Demons in My Driveway (25 page)

I
seemed so far away.

All around us, zombies stopped. Their eyes cleared, and they cast about as if lost. Their skin condition didn’t improve, but without the hunger, they were regular people, confused and trying to figure out what was going on.

Our guys stopped fighting, weapons still held ready.

I screamed as pain and hunger racked my body. I forced it down into an imaginary well, deep inside of me, but the ache remained. “Please, Riley,” I whispered. I curled into a ball and wrapped my arms around my legs.

So much hunger. I couldn’t think straight.

I had to eat.

I felt Riley leave more than saw him go. An eternity passed while I focused on staying conscious and holding all that hunger inside me. If I fainted, the hunger would likely return to the people I’d taken it from. I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands and squeezed my eyes shut, reaching, always reaching inside for that small spark of
me
buried beneath the all-consuming pangs of starvation.

Little by little, the hunger dwindled until I could open my eyes and stop trying to hold myself together with my arms. Riley had returned, and he’d brought a man in what was once a nice business suit.

The man held his hand out to me. “Let me help you.” His voice was deep and kind.

I took his slimy hand and climbed to my feet. The hunger remained, but it was small and far away. The business-zombies had left except for a few who knelt over the bodies of our fallen. I couldn’t see what they were doing, but they didn’t seem to be doing further harm.

“Are they gone?” I brushed grass from my pants with shaking hands.

The man smiled. “I sent them home.”

I frowned. “You? Who are you?”

“I’m President Steele. I run the world of what you call zombies.”

“What do
you
call yourselves?” Looking at him was difficult. Calm and de-zombified or not, he still had drippy, oozy flesh that, presumably, would go back to normal when he went home.

He shrugged. “People. We call ourselves people. But the air in your world re-activates a virus in our systems. That’s why we remain separate.”

“Oh.” I watched as a woman bent over a still form in striped tights and an orange tutu. “We lost a lot of people.” My heart squeezed in my chest and I tried not to choke on the words. “People I love.” I swallowed the unspoken accusation. The zombie people weren’t to blame. This was all Rick’s fault—Rick and his mysterious god-thing.

As I watched, those crazy striped legs stirred, then Stacy sat upright. The woman helped her to her feet. Stacy turned and looked at me for a long moment. She tipped her head toward Maurice as he helped Sara gather weapons from the grass. Stacy’s lips quivered in a small, sweet smile, and she lifted her hand to wave at me. I waved back, my heart swelling with sadness. She walked toward the zombie portal and stepped through.

I made a sound of protest, and Riley slipped his arm around me. “She has to go, baby. She’s infected now. She needed a fresh start anyway.”

I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes. “No!” I swallowed, my voice quiet. “She didn’t even say goodbye.”

The centaur followed after Stacy. A handful of demons. Several vampires. A cluster of werefolk.

I shivered in the cool morning air, unbearable sadness settling over me as I watched all the people forced into new lives.

“Thank you for stopping this from going any farther,” President Steele said. “I’m so sorry it came to this.”

I rubbed the goose bumps on my arms. “I was too late. I didn’t stop it in time.”

Riley slipped behind me and pulled me against his chest. “The end of the world didn’t happen, Zo. That’s as
in time
as anybody could ask.”

The crazy thing to all of it was that no one died. Not really. Sure, a lot of people were infected and it looked like they’d died. But they didn’t. And in the zombie world, they’d be perfectly normal. The zombies who fell were fine too. Their parts knit back together and they walked home through the portal.

We had a few small injuries—Sara had accidentally elbowed Maurice in the head at some point, and he needed a cold compress. Darius, of all people, had stepped on a rake lying in the grass. The whack to the face did more to his ego than it did to his face, but his foot had a cut that needed dressing.

There were others with minor scrapes and bruises, but nothing major.

For the most part, we’d come away fairly unscathed, but minus one under-the-bed monster who seemed to have embraced her new circumstances with grace. I was sad to see her go and would miss her terribly. But I had to admit, she’d had a rough time lately, especially in matters of love. I hoped with all my heart she’d find something better where she’d gone. I so wanted her to be happy.

