Demons in My Driveway (3 page)

I shifted in my seat. “I need to call my mom and warn her.”

“Tell her to stay in the house.” Bernice stared at the empty
mimosa glass, a miserable expression on her face that I wasn’t sure was due to
the current circumstances or the emptiness of the glass.

Either way, her instructions weren’t necessary. Of course I was
calling to tell Mom to stay put.

My home was probably one of the safest places on the planet. A
fairy mushroom ring around the property provided an early alarm system. Plus,
anybody with ill intent attempting to cross the mushroom threshold was pummeled
by fairies. And the backyard had the soundproof bubble around it that disguised
the area from outside eyes and ears.

Anyone staying in my house was also protected by the
mind-boggling variety of visiting and resident creatures.

Maurice, my closet monster roommate, looked harmless unless he
transmonstrified himself into a huge, slobbering beast. It was an illusion, but
a convincing one.

A she-yeti kept watch for intruders from the surrounding woods,
and she was no illusion. Tashi could bury a person in the yard, knee deep, with
one slam of her fist on the top of his head. I would not want her angry with
me.

My ex, Riley, didn’t look scary at all, but as a reaper, he
could rip a person’s soul right out of her chest. Hidden who didn’t know him
tended to give Riley a wide berth.

To me, the scariest was Darius, though he didn’t live with us.
He came and went often, since he worked freelance for the Board of Hidden
Affairs as a soul catcher—similar to a reaper, but he chased after escaped souls
instead of the ones stuck inside a body. That wasn’t what made him scary,
though. Darius was a mothman. It doesn’t get more terrifying than that. Inducing
fear is one of his powers, and if he felt like it, he could feed on fear. In a
twist I hadn’t seen coming, it turned out he was also my mother’s boyfriend.

So, yeah. My house was pretty safe.

I pulled out my phone. “I’ll call her.”

At that moment, Lord Chilford climbed the steps to the podium
and tapped his finger on the microphone. “If everyone would take a seat, please,
I’d like to get started.”

I frowned at the phone in my hand. Now probably wouldn’t be the
time for a phone call. Instead, I tapped in a quick text message to Maurice. He
was the most likely to take me seriously and act immediately on my instructions.
Due to the time zone differences, he was also the only one likely to be
awake.

Can’t talk now. Keep Mom in the house when she gets up.
Do not let her outside for any reason. If he’s not already there, call Darius
and get him there ASAP. I’ll call when I can.

Thirty seconds later, my phone vibrated with a return text.

Got it. Be careful. Come home safe and soon.

Maurice was rarely so brief. He was probably juggling all sorts
of security arrangements I would never have thought of. Even without an
explanation, Maurice was on top of things.

If I ever lost him, I wouldn’t know what to do.

Lord Chilford, meanwhile, addressed the pavilion of oddly
dressed characters from around the world. A steady murmur accompanied his words,
as translators echoed him in other languages.

“For centuries,” he said, his gaze spread across the crowd, “we
have regarded one another with a rather cautious wariness. We hold these
meetings every half decade in order to strengthen friendships, share information
and release some of the tension that comes from our particular line of
business.”

Mumbles and nods from some of the tables punctuated his words.
He paused before he continued.

“Historically, we’ve had to keep our distance from one another.
Border feuds, policy arguments and, yes, even hostile takeovers have been the
norm. No more. We must work together if we’re going to survive the coming
days.”

Personally, I thought that was a little melodramatic, though
probably true. Chilford sipped from a glass of water and cleared his throat.

“We’ve taken heavy losses recently. All of us. Had we trusted
one another, we might have avoided the near destruction of our governing bodies,
and...” He trailed off midsentence scanning the crowd. His gaze stopped and
rested on me. “And the loss of nearly all our Aegises.” He took another sip of
water. “This is why I stand before you now, begging your mutual cooperation. We
must trust each other. Work together in an unprecedented manner. Join forces as
our forefathers did so many centuries ago.”

