Grace and Glory (The Harbinger #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,140
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?”
“Yeah, and that has made him testy.” Layla walked us through the kitchen and toward another narrow hall. “Which is why we’re in the sitting room. The floor is tile in there.”
I didn’t have to ask why tile floor was important, because I saw enough of what was going on in the sitting room. A human male stood in the center of the room, trembling. Thin rivets of blood ran out from the sleeves of his suit jacket, dripping onto the floor. The back of his trousers looked damp, and I had a feeling that wasn’t blood.
Lucifer stood in front of him, arms crossed over his bare chest. He seemed unaware of us as we entered the room, wholly focused on the man. I gave a quick glance around the oval-shaped room. Roth and Cayman were standing on the opposite side, the latter chowing down on a slice of pizza.
Jada came to a complete stop, her eyes widening as she stared at Lucifer.