Page 70 of Defying the Relic Hunter

I prayed louder. “He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

The ground shuddered under my feet.

Grabbing my cross, I shouted, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

With a thunderous cracking boom, an eerie silence fell.

The wind stopped.

I cracked one eye open. Had it worked?

Granny Annabel’s comforting presence surrounded me.“You are safe, Kizzy, the Aztec warriors have been banished to the underworld.”

A shudder shook me.“And their souls?”

“Could not be saved.”

“Asmoday?”I wiped his blood off my face.“Were they able to capture him?”

“As soon as the body he possessed died, he fled right into the vortex Adan and the Katanic enforcers summoned.”

“What do we know about the poor guy Asmoday possessed?”

“Do not grieve for him. He killed his family,”Granny replied.

“Oh, whew. He was going to hell anyway.”I put the mirrors back on the table and gaped in horrified disbelief. Hundreds of skeletons littered the ground around me, along with gory pieces of the dead guy’s body.

Swallowing down the nausea rising in my throat, I turned to Granny Annabel.“The Pope doesn’t mess around.”

“The Holy One is a warrior in the battle against evil.”

“That old guy?”

“Age has nothing to do with it,”Granny huffed indignantly.

With a wince, I hurriedly added,“Sorry, I meant I couldn’t see his Holiness going toe-to-toe with a ghost.”

“He has done so many times,”Granny sniffed,“as I have.”

“You’re the best slayer ever.”

The night was slashed apart by the lurid brilliancy of energy beams.

Anxiety knotted my stomach as I stared up at the mesa. I had soaked the General, Ethan, Xenia and Quinn in holy water and loaded them down with salt, but I couldn’t protect them from the Bjarke warriors.

Kaboom!A blazing fireball rose high into the air.

Was the battle over? Had the Bjarke warriors been defeated?“Could you check on them?”

“Certainly.”Granny vanished.

Someone clapped loudly and a harsh voice congratulated, “Well done, you’ve come into your powers.”

I spun around.

Holy shit! Dante, the Dragos clan’s second-in-command, stood a few feet away. His tall, scarecrow figure was silhouetted by the raging fire.

My gaze settled on the gun pointed at my chest. My shield didn’t repel bullets, but my armor sure did. “You gonna shoot me?”

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