Lord Chilford stopped speaking and dabbed sweat from his
forehead with a handkerchief. Puffy bags hung beneath his eyes, and desperation
clung to him like static electricity.

A chair scooted behind me, and I turned to look. A small Asian
woman with enormous purple eyelashes stood with one hand on her hip and the
other resting on the table. “Lord Chilford,” she said. “What about the Covenant?
If all the rumors I hear are to be believed, the governments are barely able to
do their jobs to maintain the Hidden, and only a few Aegises remain in the world
to care for them. Is this not a breach of the Covenant?”

The crowd erupted in animated conversation. I couldn’t make out
entire sentences, but my name popped up several times.

I wasn’t quite clear on this whole Covenant nonsense. I’d only
heard about it a few months ago, and no one seemed to give me a straight answer.
Mostly, I got the impression that a breach of the Covenant would mean the end of
the world. Hidden would no longer remain hidden. War. Famine. Disease. Flying
butt-monkeys from outer space flinging neon-pink space poop. Sonic wedgies and
other signs of the apocalypse nobody thought to tell us about. Game over.

I honestly didn’t know how to react to all this apocalyptic
fearmongering. I suspected the people yelling the loudest knew the least about
it. I had enough worries on my plate without adding some Great Older Than Time
Unknown to the pile. Thus far, no one had produced a copy of this mythical
Covenant. I needed to know more before I ran around waving my hands in the air
over the end of the world. Global warming, a giant meteorite or fracking might
get us there just as easily. Who knew?

It wasn’t that I was unconcerned. But I wasn’t an alarmist,
either. The threat of being murdered by some entity who wanted all the Aegises
dead was a lot more immediate.

My phone vibrated, and I checked the display.

Sara had texted to ask if I was alright. That meant two things:
she was probably having insomnia problems again and Maurice had been with her
when he got my message. As usual, rather than worry about herself, Sara was more
concerned about me. I texted her back that I was fine and I’d explain later. No
need to add to her insomnia.

But no, I was not alright.

I wanted to bolt the minute nobody was watching. Unfortunately,
I didn’t think there would ever again be a minute when nobody was watching
me.

I was a superstar. I was an anomaly. I was a painful reminder
of their losses.

And I was probably putting everyone in danger by sitting there
with them. I glanced at the sky. Lightning could strike me down any second,
taking out anyone dumb enough to stand in my vicinity.

Sorry
,
Bernice.
We both managed to stay alive against all the odds
,
and now you’ll
die a painful death because we sat at the same table.
We never should have left the safety of home.

The noise died down, and Lord Chilford resumed his depressing
speech.

“So far,” he said, his voice notably quieter, more worn, “the
Covenant has held. We still have a few Aegises, and
most
of them are
kept under close guard for their own safety.” He glared at Bernice. “I know my
people are out looking for new Aegises across the U.K., and I’m quite certain
you all have your own people doing the same. Our governing bodies have been
diminished, but here we stand, continuing to work for the good of both humans
and Hidden. We’re still doing our jobs, even under these difficult
circumstances. The Covenant remains in place.”

Lord Chilford said something I missed, then smiled a weary
smile. “Before I turn the floor over to Australia’s Councilor Emily Brower, I
want to beseech you all, one last time. Put aside old enmities. Share your
stories with honesty, and listen to the stories of others without thinking of
ways to cash in on their misfortune. We’ve all suffered. It’s time to unite as
one.”

Polite clapping showed they were at least willing to give it a
try.

He smiled, a little less weary. “Thank you. And now, I present
to you—”

A girl of about twenty, with mousy hair and watery eyes,
stepped from the shadows and hesitated before she tugged his sleeve. He frowned
in annoyance at the interruption. She stood on tiptoes, covering his ear with
her cupped hand and whispered something, then handed him a slip of paper. He
read it, and the color left his face.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he
opened them, he didn’t look any calmer. “My friends.” His voice cracked and he
tried again. “My friends, it seems the stakes are already higher than we
believed.” He paused again to gulp water and pat his forehead with the limp
hanky. The man was a drama king if I’d ever seen one.