With each straggling zombie who stepped through the portal, the hunger I’d consumed lessened. When only President Steele remained, I kind of felt like a sandwich would’ve been enough to squelch it. Of course, that was only because I’d locked the hunger away to a deep, far away place inside of me. I wasn’t feeling the full force that they felt. The hunger had only been so awful because of the large numbers of hungry zombies I’d tried to free from it.

The last thing President Steele did before he left was take back a little of his hunger. I gave him a gradual dose, enough for him to welcome Rick into the fold.

“This won’t stop it from happening,” Rick said. “His coming was foretold long before you were born. When he chooses a name, he’ll come for you.”

“I’ll be ready,” I said. “Sorry that you’ll be missing it, though.”

I was not ashamed of how much joy I took in seeing Rick blubber and beg for his life before the president bit him.

Rick dropped to the grass, a wicked bite mark on his arm. President Steele didn’t wait for him to wake up. Riley helped get the unconscious man to his feet and over to the portal. Hands emerged to assist, and Rick the mailman disappeared into the zombie world to face trial. President Steele had assured me there would be no appeals.

The zombie apocalypse was over, and we had survived.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I sat on my front porch, one step below Riley with his arms wrapped around me. We watched the last of the demons, weres and vamps travel back to their respective homes before their portals popped out of existence.

Papa Dino looked solemn, but not unhappy as he waved goodbye. Breezy and Mac—nearly unrecognizable without any animal parts—left us with promises to return and help with Maurice’s composting project.

Sara swaggered over and took a seat next to me.

“Nice outfit.” I plucked at the slit leather skirt that matched her tummy-baring halter.

She stretched her golden legs and crossed them at the ankles. “Talia gave it to me. I think it matches my new look a little better. Not perfect yet, but I’ll get there.”

I leaned back against Riley, soaking in his warmth. “You looked pretty amazing out there.”

She held her arm out and turned it in the sun. “I sparkle.” Her tone was dry, unimpressed.

I tried to be positive. “It’s pretty.”

She grunted. “It’s also permanent.”

“Oh.” There wasn’t much I could say to that. “I’m sorry.”

Sara shrugged and sat up straighter. “Worrying about it won’t change it. You know I don’t believe in regrets.” The heavy sigh she let out told another story.

I bumped my shoulder against hers. “Go talk to Maurice.”

She dropped her hands in her lap. “He’s busy helping Andrew and Daniel doctor people up.”

I shoved a little harder. “Then go help him, you dufus.”

Her silver eyebrows shot up. “Dufus?”

“Yeah. Dufus. Go.” I made a shooing motion, and she finally hauled herself up and went inside.

Kam passed by with Dahlia, the two in animated conversation. To my surprise, Howard and Milo popped out from underneath the house and ran off together into the grass.

I twisted my neck to look at Riley. “Did they have ribbons around their necks?”

“Howard didn’t look too happy about it.” Riley bent and kissed the top of my head. “At least we know the gnomes under there haven’t died.”

The door opened behind us and Mom settled in next to me. Darius stood behind her like a watchful tree.

“Well.” Mom pushed her curls away from her face. “We didn’t die. So, there’s that.”

“I’d say that’s quite a lot,” I said. “All things considered.”

“Think it’s safe to go to the grocery store? I’m beginning to hate this place.”

I had to agree with that. “I think we’re as safe as we were before an offshoot of the Church of Hidden Wisdom decided to kill us. Which is to say, we’re not totally safe, but after the zombie apocalypse, what’s one nameless dude who hasn’t even shown up yet?”

After everything we’d been through, I didn’t care who this guy was. I was going into town to get my hair done. Buy some new shoes. Get a latte. Anything.

Bring it
,
you bastard.
I’m getting a manicure first.

Riley tightened his arms around me. “So, what do we do now?”

I sighed. I didn’t want to think about what came next. “We figure out who’s been behind all of this—this grand and glorious
he
they kept talking about. And more importantly, we need to go back to researching the Covenant and the Curator. We find out what that’s all about and who sent us giant feathers and obscure clues, we solve the whole thing.”

A short, pudgy figure blocked the sun. Aggie stood beside us, a little out of breath. “That won’t be necessary, my darlings.”

I shifted to offer her my seat, but Darius was already beside her with a chair. He took her by the elbow and helped her sit facing us. “Comfortable?”

She patted his enormous hand. “I’m fine. Thank you, dear.”

“I’ll get you a drink.” He moved toward the door.

