Page 11

CHAPTER 11

Lalo

Lalo followed behind the procession of guests, his boots dragging in the dirt, a mix of horror and confusion twisting deep inside his gut. Carolina’s father and that brutish man who actually wanted to call himself her fiancé were leading the charge. Hushed gossip from the crowd filled Lalo’s ears. People were beginning to take bets. If he were a gambling man, which he most assuredly was not, he would say the odds weren’t in his favor.

He eyed Carolina, who stomped up the path beside him. Beautiful as the moon above. Beautiful yet vicious as a lioness, more like.

“This is your fault,” he grumbled.

She glowered at him with a vehemence so palpable, he could feel the sting of hatred on his cheeks. “If you would have let me kill you, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.”

“Perhaps if you were better with a blade, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Alas, here we are.” He gestured toward the growing throng.

“Lower your voice, fiend.”

“Why should I be the one to die because you deem it so?”

“You exist. That is reason enough. I know about your kind. Murderers, the lot of you.”

He laughed bitterly. “Takes one to know one, I suppose.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What happens to all the cattle I see in the valley? Hmm? Do you not take their lives? Is it not the very same concept as what I’ve done?”

They wove up a hill to a patch of earth that was flattened out and filled with sand. A fútbol court? How ridiculous. This was to be where he would defend his and the hunter’s honor? He didn’t even like sports.

“It is not the same,” she whispered. “And you know it. Your kind devours souls. You need human blood to survive. You crave it. You won’t be able to resist for long, and when you give in, you’ll enjoy sucking people dry.”

“How little you understand. A pity I won’t be around to educate you on the finer details of what it is to be un vampiro. Facts you should probably know, seeing as you traipse around as some masked vigilante at night.”

“Quiet,” she snapped. Her papá glanced over his shoulder at them. Slipping her arm into the crook of Lalo’s elbow, she gave her father a defiant grin. “He thinks he can rule my life,” she said through her teeth. “He is wrong.”

“What a selfish thing to worry over at this moment. My life is the one at stake here.”

“You’ll be fine. These bullets are made of lead. Even if one pierces your heart, you should survive.”

He gulped.

“Have you never been in a duel before?” she asked.

“Se?orita, I’ve never shot a gun in my life.”

She glanced up at him, shining stars dancing in her eyes. He didn’t think the greatest artist could paint a face as beautiful as hers. Even that small line between her brows was a work of wonder. Too bad her personality was that of a badger.

“You are jesting,” she said.

“I never joke,” he replied.

She sighed and bit her bottom lip. The gesture made his body suddenly feel even more on fire than it already was. He jerked his gaze away.

“Shooting isn’t too hard,” she said. “You point and pull back the hammer. Don’t fight the kickback, let your muscles absorb the shock.”

“Easy for you to say.”

She rolled her eyes. “The goal isn’t to kill the person.”

“Tell that to your fiancé.”

“He is not my fiancé,” Carolina said. Her smile widened. “You are, remember? That is, if you win this duel. And you’d better, or else I’ll have to slay you here in front of everyone and I’m sure that won’t bode well for either one of us. My papá would most likely ship me off tonight for causing such a scene.”

“I wouldn’t mind that last part,” Lalo mumbled.

Rafael was now standing at the very center of the ball court. He loosened his cravat, then cracked his neck and knuckles. Torches were lit around the edges. Flames flickered and flapped in the sudden breeze that swept over the distant mountains and through the valley floor.

“He is enjoying this,” Lalo said, voice pitched with alarm.

“Yes, that is Rafa. He’s always been a show-off. I heard he had a duel with the capitán of the Northern Army and his second-in-command after a card game.”

“At the same time?”

“Sí. He got off two shots before they took one,” she said in all seriousness.

“I am a dead man,” Lalo whimpered.

“You already are deceased, se?or. Therefore, you have nothing to fear.”

“I have plenty to be afraid of.” He lowered his tone as they drew nearer to the crowd. “I still feel pain. Getting shot cannot be a pleasant experience.”

They stopped before her papá. Carolina never left Lalo’s side. He had to give it to the girl, she was beautifully stubborn. His mother would have loved that. Not that she would have ever met her, of course. Lalo would never have brought some assassin from the middle of nowhere to meet his posh mother. Though, it would have made for an interesting affair.

As Se?or Fuentes inspected both revolvers, Lalo found his sister among the throng. Fernanda appeared to be as sick as Lalo felt.

“You will each take five steps,” Se?or Fuentes said, loud enough for every guest to hear. “On my word, you will turn and shoot. The man left standing will win my daughter’s hand.”

How had Lalo gotten himself into this? All he wanted was to get his sister out of la ciudad before Maricela discovered them and find a way to save himself from the unrelenting thirst. Yet here he was, getting ready to take part in a ludicrous show of machismo.

He should let Rafael shoot him and be done with the entire fiasco. He’d heal and then move on. But where could he and Fernanda possibly go next? Del Oro was el pueblo where Alma Rosario had died. She was the first to be slain, the first to have been bled dry. The original vampiro had to have been here, and they were the key to extinguishing both Lalo’s unrelenting thirst and any vampiro in Abundancia.

“Apá, please,” Carolina said. “Can we not resolve this by some other means?”

Rafael answered, “A duel is the only way to mend such disrespect. It will be he or I who survives. That is final.”

Lalo gaped. “This duel is to the death?”

“Whoever is left standing will be the victor,” Se?or Fuentes offered. “You may decide whatever that means.”

Rafael took the revolver from the case and held it at his chest. “Grab your weapon, Don Juan, or forever show this pueblo what a coward you are.”

Don Juan! Lalo had been nothing but a gentleman his entire life. He hardly ever spoke to women before he was turned. He was most certainly not a rake.

He gingerly plucked the revolver from the velvet-lined case.

“Backs to each other,” Se?or Fuentes called.

Lalo turned and faced east. Rafael, west.

Carolina ran to the center of the pit. She wrapped her arms around Lalo, pretending to be a lamenting lover. Her lips tickled his cheek as she whispered, “Rafa is fast, but you are faster. Use your abilities. He will turn right before my father counts to five. He is aiming to kill, Lalo. Do not forget that.”

Lalo’s whole being felt fuzzy and warm. He should be focusing on the task at hand, but she was so soft against him. And her scent made his toes curl.

“Take your shot and duck to the right. Remain standing no matter what.”

Carolina released her hold around his neck, eyes questioning. Everything inside Lalo ached for her comfort. But why? Why would his body betray him when she was the one to put him in this mess? She was his enemy in every sense of the word.

“Ready!” Se?or Fuentes called.

Lalo fumbled with the pistol.

“One!”

This was really happening. His eyes met Carolina’s. She urged him on with a jerky tilt of her head. He took a step.

“Two!”

He took another step. Fernanda covered her face but splayed her fingers so she could still watch.

“Three!”

He gazed at the moon, at his beloved stars. One more step.

“Four!”

Lalo spun.

“Five!”

A shot went off. Followed by a second.

Lalo winced. Then the world around him went silent.