For once, everyone sat still and quiet, waiting.

Chilford blew out a breath and waved the piece of paper in the
air. “I have terrible news. It seems a portal has opened in South Wales. There’s
been a possible werewolf sighting.” He fixed several seemingly random
individuals with a dire stare, then rested his gaze on me, his expression
softer. “The Covenant is weakening.”

The place erupted. Everyone spoke at once and chairs overturned
as people stood in haste.

Before I could sort out what Chilford’s information could mean,
a gentle hand cupped my elbow. “Alright, poppit? Best come with me.”

Confused, I glanced at Bernice, who nodded, then at the man
holding my arm as if it were a delicate work of art. Wiggy, the hotel
manager/bartender smiled down at me with his laughing eyes. The rest of his face
was solemn, but those eyes never stopped smiling.

Marcus stood behind him, and he nodded too. The four of us
ducked out of the pavilion and trekked through the grass back to the hotel. I
tried to ask questions, but Wiggy pressed one finger to his lips to shush
me.

Once we made it safely into the pub, Wiggy locked the door
behind us. “It’s safe now. Let’s get you packed, my angel. It’s not safe here,
and every minute it gets more dangerous.”

Bewildered, I followed him up the stairs with Bernice beside me
and a silent Marcus trailing behind.

“Did Chilford say ‘werewolf’?” I asked.

Bernice made a pained face. “You live with a closet monster and
the existence of werewolves is where you draw the line on what’s
believable?”

“Well, no, I just thought... I don’t know what I thought. Why
are we leaving in such a hurry?” The tension from the people around me skittered
across my shoulders and made me itchy. But I didn’t share their unease. The most
I could muster was curiosity and a little irritation at not knowing what was
going on.

“
We’re
not,” Marcus said from a step behind me.
“
You.
Wiggy will get you home fast. We’re staying here till the
meeting is over.”

Wiggy opened the door to my room with his master key, and I
stepped inside. My suitcase was already packed and laying on the bed. Wiggy
frowned. “Did you know you were leaving?”

“Nope.” I shrugged. “I guess the gremlins got wind of what was
going on.” I glanced around the room and saw nothing unusual. “Thank you, guys!”
I said to the walls. I paused, hoping they’d come out to say goodbye. I turned
away, disappointed.

Wiggy grabbed my suitcase. “Well, come on, then. Let’s get you
home.” He held his hand out to me, and I took it.

“I should probably go to the bathroom before we leave—” A sound
like a speeding train shook me, and a strong wind gusted around us, interrupting
my sentence. It stopped a few seconds later. “—for the airport.”

I let go of Wiggy’s hand, my eyes wide with surprise.

Maurice’s eyes were wider.

I was standing in the middle of my kitchen.

Chapter Three

Maurice was up from the table in seconds—putting milk on the stove to warm for cocoa and tossing flour and other ingredients into a bowl to bake us something.

Maurice always baked when he was worried. It had taken me awhile to figure that out after he’d moved in.

“I’d best be off, poppit,” Wiggy said. “You take care of yourself, yeah?”

“No, wait. Stay for awhile. Maurice is making us something to eat.” I pulled a chair out for him and gave a hopeful smile.

Wiggy checked his watch, then glanced around. “For a few minutes, then. But not too long. I should be getting back.”

A few minutes turned into an hour or so, since it takes time to bake cinnamon scones, even for someone as quick as Maurice. You can’t speed up heat.

Wiggy explained to us that he was a sylph—a wind elemental. He worked for the British equivalent of our Board of Hidden Affairs as an extra set of eyes and ears in the bar, and in extreme emergencies, such as today, transported people to safe locations using his wind powers.

