Demons in My Driveway (10 page)

Darius emerged from the room behind her, shirtless. Faceless. Winged and monstrous. I averted my eyes. I had no words to describe how awkward I felt about the two of them being lovers. The feeling hadn’t gone away with time like I’d thought it would.

I didn’t want to consider what went on in that room. My parent’s room. The one I’d run to in the middle of the night after a bad dream and crawled under the covers between my mom and dad. Now Dad was long gone and Mom was sleeping with a mothman. During the day, it was a little easier, since he looked human. This was more difficult.

And if that made me a bad person for being icked-out, so be it. There was a lot more baggage going on there than simply an interspecies problem.

Darius rested his enormous hands on Mom’s shoulders. “That can’t be from a real bird. The only bird that big is a thunderbird.” He waved at the feather. “And we’ve seen one of those. It wasn’t this ridiculous color.”

“What about a roc?” Stacy ducked around me and stood in the middle of the group.

I shook my head. “I think rocs are extinct. Also, I don’t think they’d come in Skittles flavor either.”

Stacy craned her neck to look down the hallway toward the kitchen. “Where’s Maurice?”

It used to be, whenever I was up in the middle of the night, Maurice was right there. He’d make me hot cocoa or tea, and maybe a snack. Not lately. “He’s probably at Sara’s again. She’s still having nightmares, though the sleepwalking has stopped since she started therapy.” And sleep showering. And sleep treadmilling.

“Oh.” Stacy folded her arms and tucked her hands away. “Okay.” She shifted her feet. “Will he be back in the morning, you think?”

Fabulous. Not only was Maurice oblivious, but I was left with the mess.

I brushed her hair from her eyes. “He’ll be back eventually.”

Sara was mooning over him, possibly because he was the first person to ever see her truly vulnerable. Stacy was his first love and now couldn’t get his attention no matter what she tried.

And there was Maurice, blissfully unaware, trying to make everyone happy.

Muffins aren’t going to get you out of this one
,
my friend
. My stomach gurgled.
But I wish you were here to make them anyway
.

We all split up and went back to our rooms, except for a deflated Stacy, who’d muttered something about needing ice cream, then headed in the other direction.

Back in my room, my phone had nearly vibrated off the table. I grabbed it before it jumped to the floor, then checked the screen.

Bernice.

It had to be important at three in the morning. Either that or she was still in England and forgot about the time distance.

I tapped to answer. “What’s up, Bernice?”

“Did I wake you?” Her voice sounded tired.

“Nope. We had an incident.” I did my best to sound matter-of-fact so I wouldn’t alarm her. Maybe
incident
wasn’t the best word choice.

Frantic concern pelted me through the phone. “Was anyone hurt? You’re staying inside, right?”

“We’re fine. Just some weird dreams. Are
you
okay? You don’t sound okay.”

She exhaled into the phone, causing a windstorm in my ear. “There have been more attacks.”

“Aegises?”

“Yes.” She hesitated. “We...we lost two more. One in Peru and one in New Zealand.”

I felt like she’d reached through the speaker and punched me in the stomach. “What happened to them?” My voice was close to a whisper. It was all I could muster.

“The blood was drained from their bodies, as if by a vampire.”

I closed my eyes to ward off the queasiness swirling in my gut. “But it wasn’t a vampire, was it. It was an aswang.”

“It’s difficult to tell from the body, but it’s the most likely answer. My Peruvian counterpart spoke to Papa Dino when he came to close the portal. Two aswangs are missing from their village in his world, and he managed to stop three more at open portals around the world.”

“I assume Aegises were near each portal.”

“That’s correct.” Her weariness seeped through the phone. And there was something more. A nervous edge to her emotions I couldn’t quite pin.

“Bernice, are you alright? I mean, besides all this shitty stuff. What’s wrong?”

She laughed, but the sound came out bitter. “Can’t fool an empath, can I?” Ice clinked in a glass as she drank something that was probably stronger than iced tea. “Marcus is on his way down here.”

“Your boss? Why?”

“Well, Canada has no more Aegises. You and Clara are all we’ve got in North America, so he wants to keep a closer eye on things.”

“Wait, so you’re not in England right now? When did you get home?”

“Yesterday. Just long enough to unpack my suitcase and pack up my office. I’ve been demoted.”

I hadn’t been a huge fan of this Marcus guy in the first place. Now I wanted to punch him in his smarmy face. Bernice and I might not have always agreed on things, but I trusted her a hell of a lot more than I did Marcus.

“What about Art?” Despite our rocky beginning, I trusted Art more than I trusted Bernice.

