. You’re your own Angel.”

Maddy had never thought of it that way. “We’ll see. I’m only part Angel, remember? They still might not let me in.” She hugged Mitch goodbye and they split ways, the athletic Angel waving at her as he walked off towards the car park.

As she watched him disappear under the towering palms that lined the drive, she thought about what he had said, about what Jacks had accomplished before he even became a Guardian. What Jacks must be going through every day now.

And she also thought about the last comment Mitch had made. It struck her as strange, but also true in some ways.

Your own Angel
.

These thoughts swirled in her mind as she drove towards Jackson’s parents’ house, her aching and bruised body protesting after the day of awkward crashes while training. Jackson had told her to meet him at the Godspeed residence, since he had to pick something up for his mom. Maddy had changed back into her skirt and top from the photo shoot – would Jacks notice? – and was listening to a playlist she’d made a few nights earlier on her brand new MacBook Pro, drowning out the sounds of traffic and congestion around her in rush hour traffic before she crossed Sunset and started heading up into the Hills. Slightly annoyed, Maddy realized that Jacks had both called and then texted her a couple of times during the drive asking where she was. It wasn’t like him to be so needy.

“
Coming
,” she had texted back twenty minutes ago, and then put her phone to silent, enjoying the music and the drive as she wound her way up the Hills after leaving behind the traffic on the Halo Strip.

By the time she reached the Godspeed house, dusk had settled over the Angel City basin. The last of the sun was a thin orange thread hanging along the horizon; it signified the end of her first full day with wings. Maddy took a big breath as she parked her Audi behind Jacks’s Ferrari. It was strange – where were everybody else’s cars? She checked her phone: no text back from Jacks.

The house was oddly dark.
That’s weird
, she thought to herself as she walked towards the impressive structure. Through one of the windows she could see there was a solitary light on across the other side of the house. Maddy thought back to the first time she’d come to the home, when the ADC agents were taking Jackson away. That was also the first time she had met Kris and Chloe. Not exactly ideal circumstances to get acquainted with your boyfriend’s family.

Reaching the front door of the home, Maddy reached for the doorknob and realized the door was cracked open. The hair on the back of her neck instantly stood up. The door was
never
open. Looking left and right for anything unusual, Maddy gently pressed her fingertips against the door. With a torturous creak it slowly swung open on to the foyer and entryway. It was dark and silent inside.

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Maddy took one step forward. Then another.

“Hello?” Her voice carried into the darkness. She wished she had been paying more attention instead of just skimming the aerial combat part of the textbook last week in training – but she hadn’t even had wings at that point, after all. As Maddy stepped forward, she could
feel
her Immortal Marks growing warm, starting to ache. Every part of her was alert.

Maddy took another step into the dark foyer.

“Hello? Jacks?” she said.

All of a sudden she heard the sound of someone
behind her
. And they were moving quickly. Turning in a panic to meet the attacker, she found—

“
SURPRISE!!!!
” a chorus of voices burst out.

The lights in the home instantly blitzed on, turning the scene blinding white for a moment before Maddy’s eyes could adjust. She was face to face with Jackson, who was stepping towards her with a bouquet of flowers! He took her in his arms and spun her around.

“Congratulations, Maddy!” he said. Her heart pounding in her chest, it took Maddy a moment to realize what was happening. It was a surprise party! She looked around and saw that everyone was there: Mark, Kris, Uncle Kevin, Chloe and even Mitch – he had done such a good job of not saying anything! As Jacks spun her around, she saw all their smiling faces. They were there for her.

“I don’t know what to say. . .” Maddy said, her face burning in embarrassment at the sudden unexpected attention. At the
Seventeen
shoot earlier in the day, she had felt confident and alive, but now, with her friends and family, she once again felt awkward and the unwanted centre of attention.

“Don’t say anything, then,” Mark said, stepping up to shake Maddy’s hand, smiling wide, before embracing her. “Welcome to the Angels.”

Uncle Kevin stood off to the side, looking mildly uncomfortable but also proud. Mark looked over his shoulder at him. “You have your uncle and Jacks to thank for this. I just showed up for the cake,” Mark joked. The Archangel stepped aside and motioned to a large gourmet frosted cake shaped like wings – like
Maddy’s
specific wings, oblong and with a slight purple cast. They had had it custom-made that day.

Jackson was grinning at Maddy. “We’re really happy for you, Mads.” He reached his hand down and touched her face lightly with his thumb. “You’re going to do us proud.” Jackson leaned in close to her ear and whispered: “You look beautiful, by the way!”

Uncle Kevin gave his niece an awkward hug. “I know you hate surprises, but, well, this young Angel thought maybe you wouldn’t mind this one so much,” Kevin said, motioning to Jacks. “It’s a big day for you, after all.” Maddy’s uncle looked deeply into her eyes. She knew he was thinking about her mother and father. Once again Kevin was there to witness something in place of her parents.

Mark’s phone rang, and he pulled it out to see who was calling. His face turned grave. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to take this,” he said as he walked out of the room. Kris’s eyes followed him with concern.

“Probably the Immortals Bill,” Jacks said under his breath to Maddy. “He’s been fielding calls all day.”

Jackson’s sister, Chloe, walked over, munching on a carrot stick.

“Your outfit is super cute! We should totally go shopping sometime.”

“That’d be great,” Maddy said warmly. Although she knew they’d probably be followed by a camera crew filming the second season of
Sixteen and Immortal
, which was now
Seventeen and Immortal
, of course. It had taken Jacks’s sister a little while to warm up to Maddy, because Chloe had idolized Jacks’s ex, Vivian.

Jackson leaned in. “See, I told you she’d start to come around.”

After about half an hour, when everyone was eating cake, Jacks and Maddy took the opportunity to sneak off to the deck, which held the stunning view of all of Angel City. Jacks grabbed a sweatshirt from his old room for Maddy so she wouldn’t be cold – it had started to get a little chilly. Maddy slipped the sweatshirt on over her head, breathing in deeply; Jackson’s scent was always so overwhelming, but also so comfortable. Sitting on the cedar bench, she drew her knees up to her chest and leaned against him as they looked out at the panoramic view of the Immortal City.