Battle Angel Read Online Free PDF Page B

jewelry shops, a half-dozen organic gourmet restaurants, and a couple of fancy cafés. Everything the Immortal City had to offer, all kept safe and tucked away in the sanctuary. It was all perfectly planned and was the ideal place to ride out the demon attacks while still ensuring that the Angels kept their foothold in Angel City, no matter what happened upstairs.
    The Angels had only been down there for a day, but they were already settling in nicely. The sanctuary was always prepped for their arrival and ongoing comfort, and now the time had finally come. As soon as the demons struck with the sinkhole, the Angels had simply disappeared from human sight, stealing away from their homes in the Angel City Hills and descending to their paradise below.
    But the sanctuary wasn’t only used for hiding. Somewhere along the way, the maze of passages led to the Council chambers. Once a year, the Angels convened in the sanctuary ballroom for an ultrasecret gala where they honored the Council of Twelve, who had brought them into the Light. And sometimes the Archangels would have their most secretive meetings—or, depending on whom you asked, secret parties, complete with wild debauchery—down here. There were also darker rumors about darker things that had taken place in the sanctuary during the Troubles, but they were never substantiated.
    • • •
    “Godspeed,” said Mitch, Jackson’s closest friend, calling out to him as he passed.
    Jackson kept walking.
    “Godspeed!” Mitch caught up to him and put his hand on his best friend’s shoulder.
    Jackson stopped on a dime and spun around to Mitch.
    “What?” Jacks growled.
    “Whoa, bro, relax,” Mitch said. “Your stepfather was looking for you.”
    “He can keep looking.”
    Mitch looked at Jackson. It didn’t take a psych major to see something wasn’t quite right. “What’s going on?”
    “Nothing,” Jacks said. He continued down the hall again, and Mitch followed alongside him.
    “Sorry, I should have known you’d be upset. You know, we’re all worried. From a certain angle, it’s pretty harsh that we’re leaving the humans out in the cold like this.”
    Jacks looked at Mitch in disbelief.
    “I mean, I understand why you’re a little upset, bro. We’ve been protecting the humans for how many thousands of years?” Mitch said. “That’s a long time. And now, just to turn away from them with the demons coming? Even if the humans
were
trying to ban Angel activities, we could’ve worked through that, at some point. But to leave them alone like this, and they don’t even know what they’re up against?”
    Jacks gave him an incredulous glance. “Are you an Immortal or a human, Mitch? Think about it. Would they have supported
us
? No. They would have been glad to see us wiped out.”
    Mitch’s expression betrayed his confusion. “What are you talking about? I thought you were mad because we’re
not
helping the humans. You’ve always been pretty liberal in comparison with the National Angel Services, or NAS. We’ve talked about this for years.”
    Jacks snorted.
    Mitch put his hand on Jacks’s shoulder and stopped him again. “What happened? This isn’t like you, Jacks,” Mitch said. “I knew you were gone for a while today. A bunch of Angels saw you leave. No one said anything to Mark or anything, though.” Mitch paused. “Did you go see her?”
    Jackson ignored the question. “Don’t you remember the Immortals Bill, Mitch? They were going to imprison us. Remember whose side you belong to. Don’t be a human sympathizer.” Jacks paused and steeled himself. “They deserve whatever they’re going to get.”
    “You don’t know what you’re saying, man. You can’t believe that. Whatever’s happened between you two, you still have to think about Maddy!”
    The name was like a billowing red sheet waving in front of a speared bull. He shoved Mitch out of the way and stormed down the gilded passageway.
    • • •
    Jackson hadn’t