Page 26

CHAPTER 26

Carolina

A single rider pounded up the road as Carolina climbed on top of the saddle. She could see his broad shoulders and smirk through the dust storm his horse’s hooves created. Carolina groaned.

Rafa brought his horse to a halt.

“Thank the stars you are safe,” Rafa panted.

“What are you doing out here? Didn’t a bull horn stab you in the ass?”

His lips flattened. “The horn grazed my side. And I am fighting through the pain to search for you.”

“I appreciate you joining in the effort. As you can see, I am alive and well.”

Rafa pulled off his sombrero and wiped the sweat out of his eyes. “Why do you look as if you’ve been tumbling in the dirt? You weren’t with someone, were you?” He raised a brow.

She gripped her reins harder. “I am engaged, Rafa. I may do whatever I please.”

“Your father has given his approval then?”

“Lalo has my approval, and that’s what you should care about.”

“There’s something peculiar about that man, if that’s what one would even call him. He’s more of a boy, with those scrawny arms of his.” He flexed his own. “Do you know what I find strange?”

“I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”

“That you, of all people, could fall so deeply in love with someone so vastly different than yourself. You are so…”

She glared at Rafa, waiting for him to finish.

“You’re so picky,” he offered.

“It is fate, I suppose.”

“You don’t find it odd that he would swoop in and propose after mere minutes of knowing you? Or that he has managed to snake his way into your family’s trust?”

“And what of you? You show up out of nowhere and make an offer for my hand, even though we haven’t spoken in ages.”

“ We haven’t spoken. But your father and I have. He is my godfather, after all. How selfish of you to go against him for a boy whose head is in books. Together, we could build an empire.”

Her hands went to her hips. “Sounds like you need a business partner, not a wife.”

He smirked. “Why can’t I have both?”

“I’m certain you’ll find one. Elsewhere. I will only marry someone I consider attractive and interesting. Someone I love.”

He laughed haughtily. “I am thrice as attractive as that reed of a man.”

“No, your ego is thrice the size.” She clicked her tongue, urging her horse on.

Rafa reached out and grabbed Guapo’s reins, holding the stallion in place. “Mark my words, Carolina, I don’t trust him. And I will find out why. I have already sent a courier falcon to a friend in Puerto Blanco. And when I find out who Eduardo Montéz truly is, your engagement will be broken, and you will be mine. We will leave this pit of a pueblo, and we will never return.”

When he didn’t laugh maniacally like a madman from one of her gothic stories, she leaned forward, glaring at the boy who once ate cockroaches just to make the girls in town scream. “If the skies fell to earth and civilization hinged on my marrying you, I wouldn’t do it. I’d let the world crumble.” She jerked the straps out of his grasp. “I wish you good day, Rafael.”

“I’d be a bit nicer to me, se?orita. There are several hours between now and the fiesta tonight, and I’m certain I’ll learn everything there is to know about this Eduardo Montéz.”

Carolina’s stomach clenched. She’d forgotten about the party. Traders from the Greater North were coming to purchase cattle. She winced. Her mamá was most likely already up, frantically readying the barn for their arrival. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and raised her chin. “I cannot wait.”

She took off at a dangerous pace. She needed to ride. She wished for the wind to take away her troubles too.

Rafa was so irritating. He was going to ruin everything. He might expose who Lalo truly was. And then what? She’d have to explain to her family that she’d lured un vampiro into their home and instead of killing him, she’d forced him to be her fiancé. Worse still, she’d grown fond of his quirks! Her family simply couldn’t find out what Lalo was. She couldn’t lose him. Especially not when she and Lalo were on a path to ridding the world of sedientos. In one fell swoop, she could protect her loved ones and assure her parents that she was safe in Del Oro.

She gritted her teeth against the warm morning sun. She took the shortest route home, cutting through the barren lands that had yet to be turned into orchards of citrus, like her father intended. As their hacienda came into view, she saw a black coach kicking up dust on the road. A few trunks were strapped to the top and rear. The curtains were drawn so she couldn’t see who was inside.

