Demons in My Driveway

by R. L. Naquin

  “Hey.” I grabbed his shoulders before we collided. “What’s going on?”

  He lifted his head, eyes wide. “How do I know? They kicked me out.” He scowled. “How can I protect her if I can’t hear anything?”

  I couldn’t bring myself to point out that there was very little a closet monster could do against the queen of all demons. I rubbed his arm. “I’ll go in. I’m sure everything is okay.”

  He nodded, his face miserable. Maurice, I knew, hated feeling helpless. He was a doer, not a watcher. And since it was Sara, not being in there to protect her must’ve been torture for him.

  Riley, who’d walked me home in silence, stepped up to help. “Hey, buddy. Let’s go in the back and talk. Everything’s going to be fine.” He put an arm across Maurice’s shoulders and led him the way he’d come. As they rounded the corner, Riley glanced back and gave me a quick nod.

  I bounded up the steps and into the house, shutting the door behind me.

  Both women looked up from their conversation. I was struck by how similar the two vastly different women were. Sara, blonde, blue-eyed and dressed in an expensive, blue silk dress, ankles neatly crossed. Talia, alien with blue and purple coloring and dressed in an outfit only appropriate for a comic book convention.

  Yet, they both stared at me with calm intelligence and an inner strength that was far more telling than their hair colors or the outfits they chose to decorate their bodies.

  “Am I interrupting?” We all knew I was. But sometimes people ask one question when they really want to know something else. In this case, the real question was “Can I butt in?” But I wasn’t about to come right out and ask that.

  “Not at all.” Talia smiled and waved a gracious hand at my own couch. “Please. Join us.”

  I sat beside my best friend and scrutinized her. She didn’t appear traumatized or in mortal terror. Her face was calm. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded and squeezed my hand. “Talia says I am entitled to compensation.”

  I raised one eyebrow. “What? Like a structured settlement?” I glared at Talia. “Tell me you’re not offering to pay her off.”

  Talia drew back in surprise. “Of course not. Don’t be crass. Sara had her life force stolen from her. And if it hadn’t been for you, she’d have lost her life. I take this very seriously.”

  I looked from Talia to Sara then back again. “What exactly are you offering?”

  Talia crossed her legs and leaned back into her chair. “An eye for an eye. Sebastian didn’t follow my rules. Women were killed and Sara was left with severe emotional trauma. I cannot give her back what was taken from her. But I can offer her justice.”

  I didn’t want to argue the semantics of justice versus revenge. As far as I was concerned, Sebastian deserved an eternity of torment and torture for what he had done to Sara—not to mention the women he’d killed and the lives he’d ruined. I could imagine all sorts of vicious ways to pay him back.

  I twisted away from Talia to look at Sara. “What do you want to do?”

  Her face had a pinched look while she considered. “I want to make sure he doesn’t ever hurt anyone else again.” Her hands fluttered in her lap like captured butterflies trying to free themselves. “I want him to be sorry he ever set foot in our world, and I want to send him back to his world powerless, the way he made me feel.”

  “You’re entitled to more, you know,” Talia said. “His life is yours to take.”

  Sara’s hands went still, and her voice became hard. “Then it’s mine to give back. I don’t want him dead. I thought I did. I’d rather leave him suffering.”

  I could totally get behind that idea. I grabbed one of her hands and cradled it in mine. “You’re sure you’re ready to face him? Do you want to think about it, first? Talk to your therapist before making a final decision?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll have plenty of time to talk to Louise afterward. I’m sure I’ll need it.”

  Despite my policy against peeking at the emotions of my friends and family, I opened up my filters and did a spot check on Sara. She was terrified. But beneath the layer of choking fear was a solid wall of resolve.

  The old Sara—the one who took no crap from demanding mothers-of-the-bride, late vendors, or sloppy parking at the mall—sat on my couch demanding to be free of this nightmare.

  I squeezed her hand. “I’ve got your back. I’ll be right there with you.”