“I would have tossed that wanker, Marcus, out the door the way he was on you last night, but there weren’t nothing I could do about it. I knew he was testing you. I didn’t have to like it, though.” He scowled—an unnatural expression on a face that appeared to wear a smile even when serious.

I patted his hand. “I’m glad to know you had my back anyway. If it had been real, you’d have taken care of it. Thanks.”

He shrugged and sipped his cocoa. “I still don’t like him.”

I bit into a warm scone. “Neither do I.”

“What do you reckon they’ll do about this werewolf situation?”

Up until this point, Maurice had been quiet, listening to us talk. He straightened, his enormous, pointed ears looking somehow larger. “Werewolves? We have a werewolf situation?”

“Just the one,” I said. “As far as we know.”

He shook his head. “Zoey, that’s not good.”

Wiggy nodded. “He’s right. Werewolves are a bloody nuisance.”

Maurice scratched the tip of one ear, a thoughtful look on his face. “The last time I heard about a werewolf crossing into our world was back in the ‘80s. A bunch of teenagers came through San Rafael, looking for trouble.”

“What did they do?” I leaned forward, my cup clutched between my hands.

He shrugged. “Mostly stupid stuff at first. Graffiti. Stolen hubcaps. Egging houses. Nobody realized who or what they were until the full moon hit and they went all hairy and snarly. The O.G.R.E. squad came in quick and took the kids away before humans got wind of it. But it was a close call. All anybody talked about for weeks.”

I frowned and glanced at the obnoxiously sweet Thomas Kinkade calendar Maurice had hung on the wall. “We’re still a week out from the next full moon.”

“That’s not right,” Wiggy said. “If it’s not a full moon, how could the council know what came out the portal was a werewolf? They wouldn’t, would they? Someone’s having us on.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what “having us on” meant, but I knew when I smelled bullshit. “The portal was just spotted,” I said. “And they’re saying a werewolf is roaming the countryside. That doesn’t make any damn sense from what you’re saying. You’re sure there’s no other way to spot a werewolf outside the three days of the full moon?”

Maurice drained his cup, leaving a thin line of chocolate on the gray skin of his upper lip. “Not that I know of. The rest of the month, they look as human as the two of you.”

“Well, at least it’s not werewolves, then.” Wiggy grinned. “My nan met a werewolf once. Tried to eat her until she sat on it. She gave it a right scare, and broke three of its ribs.”

Maurice and I stared at Wiggy, afraid to laugh, but also afraid not to. Wiggy burst into hysterical laughter, tears running down his cheeks. “You should see your faces.”

We chuckled with him, but I still wasn’t sure if I should laugh about this guy’s fat grandmother. After a few minutes, he mopped his face with the back of his hand and slid his chair back. “This has been really lovely, but I’ve got to get back to it. Maurice—” he stuck out his hand to shake, “—wonderful to meet you, mate.” He turned and gave me a one-armed squeeze across my shoulders. “And, Zoey, you take care of yourself. Give me a call if you need anything at all, yeah?”

I smiled and opened my mouth to respond, but with a puff of wind, he was already gone.

“Strange man,” Maurice said, clearing up the dishes. “Nice, though.”

“Yeah. Nice.” I frowned. “What do you suppose is going on out there?”

He ran water in the sink and added soap. “You tell me. You’re the one sending home frantic texts to keep your mom in the house in the middle of the night.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out. Were you at Sara’s earlier?”

He nodded. “She was having a rough night. I checked on her a little while ago, though. She’s asleep.”

“Good.” I scrubbed my forehead with my fingertips. “Who’s here? I’m surprised nobody else got up.”

“Just your mom, right now. Darius and Kam should be here later today. Some bungee jumper snapped his neck, and his soul made a run for it to Nevada. They went after it.”