“I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to either of us, Zoey.” Glass tapped glass, and I knew she was refilling whatever not-iced-tea she was drinking. “Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re down to seven Aegises in the world. All the governments are in their death throes.” She took a sip. “The Covenant will be broken any day now, and we’ll all die horrible deaths, either as zombie chow or as walking dead ourselves.”

This was not the Bernice I’d first met over a year ago. That woman had been strong and hard, holding up the entire Board of Hidden Affairs by herself, with nobody knowing the rest of the Board members were dead. After another year of hit after hit, she was done. I didn’t have to be an empath to sense it.

And I had no words that could make it better.

We’d either survive all this, or we wouldn’t. That sure as hell wasn’t the kind of pep talk she needed.

“Bernice, how did the aswang vampires get to those Aegises? Didn’t they have protection like I do?”

“Oh, they had it. They just didn’t stay put. For some reason, they left their safety zone. Nobody knows why.”

A sound outside caught my attention and I looked out my window. People had gathered outside the fairy ring to hold hands and sing. Not far from where they stood, a new portal shone in the darkness.

“I think I know what made them go outside. I’ll call you back.”

Chapter Ten

Stacy stopped me at the front door. “What the hell is that?”

I stood in the open doorway with one foot on the porch and one inside the house. “It’s a portal. Probably to the vampire world, but maybe to the werewolves.”

She blinked at me. “I know
that
. I mean what’s the light over there?” Her arm pointed past me and to the left, toward the side of the house.

A single ball of white light bounced across the yard, shattered into smaller lights, then rejoined. As we watched, the pattern repeated and moved farther away.

Kam’s voice startled me. “It’s an aswang.” A board creaked on the porch, and Kam pulled herself out of one of my wooden rocking chairs. “I think it’s testing the fairy ring and trying to get past the fairies. They won’t let it in.”

For once, even Kam sounded exhausted. And her clothes were
ordinary.
Jeans and a T-shirt on Kam didn’t seem right after all the elaborate costumes.

Most of the lights inside were off, but the hall light shone bright enough to make a beacon into the front yard. I stepped out, waited for Stacy to follow, then closed the door behind me.

“How long has it been doing that?” I squinted at the lights, but couldn’t see the aswang the fairies were harassing.

“About a half hour. I called Lionel already about the portal. He’s on his way.”

“Good.” I didn’t care much for Lionel and his creepy sliding face, but somebody needed to evict the cultists singing nonsense words under my oak tree. “When he gets here, make sure he takes out the trash too.” I jerked my chin toward Pansy and her crew, swaying in the light of the portal.

Stacy leaned over the railing. “I think it’s coming back.”

She was right. The ball of light rose higher and flew toward us, picking up speed. Either the aswang was on the move, or the fairies were reporting in. Since they’d never done that before, I had to assume the aswang sensed my presence.

I pulled out my phone and texted Talia as quickly as my clumsy fingers could muster. Demon, vamp or werewolf, it didn’t matter. I needed somebody in charge to come get this thing before somebody got killed. Possibly me, considering how fast it seemed to be moving.

When the aswang finally came into sight, it looked nothing like the demon version we’d seen before. It hissed, rather than snarled. I couldn’t see its face in the darkness, but it moved differently, as if swooping and gliding.

The fairies were quick to catch up before the aswang crossed the line and charged up the steps. Ten feet out from where I stood, the aswang made a high-pitched keening noise, then scrambled toward me. The ball of fairy light broke apart, and individual lights attacked. The aswang was lifted into the air from the number of fairies tugging it backward.

“You’d better get in the house,” Kam said. “I don’t know how much longer they can hold it off when it smells you.”

I nodded and opened the door. “You guys, stay safe, okay? If you’re staying out here, stay within the fairy ring. The last one did a lot of damage.” I cringed, thinking of the dwarf lying dead in my yard with his leg yanked out of the socket.

“We promise.” Stacy shoved me into the house and shut the door.

I could hear the two women talking, but couldn’t make out their words. I hoped they didn’t have any crazy ideas about going after the creature. Even without me there, those things were dangerous.

Back in the house, I banged on Mom’s door and waited. Darius stuck his head out. His deep voice rumbled from the void of his face. “More trouble?”

“Portal.” I stared back into his saucer-sized red eyes, refusing the flinch. “I think it’s vamp flavored. And the aswang that came out of it is trying to beat its way in.”

“I’ll get my shirt.” He closed the door, then reappeared a minute later with my mother in tow. He’d added a black shirt with slits in the back, and his dusty wings folded neatly against the outside of the fabric.

