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“I’m not with the Angels, Maddy,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming. We’ve had an insurgent element within the NAS for years now. I’ve been helping as co-leader the entire time. We’ve just been waiting for the right moment to surface.”
“You’re a rebel?” Maddy asked, breathless. “And you and Detective Sylvester . . . know each other?”
“We go back,” Susan said. “To Guardian training. We were the same Commissioning class. We were Guardians together.”
“Maddy, we need you,” Sylvester said.
“I’ve already told Linden—I can’t do anything with the Angels. Jacks was my only chance. And he wasn’t much of one,” Maddy said. “The Angels aren’t going to help.”
“We’re not giving up on that, Maddy,” Susan said. “David—I mean, Detective Sylvester—thinks that something is controlling the demons.”
Maddy thought back to the Vespa girl on the 101. “I saw a demon in the first wave. . . . It was about to attack me, but then, it’s like he heard something, and suddenly he left. Just like that. And he seemed . . . angry about it.”
Sylvester nodded. “We’ve heard similar stories all over the city. They pulled back. As if by design. As if they were getting orders.” He coughed into his hand. “This is more dangerous than we could have even imagined. The chaos of a demon army could be enough to topple the city. But with their forces of darkness organized and focused . . .” He trailed off. “But if we could somehow get to this leader, if we could cut the head off the body of the army, it could make all the difference. But humans alone wouldn’t be able to do that. We need Battle Angels. Battle Angels willing to risk it all.”
“How are we supposed to find this . . . head demon?” Maddy asked.
“There’s no way to get at the head demon before they attack. But once they start moving in, that’s when we think it will be exposed. That we can figure out how to identify and exterminate it. Before it’s too late.”
“But this isn’t about the Angels,” Susan said. “This is about you.”
Maddy eyed them two cautiously. “What do you mean?”
Sylvester and Susan shared a look, as if each was daring the other to be the one to deliver the news. Finally the detective answered.
“We’re speaking for Linden now,” Detective Sylvester said.
“What?” Linden? Maddy’s head whirled. Susan and the detective were working with the president?
“Linden is done with talking with the Angels,” Susan said.
Maddy cast a questioning look to Sylvester and Susan.
“Maddy. We need your help. In the war,” Sylvester said.
“But . . . what can I do? Don’t get me wrong, I want to help. More than anything,” Maddy said. “But I’m not a Battle Angel. I was barely even a Guardian.”
“You have something that’s more important than any Battle Angel. You have expertise,” Susan said.
“Expertise?” Maddy said.
“You have actual firsthand experience with demons,” Sylvester said. “That’s more than any of Linden’s four-star generals can say. He—and we—need your experience more than you can imagine.”
“But that was just one demon at a time. This is . . . we don’t know how many,” Maddy said.
“You’ve seen them up close and personal,” Susan said. “You know what they’re about. But there’s something they need even more. Linden’s team knows you have a certain power.”
Premonition.
Maddy didn’t say it out loud. She didn’t need to. Her eyes darted to Susan.
“You don’t have to tell them how it works,” Sylvester said. “But they are asking you to help them. On the front lines.”
“But what exactly would I do? I’m not trained for anything like the military.”
“The generals and colonels are positive you can give us a strategic edge,” Sylvester continued. “That you can warn the military forces before . . . something happens. So they can get ready to defend and then counterattack.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” The prospect of having such a huge responsibility all of a sudden got her heart thumping in her chest.
