Demon Squad 7: Exit Wounds by Tim Marquitz Page A

looking for, so they took off. They don’t give a damn about the prisoners unless they’re trying to escape.” I pointed at Shaw, and then Venai. “That’s how I found them, by following a devourer and a dragon, both looking to hone in on the ripples the Olson Twins found.”
    “So we travel to the mountain and have Shaw point out the source of these ripples?” Katon asked.
    “Have a better idea?” I asked, turning his earlier words around on him.
    The flicker of a smile creased his lips. “No, Frank, I don’t believe I do.”
    It wasn’t much of a concession, but I really didn’t expect any more than that. Mainly because it wasn’t much of a plan. We’d already been headed the same direction with essentially the same basic idea in mind, now we were just doing it with a little more confirmation that we might be going the right way. It was more of a bunt than a homerun, but it was more than we had earlier.
    “Then we might as well settle in and wait for morning” Rahim gestured to Shaw. “Make yourself comfortable. It seems we’re stuck with each other for the foreseeable future.”
    The wight gave Rahim the barest of nods and dropped down beside Venai, who’d only just begun to stir. I grinned at the pair and took a spot in front of the ladder, holding my spear in way that made it clear I had no compunctions putting it to use again.
    The rest of the night was spent listening to Chatterbox serenade Venai’s bowling ball boobs while the rest of us spent our energy on ignoring him and judicious nose picking.
     
    #
    Morning came with a whimper and a whole bunch of grunts and groans, the uncomfortable ground getting the best of us after the long day before.
    Katon peered through the netting, a vague hint of light coloring his face. “Is it safe outside now that the gloom is gone?” he asked Mia.
    “Of course it is,” she answered with a smile, which pretty much meant she was full of it.
    Her people were probably lying in wait somewhere out on the forest, or at least she was hoping they were. That was an issue we’d have to worry about if it cropped up, though. We couldn’t sit underground and wait for the cavalry to come and pull our asses out of the mess we were in. We might well be walking to our deaths, but it was a better option than waiting for death to come calling.
    That decided, we crawled up and out of the hidey hole, all of us making sure Shaw, Venai, and Mia were under control. The Nephilim spent her morning sneering at me. She did it so much I was afraid her face might freeze that way, but then again, it might be an improvement if it did. It wouldn’t hurt her looks any.
    “Which way?” Katon asked Shaw once we’d surveyed the area.
    The wight pointed casually off in the direction of the mountain.
    “Helpful as always, I see.” Shaw huffed but wouldn’t rise to the bait. I sighed, realizing how fun it was gonna be having her along on our journey to the center of the prison-verse.
    Katon apparently had the same thought. He stepped up behind Shaw and nudged her shoulder. “Let’s get going.”
    Shaw hesitated until Karra walked up alongside them, tugging Mia by her leash.
    “Play nice and we won’t duct tape you to a handful of branches and drag you along behind us up the mountain.”
    The threat was a little off the mark seeing how none of us had any of that sweet silver stuff stashed anywhere, but Shaw seemed to get the drift. She held her ground for a second before stalking off toward the trees.
    “Nothing a little charm can’t resolve,” Karra said with a wink, pulling Mia along and motioning for Venai to start walking.
    The Nephilim grunted and followed after her boss. The rest of us gathered around, forming a semi-circle of bodies Shaw and her compatriot would have to circumvent in order to ditch us. The fact we were all going the same way made me think the pair would be good. No point going it alone when there are other folks to throw into the path of danger. That’s what