While my boyfriend—correction,
ex-boyfriend
—was a salaried reaper who pulled stuck souls from the bodies of the newly dead, Kam and Darius freelanced for the Board as soul chasers. They went after the souls that escaped from their lifeless bodies and instead of crossing over or going to the light or whatever souls are supposed to do. Lately, the team didn’t go far though. They only took jobs that kept them within a day’s drive of my house in case we needed them in a hurry.

I nodded. “Good. I think the shit is about to hit the fan.”

Maurice grinned. “Awesome. It’s been nearly six months since our last shit storm. I was beginning to worry we’d gone all domestic.”

* * *

Not long after the sun came up, Mom came out of her bedroom, yawning. Her curly red hair was so like mine—though the color had faded some. It lay squashed on one side and sticking out on the other.

Yeah. Just like mine.

Not quite awake, Mom frowned. She squinted at me, then at the calendar, then back at me. “Did I sleep longer than I thought? You can’t be home already.”

I shrugged. “I cut the meeting short and caught a ride with a sylph.”

“Seems fair. Meeting not go well?” She ran her fingers through her hair, unsurprised by the idea that her daughter had been whisked home by a sylph. Crazy stuff happened at our house every day. It seemed we were all difficult to catch off guard. For that matter, Mom had been at this Aegis thing far longer than I had. She may have dealt with sylphs before.

We didn’t talk much about the time she’d spent away. Her absence during my childhood was too raw a subject.

“It did not go well, no.” I pushed a chair out for her with my toe. “But we’ll get to that when everybody else gets here.”

She accepted a cup of coffee Maurice shoved in her hands. “Everybody else?”

“Yeah. Time for a team meeting.”

Riley made it over about forty-five minutes later. He used to sleep at my place more often than he did at his apartment in Sausalito, but since the breakup—Aegis-handler or not—it wasn’t appropriate. Plus, having him walk around my house shirtless and with sleep-tousled hair was a gut punch. And awkward.

Darius and Kam rolled in around ten o’clock, and Sara showed up five minutes after that.

Once everyone took a seat in the living room, I told them what I’d learned in England.

Darius—who looked like a man-shaped tree, chiseled out of charcoal and muscle—sat in my biggest overstuffed chair. His knees stuck out, and his hands dwarfed the armrests. Kam, our djinn, sat on the couch in a pink poodle skirt and sweater, her long black hair pulled into a sleek ponytail. She was supposed to be saving up her magic to open a portal and go home to the djinn world, but lately she’d been frittering her magic on a new, weird outfit each day. The magic gems in her wrist were recharging, but not as fast as they would if she weren’t draining them to play dress up. Darius and I had both talked to her about her magical spending habits, but she insisted she knew what she was doing. She wanted to feel pretty after a century of being locked in a box and told what to eat, do, wear and think.

I couldn’t argue with that.

Besides, I’d miss her once she finally went home. If her silly costume changes kept her around a little longer, I wasn’t going to complain.

Without a word, she sat on the middle cushion between Riley and me. She didn’t approve of our having broken up, but she did what she could whenever she was around to act as a buffer. I appreciated her efforts, though they weren’t necessary. Riley and I were grownups. We would deal. And by deal, what I really meant was do everything in our power to ignore the situation.

So, maybe not as grownup as we might think.

Mom sat on the floor next to Darius’s chair, and Maurice bustled around the room filling drinks and making tutting noises when somebody forgot to use a coaster. I’d told him often that he didn’t have to wait on anybody, but he enjoyed it. I probably would have hurt his feelings if I’d tried to stop him from doing it.

Sara came out of the hall bathroom and joined us, settling into the other overstuffed chair. She smoothed her cream-colored skirt and smiled at me.

I drew my brows together and tilted my head toward her in a gesture she understood was asking if she was okay. She nodded, and her smile widened.

The last few months had been rough as hell on Sara, but she was doing a lot better.

Late last year, an incubus named Sebastian had come after me and everyone I influenced. He’d also been hurting Sara and wiping her memories of having been repeatedly raped both physically and metaphysically. It was a dark time, and we almost lost Sara, but her inability to remember shielded her from most of the trauma.

