Great. Just great. Jess was really getting tired of being hunted. "I understand why they're after us tonight. But I remember them chasing me when I was human."
Sasha whistled. "Let's come back to the why in a few. First things first. What the hell is lying in pieces on the ground around us? I'm Greek, remember? So all this is ... non-Greek to me, which means I know nothing about it. And I need to know in the event I have to fight it again. Obviously shotguns are effective against them. What else?"
Jess rested his shotgun over his shoulder. "The term is tsi-noo. Tsi-nooks for the plural. Not to be confused with the Chinook Nation, because they have nothing to do with each other.... In short, they're our version of Daimons."
"Apollo curse them, too?"
Jess snorted at Sasha's irreverent question. "No. They were humans who committed crimes so unspeakable and horrific that the winter winds turned their hearts to ice. Now they can only live off the souls of humans."
"And they were one of Snake's plagues," Ren added. "Which means he and Coyote will be even more hell-bent on finding Old Bear's."
Sasha nodded as he listened. "Point taken there. Now, the important question, so pay attention, ye ADD degenerates. How the F do I kill them? 'Cause no offense, I was trying and they were kicking my ass all over the place. It really wasn't pretty and didn't do much for my ego either. My only reprieve is that no one I have to face on a regular basis witnessed my beating. Don't know why you wanted me here when I'm about as useful as a wart on Artemis's bum."
Smiling at his rant, Choo Co La Tah melted his staff back down to the bracelet, then coiled it around his wrist again. "Simple, Wolf. Like a Daimon, pierce the heart and the ice shatters inside. They die instantly. As you saw from Sundown, a shotgun will blow the heart apart and end them."
Sasha narrowed his gaze on Jess. "How you know that, cowboy?"
"Didn't. But a twelve-gauge round to the head or heart will take down just about anything. And if doesn't, kiss your ass good-bye and run like hell."
Abigail crossed her arms over her chest and drummed her fingernails on her biceps. "By the way, you and I need to talk about how you got that gun when I know it wasn't in the truck." She raked him with a glance from head to toe that succeeded in making him flinch. "You've been holding out on me."
Help ...
How in the world could he be more afraid of her, a tiny little slip of a woman, than he'd been of the tsi-nooks?
"Um..."
"What was that?"
They all turned to look at Sasha who was staring into the darkness.
Jess frowned. "What?"
Ren stepped back as if he might have heard it, too. "We need to get going."
Sasha gestured toward the smoldering remains of the Bronco. "How? Are you an African swallow in another form or something?"
Choo Co La Tah scowled. "African swallow? What are you going on about now?"
"Oh c'mon, surely all of you get the Mon ... ty ... Python..." Sasha paused as if he remembered his audience. "Never mind."
Jess rubbed at his jaw. "He's right. It's too far to walk, and with the exception of Sasha and Ren, we don't have a ride."
Choo Co La Tah pointed to the parked tractor trailers. "What about one of those?"
Jess considered it. "Someone might have left keys in one. Let's go see."
Abigail walked in the center of the men while she listened for another attack. It was so dark, she could barely see. There was a low-lying cloud cover that held back the stars. It made the air feel heavy. Ominous. Or maybe that was from the fact that she knew what was out to get her.
Without thinking, she reached out and took Jess's rough hand. When he laced his fingers with hers, it warmed her in spite of the cold desert wind. She took strength from his nearness, and it made her wish that they didn't have to do this.
Made her wish that she could find some way to end the nightmare and return to a normal life.
Your life was never normal.
That was certainly true. But for the first time, she wanted normality. She craved it now that it was too late to claim it. She'd already cast her die and come up bust.
One way or the other, her life was over. If by some miracle she did survive all of this and convince Choo Co La Tah not to sacrifice her to the spirits she'd offended, she had no doubt that one of the other Dark-Hunters would kill her for what she'd done.