“Oh my God,” gasped Jada. “What is that?”
I looked out the passenger window, spying a crimson-hued creature no bigger than three feet. I saw horns and a tail. “I have no idea,” I whispered. The thing looked like a cartoon demon. “It was so not like this when we left this morning.”
Zayne slowed as several of the larger demons started paying attention to us. He glanced in the rearview mirror. I followed his gaze, seeing that several human-looking demons had ended up behind us. “Jada,” he said. “It’s probably best you stay in the car.”
Leaning back, I reached for my daggers to hand them over to her when I heard, “Hey! Get away from that car. Now! Shoo!”
Recognizing Layla’s voice, I tipped forward and squinted. I caught a glimpse of platinum blond hair and then the sea of demons parted, shuffling back from the driveway on two and four...and eight legs.
“Is that...a giant spider?” Jada whispered. “If it is, I’m going to catapult myself off Earth right now.”
I stared at the thing that looked very much like a spider half the size of the car scurry around the side of the house. “I’m getting in line with you.”
Layla started toward us, stopping short when the red-skinned, cartoon-looking demon hopscotched across the driveway. She threw up her hands in obvious frustration.
“Am I hallucinating?” Jada asked.
“Honestly, there is no other explanation for any of this.” I shook my head.
Zayne rolled down the window as Layla’s face appeared at his side. “What in the world is happening here?”
“The worst block party ever?” she suggested, shoving her hair back from her face. “They started showing up like an hour or so ago. Apparently they sense Lucifer’s presence, and everyone who is all like ‘Hail Satan’ is showing up.” She glanced in the back seat and did a double take. “You’re a Warden.”
“I am,” Jada replied tentatively.
“Jada, meet Layla,” I jumped in. “She’s from the Potomac Highlands community.”
“And they let you leave?” Surprise filled Layla’s tone.
“Well.” Jada drew the word out.
“Are they dangerous?” Zayne cut in. “Causing any problems?”
“Not really.” Layla’s brows pinched. “But I would definitely pull the car into the garage so one of the demons doesn’t end up sitting on it. Or eating it.”
Zayne stared at her. “If one of them eats my car, I’m going to kill them.”
She grinned. “We’re not letting them in the garage or the house, so your precious should be safe. I’ll go open it.”
Layla turned then and started back to the house. “You need to stay out of the driveway. If not, you’re going to get hit and no one will care.”
There were some grumbled responses, but the demons scattered as Layla jogged back into the house.
“I have seen a lot of weird things,” I said. “But this is superweird. It might even top the list.”
“But at least they’re all dressed.” Zayne shot me a grin.
“Those little red things aren’t,” I pointed out. “I don’t even know what kind of demon they are.”
“I think they’re sprites?” Zayne said. “I’ve never seen one before.”
I watched the red demon hopscotch along the driveway. “Is the one, like, four years old?”
“I...I kind of think it’s cute,” Jada admitted. “In a weird, demonic way.”
One of the garage doors shuddered opened, and Zayne carefully guided the car forward, eyeballing the demons the whole way. I didn’t think he breathed until the Impala was parked inside.
Layla waited for us at the door. “Normally our house is nothing like this,” she said the moment we joined her. “I know that may seem hard to believe, but we usually don’t have demons everywhere.”
Jada nodded. I thought she was handling all of this extremely well, but she’d always been curious. “It’s okay,” Jada said, smiling. “Except for the giant spider thing outside. That’s not okay.”
“I know, right?” Layla’s wide eyes swung between Jada and I. “I asked Roth what that was, and you know how he responded? He said it was just a house spider.”
“A house spider?” I exclaimed. “For whose house? Godzilla’s?”
“Exactly.” She led us through a short, narrow hall. “He then proceeded to tell me that there were even bigger spiders.”
“I would literally set myself on fire if I saw a spider bigger than that,” Jada said, and I shuddered.
“But what is it doing here?” I asked as Zayne curled his fingers around mine. “Did it come up from Hell?”
Layla glanced back at me. “I don’t know if you want to know that answer.”
“I kind of do,” Zayne said.
“Supposedly it’s been living in the subways,” she answered. “Eats the LUDs.”
“I am never getting on the subway,” I told Zayne. “Ever. I don’t care. Nope patrol right there.”
“Noted.” He shot me a grin. “But hey, at least it’s eating the LUDs.”
“It needs to do a better job at that,” I muttered. “So, Lucifer was able to find someone? He stopped watching Supernatural long enough for that?”