Vesik 3 Winter's Demon by Eric Asher

sides threw strong arts. Mike thinks the men that came for us were mercenaries.”
    The phone squawked in an unpleasant way and Zola pulled it away from her ear.
    “Okay,” she said as she held the phone out and put it on speaker.
    “All of you, listen to me closely.” Edgar’s voice was hushed, metallic, and hurried. “Ezekiel is in Missouri, which means Philip is probably here too. The Cleaners, or what’s left of them, are on their way. Get the hell out of there. You don’t need to get caught up further in that godforsaken train wreck.”
    “There’s more,” he said before hesitating. “Get to Boonville. We’re going after the Blessing. If Philip or his men get the Blessing before us, they’re not going to need a live hostage. I’ve only spent a couple hours in the taverns here and the locals are buzzing about the influx of outsiders. Get here fast.”
    I could tell he was going to hang up so I just spat it out. “Edgar, wait. I saw a kid with a phone. He was either taking pictures or maybe video. He jumped in a white sedan and took off as soon as he noticed me watching.”
    “How much did he see?” Edgar asked through a growl.
    “I didn’t see him until the fight was over.”
    The cursing exploding from the phone was enough to make a demon blush. Even Zola’s eyebrows rose.
    “Noted,” Edgar said. “We don’t have the men to deal with that right now. Ezekiel has killed too many. Get the fuck out here.” The line went dead, and even the faint click sounded angry.
    “Ezekiel?” I said. My voice trailed off as the implications of Edgar’s words spawned a thousand horrific scenarios in my mind.
    “Frank, we have to move.” Zola said. “You need to stay with the shop.”
    “No,” Sam said. “I’m not leaving him here alone to deal with Watchers.”
    Frank smiled and put an arm around Sam, balancing the shotgun on his toe. “Sam, it’s fine. The battle wasn’t in the shop. I can play dumb just fine.”
    No one took the easy shot.
    “Are you sure?” Sam asked.
    He nodded.
    “I’ll stay with Frank,” Ashley said.
    Zola turned slowly toward the priestess and cleared her throat in an attention-getting stutter. “Girl, Ah am not entirely certain what the hell it was you unleashed, but Ah suggest you hide those runes.”
    Ashley nodded.
    “Mind you, keep them handy, but out of sight.”
    “And don’t vaporize the shop,” I said. “Thank you very much.”
    Ashley flashed me a weak smile.
    Foster ambled up beside us with his arm around Aideen. He groaned and then stretched. “Ow,” he said as he winced. “You can set the runes inside the clock, Ashley.”
    Aideen nodded. “The power from the nexus will mask just about anything, including the potential energy in those runes.”
    “I don’t want to sound ungrateful,” Dad said, “but can we please get moving? I’d really like to find my wife and get her the hell away from Philip and his mercs.”
    “Mercenaries,” Zola spat. “Ah hate mercenaries. The only good thing about them is there’s always more to kill.”
     
    ***
     
    We loaded the cars with road food and weapons in minutes.
    “Where are we headed?” I said as I opened the driver’s side door to get in.
    “Rivercene,” Zola said. “Dimitry is riding with me.”
    “Any particular reason?” I asked.
    Zola glanced up at me, and then turned her attention to straightening her gray cloak. “Have you not seen how unsettled Sam is around him, boy?”
    “It’s …” I paused and really thought about it. “It’s better than it used to be.”
    “Ah think you would do well to keep your sister close. Talk to her when you have the chance. Ah thought Dimitry and Andi would have gotten over their prejudice well before now. Obviously they haven’t.” There was a bite to her words.
    I stopped and watched as Zola hefted a backpack into the trunk. She looked eighty, but she moved better than I did. She scratched at the scar on her wrist, briefly attacking the line of