Until a few months ago. The memories trickled in through dreams, at first, and then one day came back to her all at once. I’d have rather she never remembered anything, especially since she’d said herself that she didn’t want to remember. And I wouldn’t wish those memories on my worst enemy. But they
had
returned, and I did what I could for her, whenever she needed it—whether that meant listening to her talk it out, holding her when she cried or going to watch while she shot at a target at the gun range.

The Board sent us a therapist from the Hidden world—an elf named Louise—who was trained to help rape victims but wouldn’t flinch at the supernatural aspects of Sara’s assault. Having Louise was a huge relief, because I never knew whether I was doing or saying the right thing for Sara. I knew how to be her friend—how to be supportive. I was not qualified to council her. Louise helped Sara in ways I couldn’t begin to understand.

Some days were better than others for Sara. I doubted I’d ever stop checking on her or worrying, even with Louise helping her. Therapy is not a magic wand.

But Sara’s smile was genuine. Today was a good day.

Not all of them were.

“So,” I said, glancing around the room. “I’m back early.” I told them about the portal, the impossible werewolf report and about how nearly all the Aegises in other countries had been murdered too.

Mom sat forward, agitated. “Katy couldn’t have done all that.”

I shook my head. “No, she couldn’t. Apparently, this ancient something that sent Katy after us let loose other psychos around the world too.”

Darius rested a protective hand on my mother’s shoulder. “What about the governments? Surely ours was the only one nearly destroyed?”

“No. The same everywhere,” I said.

Kam got up from the couch and paced the room, her saddle shoes clunking on the hardwood floor.

“So...” Riley hesitated. His intense gaze rested on me, then flicked away to my mom. It wasn’t lost on me that his jaw wasn’t as tight once his attention was on someone other than me. “That would mean you two remain in danger. Whatever sent Katy is probably still after you.”

I nodded. “Well, yeah. But we already assumed that was the case.” Everything had been so quiet lately, it had been easy to forget I was a target. Hell, ever since I’d found out about the Hidden world, I’d been a target. I couldn’t live every second of my life on high alert. “I think my biggest concern right now is this damn Covenant thing. We need to find out what it is. I got the feeling nobody at the Gathering really knew for sure what they were talking about.”

“Zoey?” Kam stood at the window, looking out at the front yard.

Maurice wiped a trickle of lemonade off the coffee table. “Maybe Aggie’s got something in her library. You know, something really old.”

“Zoey? Can you come here?” Kam’s tone was urgent, and her worry blew across the room with an acrid stench.

“What’s wrong?” I joined her at window. “What the hell is that?”

Kam swallowed hard. “It’s a portal.”

We all piled through the door and stood gawking on my porch. A long oval, about eight feet high and four feet across, hovered in the air in the middle of my driveway. The surface shimmered like a lake in a gentle breeze. Nothing came out, and nothing shone through to give us any clues about where it came from or where it led.

I made for the steps, and several hands reached to stop me.

“What?” I scowled at my friends blocking my way.

“It’s outside the fairy circle,” Mom whispered. Her face was pale, spooked. “Stay with me, honey. Let the others check it.”

I sighed and tried not to look petulant at being told what I couldn’t do in my own damn yard, but I stayed put. Kam and Darius went straight toward the mysterious object. Darius stood in front of it, squinting to see in. Kam rounded to the back, then stepped away in surprise. “I can’t see it!” she said, loud enough for those of us on house arrest to hear. She took a step to her left and craned her neck to Darius’s side, then retreated. “Nope. Can’t see it at all on this side. I’ve never seen one from the back before.”

“Well, that’s something, I guess,” I said. “Nothing to explain to the mailman if you can’t see it from the end of the driveway.”

Darius stuck a beefy finger into the liquidlike surface of the portal. It rippled, then stilled.