  She gave me a wan smile. “I know you will be, Zoey. And he hurt you too. You deserve to see him brought down.”

  I glanced at our joined hands through blurry eyes. If this helped Sara regain her confidence and let her sleep again at night, I would be so grateful. I tilted my head at Talia. “You’re sure Sara will be safe?”

  “I will be there every second. I personally guarantee her physical safety.”

  Who would guarantee Sara’s emotional and mental safety? I supposed that was what I would be there for.

  It was what we’d always done for each other.

  “When?” Part of me was afraid she’d tell us it was going to happen right now. The other part of me was worried we’d have to wait.

  Talia uncrossed her legs. “It will take some preparation to set it up. And I imagine Sara will want to prepare herself as well.”

  Sara nodded. “I would, yes.”

  “Then it’s settled. Tomorrow I’ll return with Sebastian a few hours after lunch.” She rose and held out a taloned hand, which Sara shook.

  I was still uncomfortable about the whole thing—something could go terribly wrong—but I couldn’t run Sara’s life for her. And anybody trying to coddle her was likely to lose an appendage. Knowing this, I kept my opinion to myself. If Sara felt that facing her attacker would help the healing process, my job was to be there as emotional support, not cause her to second-guess herself.

  I shook Talia’s offered hand, and we exchanged a look that spoke volumes. I was trusting her with my best friend’s life. And she acknowledged that fact with a reassuring nod.

  Sara and I walked Talia outside then watched her disappear, taking her portal with her.

  I gave Sara a sideways look. “You okay?”

  She waved her hand in dismissal. “Fine. I’d rather not talk about it right now.”

  “Okay.” I pointed my thumb at Kam, looking like a sheriff from the Wild West with her feet propped on the railing. She seemed to be dozing. “Reckon she’s resting up for a big showdown at high noon?”

  Sara smiled. “I think she’s been awake nearly nonstop for two days. She won’t let anybody take over. She refuses to budge.”

  “Seriously? I thought she was taking turns with Darius.”

  Kam lifted her chin and opened one eye. “I can hear you, you know.”

  I climbed the steps and leaned against the railing. “Honey, Lionel’s got the cult members locked up, so even if a portal opens, there shouldn’t be any aswangs coming out. Talia’s got her stuff under control now, and Papa Dino’s working on it.” I shifted my feet. “I think we’re okay. Why won’t you let anybody else take a shift?”

  She drew her weary gaze to meet mine. Her eyes were bloodshot. “Leaders can open portals from the inside, but we still don’t know who’s doing it from the outside.” She folded her arms around herself. “The only way I know to open them from this side is djinn magic. And I didn’t see any djinn handcuffed in the back of that van.”

  Sara sat in the rocking chair next to Kam. “You think there’s a djinn in on this?”

  Kam gave Sara a long look. “No. It’s happening all over the world. I think there are a lot of djinn, since once a djinn opens a portal, their magic would take a year to recharge.”

  I tilted my head. “So, what? A secret djinn cabal is leading the assault?”

  “I don’t know.” She dropped her hands in her lap and stared at them. “I kind of wish that was it, but I don’t think so.”

  Sara put her hand on Kam’s arm. “Then what?”

&nb
sp; Kam rubbed her tired eyes with her fingertips. “I haven’t seen another djinn in a very long time. But they’re a peaceful people, in general. They stay in their world to avoid capture. If this many portals are opening, I think somebody may have found a way to catch a whole lot of djinn. And that terrifies me.” Kam’s voice cracked and her hand shook.

  The only other time I’d seen Kam truly afraid was when her old master had come after her to lock her up again. I’d managed to beat him to it and stored her in my cell phone—not the most dignified solution, but it did the trick. Without his djinn to keep him alive, the years he’d stolen had caught up with him, and he’d died.

  The dread seeping off of Kam in oily droplets was worse than it had been that day. She thought her entire world was in danger, and she hadn’t returned home yet to see it.