“No, please.” She shook her head, and the silver-blue curls didn’t bob the way they usually did. In fact, all of her looked tired. “I don’t have much time, and I wanted all four of you here.”

My throat tightened. I hoped with all my heart she meant she didn’t have much time because there was a pie in the oven to get back to, but I didn’t think that was what she was telling us.

Her face was gray and tired. Even her rings had lost some of their sparkle.

She leaned forward. “I am not what I thought I was.”

I frowned. “You’re not a forest hag?”

She smiled. “Yes and no. My clocks—you know how much I love them—my clocks all stopped a little while ago. The silence woke me up, and I remembered why I’m here.”

Riley reached for my hand and wove our fingers together. “You’re the Curator.”

Her smile brightened. “Yes! Very good.” She eyed our hands and winked at me. “I’m glad that’s sorted out.”

I smiled back at her. “You always knew it would be.”

She looked from me to my mother, pride swelling her chest. “I’ve been here for my girls, just in case. Every Aegis always has a Curator around. In case.”

Mom’s voice trembled. “In case of what, Aggie?”

“In case you’re the last. And now, you are.”

I shook my head. “There’s two of us.”

“Yes, sweetheart, but I’m the only Curator for the last two Aegises. All the other Curators lost their Aegises and have moved on. So, it’s time for me to do my final job.”

Tears clouded my eyes, and Riley squeezed my hand to keep me steady. “No, Aggie. Everyone’s safe. We just have to figure out what the terms of the Covenant are so we can fix it and send whoever it is back where he came from.”

She was leaving us. I knew it. I
felt
it. And I didn’t know how to stop it.

Mom must have felt it, too. Her hands fluttered in her lap, frantic and helpless.

“Girls, I
am
the Covenant.” She tapped her breastbone. “Or rather, the Curators each kept it safe inside themselves.”

“Curator ablaze,” Mom said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Aggie nodded. “Curators are offspring of the Great Simurgh, first of all Hidden. And now, the last Hidden is emerging from the ether of story. He has chosen a name. Unless you have the Covenant and stop him, he will break it and leave this world forever. All the Hidden will have to go with him.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “He can’t do that.”

Aggie’s head drooped. She looked so weary. “I’m afraid he can, dear. But the Covenant will help you.”

Smoke curled from her pink sneakers and drifted up her legs.

I felt my head shaking frantically back and forth in denial, but I wasn’t conscious of doing it. “No, Aggie. Please. We’ll find another way.”

Aggie’s smile was peaceful and filled with affection. “I love you both. You’ve made me so proud, each in your own way.”

Mom let out a short sob and covered her mouth with her hands.

Flames licked at Aggie’s knees, then engulfed her so quickly we didn’t have time to react. Her expression never faltered. At the last, she lifted her head and arms to the sky and cooed. Her figure hardened, then crumbled away.

The fire went out as if someone had flipped a switch.

We sat silent, unbelieving. A moment before, Aggie had been sitting in the chair in front of us. Now, there was nothing but a pile of ash in her place.

The ash shifted and caved in. A beak poked through, then the rest of a stubby, bald bird wobbled free. I gasped as the bird grew long, crimson feathers, stretched its wings, then flew away.

“She was a phoenix,” I said. My voice sounded hoarse. “Like the card I drew.”

“Where’s the Covenant?” Riley slid his legs from around me so he could get a closer look. “It has to be there.”

He tried to be gentle and respectful as he prodded the ashes, but I had to look away, all the same. Maybe Aggie was the bird that flew away. But to me, those ashes were her too.

Darius wrapped his arms around my mom and she buried her face in his massive chest.

“Got it.” Riley dragged something solid from the ashes and held it up. He blew away the dust. “It’s a book.”

I craned my neck to see. “Is there a title? What’s in it?”

He held it up to show a dark, red leather cover. “Beats the hell out of me. What is this, Sanskrit, do you think?”

I took it from him and flipped through the pages. “It’s blank.” I fanned the pages, horrified, shaking my head in denial. As the reality sank in, a fat, angry tear rolled down my cheek and splashed on the jagged surface. “This is nothing. We lost Aggie and we can’t even read the damn thing.”

Mom sniffed and wiped her face. “Let me see.”

