Jess let out a long breath at their persistence. "What I wouldn't give for a case of C-4." And then the worst thing happened.
The pain from conjuring his gun hit.
Abigail gasped as Jess pressed his hand to his forehead and doubled over in the seat. "Jess?"
"It's okay," he said between clenched teeth. "I'll be all right."
In spite of those words, fear gripped her. "You don't look all right."
His nose started pouring blood.
She widened her eyes. "Honey?"
Sasha manifested a small hand towel and threw it over him.
Jess held it to his nose and tilted his head back. Terrified, Abigail ran her hand through his hair. "Is there anything I can do?"
He shook his head.
"All right, my boy. Now that we're on the back road..." Choo Co La Tah begin chanting something under his breath. Light in tone at first and then in crescendo. Louder and louder it went like a frenetic dance. Acapulco and harmonious, she couldn't understand a word of it. Only the beauty of the sound.
And as he spoke, the dirt outside began to swirl and spin, rising higher like small tornados.
Abigail was floored by what she saw. In a matter of seconds, they had a dust cloud surrounding them. The only problem was, their sight was limited by it.
"Why didn't you do this before?" Sasha asked. "When it could have really helped us?"
Jess shifted the towel that was fast becoming drenched in blood. "He needed to be close to the Valley to draw the sand."
And it wasn't just any sand. It rose up into the shape of an angry fist and rushed back toward their enemies like a landlocked tsunami. She could hear their screams as the sand blasted and pelted them.
Yeah, that had to sting.
In a matter of minutes, the swirling sands had settled and there was no one on the road but them.
Abigail took that moment to relax, hoping that this time it would last a little bit longer than a few ragged heartbeats. She needed a small break. They all did. This had been an incredible nonstop journey.
Jess watched the relief play across Abigail's delicate features as she lay back with her eyes half closed. The light of the cab cast shadows over her face. Her soft hands stroked his hair while he tried to breathe through the pain pounding in his skull. He had no idea why this power took its toll on him. For that he'd like to beat Artemis.
But if it meant being held so tenderly by Abigail, he was willing to suffer.
No one spoke as they traveled down the lonely desert road. They were all too relieved to be alive and not have to fight for it. The silence seduced them with her well needed tranquility. Only the sound of the engine and the tires rolling on asphalt reached them.
But all too soon they reached the Valley-something he'd been dreading for hours. Choo Co La Tah slowed down even more so that he could scan the surrounding landscape.
"What are you looking for?" Jess asked.
"The mound that marks our trail."
Abigail looked around at the dips and crevices of land and rock that now lined both sides of the highway. She'd never been to the Valley before. It was spooky at night. Skeletal bushes and shrubs rose out of the ground to tower like evil spirits. A part of her even felt like they were watching her.
"Do you feel it?"
She glanced over at Choo Co La Tah. "Feel what?"
"The manitou? The energy of the earth that flows through everyone and everything. It's a living creature that can feel our pain and our joy. Everything we are, feeds into it and it leaves a lasting impression on the earth after we're gone."
Sasha sat up. "So it's like a ghost?"