  “Maybe someone else is doing it,” I said. “I can’t believe somebody’s using djinn like they’re a one-time, disposable commodity. That doesn’t seem like the best way to do this. How would they capture that many djinn? They’d have to have the formal name of each one.”

  Kam’s eyes filled with tears. “All it would take is to capture the first one and force her to give up any names she has. If they made her open the portal to the djinn world, they could have trapped so many of them. I don’t think you realize how vulnerable we are.” Kam’s voice caught in her throat.

  “Okay, honey.” Sara rose from the chair, pulling Kam with her. “You need sleep. Whatever’s going on, we need you at your best, and this ain’t it.”

  “But I have to watch for portals.” Her objections were weak, and she was tired enough that she went where Sara led.

  “We have plenty of people to watch for portals,” Sara said. “We’ve got this covered.”

  Kam had one foot in the door when she turned toward me. “Zoey, it’s not over. Don’t go out at night.”

  “The vamps are locked down,” I said. “We’re safe.”

  She shook her head, long dark hair spilling over her shoulders. “No. The moon is full for the next three nights.”

  “So?” My forehead creased in confusion.

  “Werewolves, Zoey. I’m guessing the portals will start opening up again, and this time whoever’s doing it will be in a hurry, since even the aswangs in that world are only really dangerous for three days out of the month. Remember, the aswangs in the lycan world are subject to the pulls of the moon the same way the shifters are.”

  As ominous as that sounded, at least it gave me a ray of hope. “So, as long as we make it through the next three days, we’re safe.”

  Kam took a deep breath. Obviously, she’d though this through a lot farther than I had. “Yes and no. We have to figure out who’s doing this before those three days are over. If we don’t stop them, they’ll move on to the last world. They’ll let out the zombies.”

  Sara raised an eyebrow in alarm, but didn’t let Kam see it. “Come on.” She kept her voice calm and soothing. “If we’re fighting fake werewolves tonight, you need some rest.” She shot me another anxious look, then ushered Kam into the house.

  I paced for a minute, trying to decide what to do. We were sitting ducks—stuck in the house, waiting for demons and vampires and werewolves and zombies to come eat our faces and bring down the end of the world.

  Talia’s magic demon phone was crammed in my pocket. I pulled it out and shot her a quick text message.

  Did you get ahold of somebody in charge of werewolfland?

  I didn’t expect her to get back to me as quickly as she did. A minute later, I had a response.

  Werefolk live off the grid. Trying anyway. Careful. Full moon tonight.

  What the hell did that mean? How could they live off the grid? I pictured a bunch of really hairy people canceling their cable subscriptions and refusing to buy anything off Amazon. It probably meant they didn’t have magical cell phones that crossed the dimensions of time and space. Papa Dino hadn’t offered me a vamp phone, so maybe he was off the grid too, though he and Talia seemed to be able to talk to each other without a problem.

  I had so many questions and so little time to ask them.

  Who wants us dead? took priority over Have you been chatting with a vampire on Skype?

  Sara came out a few minutes later and took a seat next to me. We rocked in silence, each absorbed in thought.

  I wanted to give her some space. Sure, we were faced with a possible zombie apocalypse in the near future, but Sara’s problems were more immediate, at least for her. And she was my best friend, so they were more immediate for me too.

  Besides—we’d been in near constant danger for so long, we couldn’t exactly put our personal lives on hold. Life marched forward whether we paid attention or not.

  I touched her leg. “Hey,” I said. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  She sighed. “I’m ready.” She rocked gently and watched a butterfly flit across the grass. “I’ve been hiding from this ever since it happened—first by forgetting everything, then with insomnia so I didn’t have to face it.” She twisted to look at me. “Zoey, you know me. That’s not how I handle things.”

  That was true. Sara was like a rhino putting out a forest fire—plowing through obstacles with single-minded determination.

  “I’m not even sure I’m ready to face him.” Goosebumps rose on my arms and I rubbed them away with my palms. “He was awful.”

