Page 98 of Defying the Relic Hunter

I patted my pocket and sighed in relief. The vial of Lucifer’s blood was unbroken.“How close do I have to get to perform the rite?”

“You must toss the vial directly into it.”

“That I can do. It’s getting Ceti to go through the portal that’s gonna be a bitch.”

“I can feel its power,”Ceti cried, her tentacles waving in excitement.

“Pretty awesome, huh?”The closer I got to the rocks, the more I could sense the presence of death. It beckoned to me. I shuddered at the sensation of skeletal fingers brushing against my face.

“You are not alone,”Granny whispered in my mind.“I will always be with you.”

“Good to know, but not on my honeymoon, ok?”

“As you wish Kizzy.”

An eerie orange glow bathed the area.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped cautiously through the rocks.

A pulsating orange vortex hovered in mid-air.

Ceti shoved me out of the way.“Where is it? Where is it?”

“Asmoday put the sphere on the other side of the portal for safekeeping. He said the only one powerful enough to claim it was you,”I lied.

“Once I have the sphere, we will rule the universe.”

I eased back.“And you’ll be strong enough to kill Qa’a.”

Ceti leaped into the vortex.

My jaw dropped. “Holy shit! She fell for it.” I pulled out the manuscript and vial of Lucifer’s blood. God, I hoped this worked. Hmmm. Let’s see. “Miraculum sepulcrum viri dyde ond tela mistral.”

“Throw the vial now,”Granny commanded.

I did. It missed the vortex by a good two feet, bounced off a rock and rolled back to me. “Well, damn.”

“Quickly, before Ceti realizes she was tricked,” Granny’s disembodied voice ordered.

“I think she’ll be too busy fighting off the demons.” Scooping up the vial, I marched up to the vortex, and tossed it inside. “Miraculum sepulcrum viri dyde ond tela mistral.”

The vortex winked out of existence and the eerie orange light began to fade.

I did a happy dance. “I did it. I did it.”

Glowing red eyes appeared in the shadows.

Well, hell. My shitty luck was holding.

Six demons suddenly rushed towards me.

Yanking the grenades off my weapons belt, I hurled them in every direction.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

---