Mom yawned, shrugging into her bathrobe. “I’d rather not be in there by myself if this thing is trying to get in.”

I nodded in approval. “We need to stay away from the windows until this is sorted out.”

Darius kissed her on the forehead, then turned toward me. “Kam’s still out there?”

“Yeah. Lionel’s team is on the way.”

Maurice appeared behind me seemingly out of nowhere. “Is Pansy out there too?”

“She’s out there.” I touched his hand. “But stay inside the ring, at least until the O.G.R.E.s are here, okay? Let the fairies keep the aswang busy. Hopefully Talia will get my message.”

Maurice and Darius went outside before it occurred to me that Stacy was already there. I wanted to do what I could to make things easier on Stacy, but I couldn’t exactly keep them apart. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. I couldn’t be expected to think of everything. Stacy would have to work it out for herself.

I followed Mom into the kitchen and put some water on to boil while she got us a couple of mugs and some tea.

She set the cups on the table then hugged me from behind. “Thanks for coming inside. I know you wanted to stay out there.”

I put a hand over one of hers. “Sometimes I do the smart thing, you know.”

She led me to the table and we sat together to wait for the water to boil. “You’re so much braver than I ever was.” She rubbed a finger over a smudge on the tabletop. “I sometimes wonder if it’s because I wasn’t here to stop you when you were growing up. If I’d been here, I might have held you back.”

Was that it? Was my thoughtless rushing into danger a side effect of growing up without a mom to tell me to be careful?

“Maybe.” My voice was soft as I imagined what it might’ve been like to have a mother telling me not to climb on the roof. Not to stay up late watching horror movies. Not to date guys who stole money from me and cheated.

My life would have been a lot different. Easier. Would I have learned the hard lessons without the dubious benefit of screwing up? Or would I have gone through life naïve and coddled?

The kettle started to boil, and I leaped to my feet to keep it from making that terrible whistling screech. “Or maybe we’re just different.” I poured hot water into each cup. “We’ll never know what could have been. I’m just glad I get a second chance with you now.” I smiled, passing a cup to her and marveling at how much I looked like her. I might not have known for certain how things would’ve turned out if she hadn’t left, but I’d have given everything I had for a time machine to go back and relive our lives—together this time.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the quiet chanting of a large group of cultists spreading their creepy religion across my front yard. Each time their chant reached a crescendo, goosebumps broke out on my arms. I clamped my teeth together and shut my eyes, as if that would keep the sound from getting worse.

Mom set her cup down, frowning. “Did I hear you say Kam called Lionel?”

I blew on my tea. “Yeah. She did that before I went outside.”

Her gaze drifted toward the front door as a car pulled into the driveway. “Good. I know we’ve got a lot of protection, but I’ll feel better when someone official gets here.” She shivered. “That chanting is driving me crazy.”

I nodded. “I’m not sure how much longer the fairies can hold out. I’m not feeling too comfortable, either.” On the other hand, I wasn’t so sure Lionel and his skin mask would bring me much comfort.

Shouting erupted in the yard. We both shoved our chairs away and made for the living room window. A lot more folks were out there than there had been when I’d come inside.

Talia must’ve gotten my message, because Papa Dino was there with the aswang gripped between his hands. Lionel stood to the side with an ogre and a troll, clutching a cult member in each hand. The rest seemed to have fled, and Darius and Kam must’ve followed, because I didn’t see them, either.

Except for Pansy. I almost felt sorry for her. Maurice had her facing the house with her arms pinned behind her. She struggled, and he sort of shook her to make her behave. I didn’t think he got any pleasure out of it, but the look on his face said he didn’t exactly hate it.

“I think it’s safe for us to go out,” I said.

Mom nodded. “The cavalry’s here, for whatever that’s worth.”

It did seem odd that, despite all the muscle we had at our disposal—magical and physical—we’d become dependent on a police force that hadn’t existed six months ago. I could have used the help then, too, but I did without them because I had to. Now, they were constantly in our business.

The moment we stepped outside, the aswang in Papa Dino’s care spit and hissed like a cobra coiled in its decorative basket. Papa Dino’s grip didn’t slip in the slightest. The aswang was going nowhere.

Mom flinched. “Would you like us to stay inside?” She cast a worried glance at the aswang, then gave Papa Dino a polite smile. “It might be easier for you.”

“Not at all.” Dino smiled and shifted the aswang away from us. “My apologies for taking so long. I was in the Himalayas tracking another one of these.”

I leaned against the railing. “Did you find it?”

His face sobered. “I found it. I was too late. I’m sorry.”