  “We have to, Zo. He took something from me. And I want it back.” Sara’s face was pale, but her jaw was set. Her decision was made, and she wasn’t going to second-guess herself.

  “Should we, maybe, have Louise here with us? You know, in case.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want a big crowd of people around for this. I need you there. And I need Talia there because I know she’ll kill him if he tries anything. But that’s it. This is private. Just us.”

  I watched her face as she spoke. Despite the fear I saw there, underneath was a sort of peace that I hadn’t seen in her for a long time. I would stand next to her while she faced her attacker and did whatever it was that Talia had offered.

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  We rocked in silence again, and the sky turned orange and pink.

  When Sara spoke, her voice was gentle. “Zoey, you have to face your demons too.”

  “I’ll be right there next to you.”

  “No. Not literal demons. I mean Riley.”

  I frowned. “Oh.” A flock of birds looped in the sky in an intricate pattern like synchronized swimmers. “Maybe when this is all over.” I hoped she’d let it go. The thought of Riley made my head dizzy. But I’d known Sara a long time—and she’d known me. She wasn’t going to let it go.

  “No, honey. Soon. Neither of you can live like this. And if one of you dies, you’ll never get the chance to straighten it out.”

  “It’s straight.” Why would she say that? I didn’t need to think about Riley dying to know I was avoiding my problems. That was a low blow. I rocked a little harder.

  “Then why is it you’re both watching each other with moon eyes when the other isn’t looking? You have to be together a lot because it’s his job, yet you barely speak to each other. That doesn’t sound straight to me.”

  I rolled my head back and sighed dramatically. “Mooooom. I don’t want to!”

  She snorted. “Idiot. Most of us spend our lives looking for love and hoping...” She swallowed hard. “And hoping when we find it, the person will love us back. You have it, and you’re ignoring it.”

  I breathed in deeply and wrapped my sweater tighter around myself. “But it wasn’t working. Something always got in the way.”

  Her smile was sour. “It was working fine. You were just afraid of losing him, so you pushed him away.”

  I shook my head. “No, that wasn’t it.” I scowled. Was it?

  Sara usually knew me better than I knew myself.

  “And while I’m telling you what to do with your life, you might want to face your mom too. You’ve been push
ing her away since she got here.” She fixed me with a patented Sara know-it-all look.

  She was right. I’d pushed them both away. I’d lost Mom once. I didn’t want to go through losing her again. And Riley was going to get himself killed trying to protect me. It was easier to keep them both at arm’s length.

  But easier might end in a giant vat filled with regret.

  “Bitch.” I rocked and watched the clouds soften to a lighter pink.

  Sara rocked beside me—my best friend, always there to tell me the hard truth. “Yep.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Yep.”

  I put my feet up on the railing. “Think Kam will let me be sheriff for awhile?”

  Sara put her feet up too. “Not if that makes me your deputy. You know I’m not a sidekick.”

  “No one will ever say you are.”

  “Not if they want to live.”

  We rocked. We watched the clouds turn dark as the sun set, then lightened again as the moon rose. And when the portal opened in my driveway, we’d achieved a feeling of Zen so deep, we barely registered surprise.

  Two hairy figures emerged, holding hands and blinking in the light of the full moon.

  The taller of the two stepped forward. “Hey, there, folks! Is either one of you named Zoey?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I squinted at the two new figures in my yard. Though covered in hair, they were both humanoid, standing upright. They ambled toward me, furry grins on their faces.

  They came straight through the fairy ring with no resistance, so they had no ill intent. Still, after Papa Dino’s discomfort at how tasty we smelled, my muscles tensed, ready to make a run for the front door and the relative safety of the people inside.

  It occurred to me that Sara and I holding watch while all my heavy hitters and folks charged with keeping me safe were indisposed wasn’t the best plan. And nobody had told me what to expect from werewolves, so I’d have to fake it.

  I smiled my best hostess smile and rose to greet them.

  “Welcome,” I said. “I’m Zoey, and this is my friend Sara.” I held my hand out as the two strode up the front steps.