Demons in My Driveway by R.L. Naquin Page B

throat.”
    I paced the kitchen, running a free hand through my hair. This wasn’t happening. So many had already died. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “I thought Marcus said he’d sent his people take her into protective custody.”
    Bernice sighed. “They were on their way to a safe house and stopped to stretch their legs. Paula was only a few feet away from the group. She barely had time to scream. By the time Marcus’s people got to her, it was over. The aswang was already running toward the portal.” A sob escaped her. “Its jaws were covered in her blood.”
    I halted in the middle of the room and swallowed hard. I couldn’t shake the vivid picture in my head of the blood-spattered aswang. “Bernice, who’s doing this? Who’s sending aswangs to kill us?”
    “We’re still not sure. Five members of the Church of Hidden Wisdom were chanting less than a mile away. The Canadian Committee for Hidden Concerns arrested them and took them to headquarters to get some answers.” Her voice went quiet. “All five cult members poisoned themselves while being transported.”
    I gasped. “How the hell can that happen?”
    She hesitated. “I don’t know, Zoey. I really don’t know.”
    As soon as I hung up, I texted Talia, but she’d already found the portal herself and closed it.
    A lot of damn use I was.
    Of course, if I’d tried to walk outside the fairy ring perimeter—let alone run to town for groceries—any one of half a dozen humans and monsters would have tackled me to the ground and then locked me in my room in a timeout without television. Because, you know, I’m the Aegis, so everybody does what I say.
    That left me working from home, though Sara and I had been scaling back the business lately, turning away hopeful brides looking for assistance in creating their dream wedding. Sara’s lack of sleep for the better part of half a year coupled with my constant need to take off at unexpected moments to care for a legion of monsters and urban legends often left an exhausted Sara on her own. Neither of us were giving it our all, because neither of us had our all to give.
    We sat at my kitchen table stringing silk orchids into leis for a luau-themed wedding in December. We’d both been unable to talk the bride out of it.
    Sara sorted through the box of flowers, setting aside the duds. “Maybe we should consider shutting the business down for good.” She didn’t sound happy about the idea.
    I shrugged. “Maybe. But we do have a Hidden wedding coming up. Maybe we should just switch our focus.”
    She fixed me with a serious stare. “They’re paying us in fresh produce and antique trinkets. I can’t pay my electric bill with apples and silver thimbles.”
    “Those antique trinkets could be worth something.” I pulled my lips into a half smile. “We might end up millionaires.”
    Sara snorted. “Maybe you’re right. All we need is to book a dragon wedding and we’ll be rolling in it.”
    “It’s worth thinking about.” I chose another flower from the box. “Trying to live two separate lives is wearing me down. At least with the Hidden, we don’t have to hide anything from them.”
    “No.” Sara sighed. “But we still have to hide stuff from the caterers. We can’t use half the vendors we’ve been using for years. It would be like starting over.” She rubbed her eyes, drawing my attention to the purplish-brown puffiness under them.
    I nodded. “You’re right. Maybe we should close up shop entirely.” We worked in silence for a while, each absorbed in thought. I lifted my head and watched her. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all this.”
    Her hands stopped working, and she looked at me as if I were an idiot. “You didn’t drag me into it. If anything, you tried to shield me from it. We’re a team.”
    “I nearly got you killed.” Sebastian had been my fault. He’d gone through Sara to get to me.
    Sara placed an unfinished lei on the table without looking away from