Mom and I exchanged a frantic look. Her face paled in the thin porch light. “Six of us left.”

“I’m sorry.” Papa said again, his face filled with both regret and condolences. “I truly am.”

“We still don’t know who’s doing this.” Mom made a hiccupping sound and dropped into one of the rockers.

My eyes narrowed on Pansy. “Are we sure about that?”

Maurice shook her again. “I bet we can find out.”

“Anchovy sauce for presidential conduct.” Pansy grinned up at him, but her eyes held no humor.

“I think you’ll find you’re wrong, Pansy.” Maurice looked at me, then glanced at the detached garage and back again.

I knew what he was asking. We’d conducted an interrogation in my garage once before. It hadn’t ended well for the guy we were questioning, but that hadn’t been our fault. Unfortunately, the garage was inside the fairy ring. We couldn’t keep her outside the ring for questioning—that left my people exposed. But we couldn’t bring her inside the ring without endangering everybody.

By herself, Pansy wasn’t a threat. I really didn’t think she or her little group were the ones opening the portals. None of them had that kind of power. Hell, the only one of
us
who did was Kam, and she wasn’t fully charged. But Pansy was part of what was going on, and I was sure she and her people were responsible for the aswang problem we were having.

So, the question was, who was opening the portals to allow Pansy and her buddies to call the aswangs to come out with their chanting?

“Where’d Darius go?” I squinted into the darkness, hoping to hear him. As if by wish fulfillment, he dropped from the sky, his moth wings whooshing.

I frowned, thinking of the weird dream I’d had and the rainbow-colored feather it left behind. In comparison to his wings, that feather belonged to something much bigger than a man.

As he landed, he dropped a satyr and two imps to the ground. “I caught these running down the road.”

“We’ve got two more!” Kam and Stacy panted up the driveway, dragging a harpy and a woman with gill slits along the sides of her face.

I did a quick headcount. A dozen. “I think you got them all.” Their number had grown a bit since the first time I’d seen them in my driveway.

“Impressive,” Dino said. “You have good people.”

“Yes, I do.” I waved at Kam and Stacy. “Bring them over here to Darius.”

Lionel hefted what I suspected was a leprechaun to his feet. “Aegis, if you’ll allow me, we’ll take them all in my van. I’ve got a cell in Petaluma large enough to keep them locked up until we can sort all this out.”

I chewed on my bottom lip while I thought about it. I still didn’t trust him, though I didn’t really have a reason not to. I had no place to keep them here. And I sure as hell couldn’t let them go.

“Fine.” I flicked my gaze to Maurice and then to Darius. I pointed at Pansy. “You can leave that one, though.”

Lionel frowned. “Why?”

I smiled. “She’s family. Aren’t you, Pansy?”

“Uvula.” She spit the word at me, leaving me no question whatsoever that it wasn’t a pleasant word.

“See?” I said. “We’re practically sisters.”

Papa Dino chuckled. “Family is family.” He patted the aswang on the shoulder. “Isn’t it, my friend?” He winked at me. “And family is the most important thing.” He guided the aswang toward the portal. “I’ll lock up behind me. Stay safe, ladies.”

The Vampfather straightened his shoulders, cracked his neck, and stepped through the portal with his now docile companion. The doorway folded in on itself and blinked out.

With the absence of the aswang, the tightness in my shoulders loosened.

“Don’t you think we should keep all of them together?” Lionel asked.

He shoved a couple of prisoners toward his vehicle. His two silent team members followed with theirs. I considered several logical answers, then decided I didn’t need them. “No. I don’t.”

The longer I did this Aegis thing, the more I realized these things were my call. People kept trying to pull rank on me, and I kept ignoring them. Either my system of stubborn ignorance worked, or I really did outrank them.

Personally, I didn’t care. Riley worked for the Board. Lionel worked for the Board. Mom worked for the Board. Darius, though only on a freelance basis, worked for the Board.

I worked
with
the Board. And only when it suited me.

So far, my attitude had kept me alive. And my mother. The other Aegises out there weren’t faring so well.

I thought that said something.

Mom and I stayed on the porch while Lionel’s people loaded eleven cultists into the back of his van. He had a good supply of those weird plastic cuffs that look like soda can holders and managed to get everyone secure before shutting them in with his ogre and troll.

“Make sure you cut those tie thingies up when you’re done,” I said. “Birds and fish can get stuck in them.”

He frowned, not knowing whether to take me seriously. I folded my arms and refused to smile. Better to keep him wondering. Let him think I was off-balance. I didn’t like him.