“Faster, boy!” she ordered Guapo.

As soon as he was in his stall and given water and grain, Carolina snuck to the side of the casa, scaled the trellis leading to the second floor, and climbed through the window to her rooms.

Nena was draped across her bed. Her legs kicking merrily behind her as she flipped through an old fashion magazine. She didn’t even spare a glance when Carolina silently hopped into their shared bedroom.

“Have a nice night?” Nena asked.

Carolina swept over to the broken floorboard and started storing her weapons away. “Why aren’t you out searching for me like everyone else?”

Nena turned another page. “Because I know you can handle yourself.”

“Aren’t you going to ask where I’ve been?”

Nena grinned, finally eyeing Carolina’s harried appearance. “Looks like you’ve been having fun.”

“If you count desecrating a grave as a good time, then yes, it was a hoot.”

“How scandalous.” Nena shut the magazine and clambered off her bed. “What’s it like to kiss a vampiro?”

“Get your mind out of the latrine, prima.” Carolina slid the floorboard in place and stood. “I wasn’t out kissing all night. I was literally desecrating graves.”

“Oh.” Nena had the audacity to appear disappointed.

Carolina threw off the dirt-covered garment and shoved herself into a respectable black gown and heeled slippers.

“What are you getting ready for? The whooping your mamá is sure to give you when she sees you?”

“Shit,” Carolina whispered.

“Don’t fret. I swapped her regular tea with valerian root. She slept like a baby most of the night. She hasn’t a clue you were gone.”

Carolina dabbed at the sweat dripping from her hairline. At least she didn’t need to put on rouge, for her cheeks were a sun-kissed pink.

“I saw a carriage laden with trunks when I rode in. I think the traders have arrived early.”

“I see.” Nena stood behind Carolina and began re-braiding her hair into two plaits.

“That is all you have to say? You, who counts down the days until the traders come so you can flirt with them.”

Nena shrugged. “People change, Carolina.” She raised her chin. “Perhaps I am one of them.”

“Could this be because of a certain green-eyed young woman with a certain vampiro brother?”

A smile pulled at Nena’s face. “I don’t know who you are talking about.”

Carolina splashed on some of the perfume she’d been given on her eighteenth birthday. She grabbed Nena’s hand.

“Come on. We should welcome our guests before my mamá gets mad.”

She and Nena hustled through the casa. Her mamá and younger brothers were there, already speaking to—Carolina’s eyes bulged—Lalo.

At least whatever Papá had tracked near his home left him alone.

He wore a large coat, gloves, scarf, and sombrero. An absolutely ridiculous outfit, seeing as the sky was bright blue. But it certainly shielded him from the sun’s rays. He looked so uncomfortable. He kept pulling at the scarf wrapped too tightly around his neck. The smile on his face was strained.

Lalo’s head tilted, and he met her gaze. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Something warm pooled in her belly.

He had held her in his arms only hours ago. He had comforted her when no one else had been allowed to. Nena and Mamá had tried, but she simply couldn’t let them—not when she had been the reason her abuelo was slain. He had been out there to give her a birthday gift, to train her in secret like she begged him to do. She had been caught off guard and her blood had lured in more monsters. Aside from her sediento, no one else understood that heavy burden of guilt.

Lalo knew how to wade through the unrelenting bog of sorrow.

He never told her everything was going to be all right. Or lied and said she was faultless. Lalo simply said he was sorry and let her cry into his shirt. That had been enough.

She tore her eyes away from him. Heat clawed up her neck. The first young man to ever hold her so intimately had been the very same sort of creature who killed her abuelo. Though, she’d come to see that, unlike her cousin Lorenzo, his humanity remained intact.

She glanced at Lalo again. Her belly dipped once more. It wasn’t because he was in her home, nor because of the moment they’d shared under the stars. The tremor of surprise buzzing through her body came from the fact that Lalo Montéz, in that very moment, looked utterly adorable.