Immortal City

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.

They both sat.

“Would you like some coffee?” he offered.

“No. Thank you,” Kris said politely. “How is your head?”

“My head? Oh.” He touched the gauze on his forehead. He had completely forgotten. “I’ll live.”

He regarded her. Beneath the layer of hastily applied makeup he could see the lines of fear and worry framing her face. He wondered if she had slept.

“What is it you want?” he asked.

She looked like she was considering her words, maybe even reconsidering her decision to come and see him. For a moment he thought she might even get up, apologize, and ask to leave. Then finally, she spoke.

“No one knows I’m here,” she said, “But I had to come see you.”

“I don’t know where they are,” Kevin said preemptively.

“I’m not asking. I know the Council Disciplinary Agents have already been here, as has my husband.”

Kevin nodded.

“I also know your general opinion about Angels, Mr.

Montgomery.” She paused, her eyes intent on him. “I came here hoping you might listen to me not as an Angel, but as a mother. Can we talk one parent to another?”

“Go on,” Kevin said after a moment.

“I don’t care about the law. I just don’t want them to hurt my son. I don’t want Maddy to get hurt either. I want to end this thing before it goes any further, before something terrible happens. To either of them.”

“When I talked to Mark last night, he seemed determined to follow the law to the letter, no matter what,” Kevin said. “And no matter who.”

Kris nodded. “As an Archangel, that is his duty. But as a father, he has a duty too, and he’s managed to do something extraordinary. He has spoken to the Council.”

Kevin’s face showed surprise, but still remained skeptical.

“There is a chance now, a chance for Jacks to walk away from all this and be forgiven. A chance for Maddy to come home, and for all of this to go away.”

“I don’t understand what you need me for then,” Kevin said. Kris regarded him. He wondered suddenly if she understood something about what happened that he did not.

“I know the way my son feels about your niece.” She shook her head and looked at her hands on the table. “It’s something Mark could never understand, and so that is why I have come to you. I need you to get a message to her.”

When she looked up at him again, her eyes were wet.

“Only you can make this happen. Only you can save my boy. So I’m coming to you, and”—she swallowed hard—“I’m begging you. Please help me. For my son. For my only son. Please help me save his life and bring him home.”

Her face dropped again and her shoulders shuddered as she stifled her crying. Kevin considered her — considered not the Angel, but the mother before him. He took a deep breath and spoke.

“What’s the message?”