Page 12

CHAPTER 12

Carolina

Time stood still. No one moved. No one dared breathe.

Another burst of gunfire exploded through the sky. The blast came from a shotgun, loud and reverberating, emanating from the rich farmlands to the west. A fourth boom rang out in the distance.

“Sedientos!” someone yelled.

Papá had guards stationed within el pueblo so guests of the fiesta would feel safe. Only a few of his men were handling the outer farmlands.

The alarm bells began to clang.

The crowd turned to chaos. Flurries of people spurred to action. Grandmothers clutched their grandchildren and carried them toward Carolina’s home. Many ran for the stables as Papá called out orders, Rafael moving by his side. Se?ora Orozco tripped on her huaraches and tumbled to the dirt.

Carolina lifted her skirts and ran for the older woman.

“Here,” she said, gently wrapping her fingers around la se?ora’s soft arms. “Let me help you.”

She eased the woman up.

Se?ora Orozco hissed. “I scraped my knees.”

“We better get you inside quickly,” Carolina said. She remembered the last time blood had been spilt in el pueblo at night. How could she forget? Her blood had dripped from the wounds on her arms and Abuelo lost his life because of it.

Carolina froze as the memories flooded through her. The monster latching on to his neck. Her catching him as he fell. She could still feel his last breath on her skin.

“I’ve got her,” Se?ora Orozco’s daughter said, running to meet them. She took her mother, and they limped away.

The throng cleared, and Carolina caught sight of Lalo. He stood chillingly still. Like a predator readying to strike. The steel pistol hung loosely from his grasp. His eyes glowed a vicious red. His nostrils flared. His lips peeled back, revealing two dagger-like fangs.

“Shit,” Carolina whispered. Between her papá giving Rafa permission to marry her and then the commotion of the duel, she’d almost forgotten what Lalo was: a leech. Seeing him now, turning into one before her very eyes, Carolina was doused in the bitter cold river of reality. She tugged up her skirts and reached for the last weapon she had. Someone grabbed Carolina by the wrist.

“Please,” Fernanda pleaded. “You must help my brother. He’s losing control.”

Lalo’s pistol plopped into the dirt. He lowered into a crouch. His focus set on the injured Se?ora Orozco as she limped toward the casa.

“This ends now,” Carolina whispered. She drew free the wooden stake that she’d strapped to her thigh.

“No!” Fernanda clinched Carolina’s arm. “Please. Please don’t take him from me. He’s all I have left.”

Carolina scoffed but then she saw the utter desperation in Fernanda’s face.

“I beg of you. Help my brother. He knows things. He…he can help your pueblo. If you kill him now, you’ll lose that!”

The girls stared at each other for a moment. Carolina wanted to hate Fernanda, to shame her for sticking by a sediento’s side, but Carolina could not see past the anguish in Fernanda’s eyes.

Lalo started to advance.

Carolina cursed and heaved up her skirts. “Come on. I’ll help your brother, but for selfish reasons only.”

Fernanda nodded. “Fine by me.”

Carolina ran after Lalo, Fernanda close beside her.

Lalo was gaining speed. If they didn’t get to him now, he would have poor Se?ora Orozco by the throat.

“Take this,” Carolina said. She dug into her bodice and took out a vial of springwater. It was a fact that sedientos could not touch the stuff. They could not even cross a creek without their bowels twisting.

See, she wanted to yell at Lalo, I do know things. People were always counting her out. Even pinche vampiros, it seemed.

“When I have him pinned, pour that water on his skin,” she said.

Fernanda nodded, pulling the stopper out with her teeth.

A guttural hum came from Lalo’s throat. One of the older women started to turn, but Carolina lunged and tackled Lalo into the brush before anyone took notice of his eyes and teeth. The two tumbled through the brambles and into a small opening. She could feel the strength in his body. The power. But she was well trained in grappling. She was even better at fighting dirty.

Carolina kneed Lalo in the groin then his stomach. Warm air wheezed out of his lungs.

He grabbed Carolina by the hair and twisted until she bucked and exposed her neck. Lalo’s scarlet-colored eyes raked over her throat. He growled.

Carolina elbowed him in the jaw to silence him.

Lalo’s fingers dug into her wrists, stopping her from doing it again. He pinned her to the ground, holding her arms above her head, straddling her with his entire weight.

“You will taste divine,” he snarled.

He opened his mouth, revealing gleaming fangs.

Water trickled over Lalo’s neck and into Carolina’s eyes. He reared back. A shocked howl burst from his lips. Fernanda had doused him with the springwater, and not a moment too soon.

Where the liquid had touched, Lalo’s skin began to blister and sizzle. The sound reminding her of bacon on a frying pan. Disgust rocked through her. As he cursed in agony, she grasped the stake in her hand tighter, feeling the wood bite into her palms.

Plunge it into his heart, she told herself. Finish what you started before it gets even more out of hand. Show everyone what you can do.

“Don’t hurt him!” Fernanda fell beside them. “Please!”

Lalo’s maddened eyes softened. His head swiveled toward his sister’s. He blinked.

“Fernanda?” he rasped.

His attention moved to Carolina, who was still very much underneath his weight.

“Oh no,” he whispered. He peered down at his palms, and for the first time, Carolina noticed there was inky blood on his hands. Horror twisted his features. “Did I hurt anyone?”

“No,” Carolina said softly. The gentleness coming from her own lips surprised her.

Lalo sighed in relief.

He winced. Shakily, he pulled back his coat. A dark spot stained the center of his chest. Lalo blinked. “I believe I’ve been shot.”

His eyes rolled back, and he slumped, landing face-first in the dirt.