I handed it to her without a word. I felt numb inside, too full of grief and too tired to work up a full steam of anger. No doubt, that would come later. We’d won the zombie apocalypse without any fatalities, only to lose someone I loved very much for a useless, stupid reason.

And I still didn’t know who wanted us dead in the first place or how to stop him.

I pulled myself to my feet. “I’m going inside.”

I turned, and the world became black...

A fire blazed before me, and the whooshing of wings was unmistakably familiar this time.

“The Last has chosen and will come forth. Soon, the Aegis will choose.” The whispered voice was stronger this time.

“Choose what? What do you want me to do?” My throat scratched from yelling to be heard over the sound of wings.

“When the time comes, you will know.”

I spun in a circle, desperate to see who I was talking to. “That’s no help. At least tell me who he is so I can watch for him.”

The wings stopped beating and utter silence fell.

The voice was so quiet I almost didn’t hear its whispered words. “Shadow Man.”

Daylight stunned my eyes. I was back on my front porch. Mom stood next to Darius, her eyes wide as rainbow-colored feathers fell all around us and piled on the wooden boards.

The skin on my arms was covered in raised bumps, and “Shadow Man” echoed in my head. I wrapped my arms around myself to ward off the chill the name gave me. I didn’t know what it meant, but I felt the name in my core. It was something truly awful, and all the friendly demons, vampires, shifters and zombies in all the worlds wouldn’t be able to save us.

Behind me, the front door flew open. “What the hell is going on out here?” Maurice scowled at the iridescent feathers shimmering in the sunlight. “What did I miss?”

I took the book from Mom and handed it to him. “Can you read the title?”

He looked at me like I was nuts. “Of course not. You might try Molly, though.”

The wind picked up and some of the feathers swirled in drifts.

Riley stepped next to me and circled his arm around my waist. “We’ll ask her tomorrow.” He kissed my temple. “I think we deserve a short break.”

Maurice chuckled. “You’d better come out back first.”

“What’s wrong?” If one more thing went wrong, I’d probably have to assume the fetal position and nurse a couple of bottles of wine. I was done.

Maurice grinned. “Nothing’s wrong. Just come see.”

I glanced at the empty chair behind us, then back at Maurice. He’d loved Aggie very much. I’d have to sit him down in a little while and tell him what happened. Doing so would break my heart all over again.

I gave him as much of a smile as I could muster and squeezed his hand. “All right. Show us.”

We dragged ourselves through the house, sorrow making us appear more zombie-like than the zombies had been.

When I stepped outside and into the magical bubble that concealed my backyard, I stopped short.

Riley bumped into me, then guided me a step to the right so Mom and Darius wouldn’t exit into a pileup.

The entire backyard was filled with tropical birds. Golds and greens, blues and scarlets, every color imaginable—and some I’d never known to imagine—flitted across the yard. They should have caused a cacophony of discordant tweets, shrieks and chirps, but they didn’t.

Their voices joined in a single joyful song that spoke a wordless tune of light overcoming dark, love destroying hate, and happiness dispelling sorrow. I walked to the center of the yard, and they circled and swooped while they sang. The sun glinted off their feathers in dazzling prisms.

Here and there, mixed among the other birds, I spotted a crimson phoenix, each perched in dignified silence as the other birds sang.

When the song ended, the birds dispersed, a few at a time or in flocks, until none remained but a circle of phoenixes surrounding my mother and me. I was certain that if we counted, we would find the number of phoenixes matched the number of lost Aegises.

Plus Aggie.

I smiled through my tears, silently thanking these lovely creatures for caring for our fellow Aegises for as long as they could. One by one, they flew away until only one sat alone a few feet from where we stood.

Love spilled from its downy wings and fluffed around us like soft clouds. The scent of chocolate chip cookies drifted on the breeze.

The bird tilted its head to one side, bowed low, then fluttered off.

Mom and I stood in the middle of the yard holding hands and watching Aggie fly away.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Do you think we’ll ever see her again?”

Her smile squeezed my heart. “With all my heart, I hope so.”

Mom pressed her forehead against mine and we held each other tight.

After a moment, Mom lifted her head, a questioning look on her face. “Zoey, did you know there are gnomes living under our front porch?”

The bay breeze blew my hair from my face. “They’ll come out when they’re ready.” I smiled. “Don’t you worry.”

* * * * *