Page 33

CHAPTER 33

Lalo

Lalo had excused himself from the men and run back into his room to change and to secretly feed himself. The blood in the flask was disgustingly warm, but he guzzled down the rest of the contents, only gagging twice, before running to meet Se?or Fuentes and his family in the stables. They were already gone, but Lalo was instructed where to go by a ranch hand.

He’d been given a pony. A pony, of all things. Lalo tried to brush it off. He tried to pretend that the jest was in good fun. But a damn pony! And the pint-size beast was rude as a demon. It nipped at him constantly. The creature tore the pants he wore with its flat little teeth.

Lalo squeezed the monster with his legs. It bucked but moved forward. Huffing and complaining the entire way up the hill to meet the other men who had gone ahead before Lalo even climbed onto the saddle.

Se?or Fuentes blinked with confusion when he saw Lalo trot up the hill. Rafael— the wretch —laughed loud enough to frighten the coyotes in the far-off orchard.

“How do you like Rita?” Rafael hollered.

The pony pulled against the reins, fighting Lalo’s control at every instant.

“She’s great,” he said as calmly as he could muster. “Rita and I are getting on just fine.”

Se?or Fuentes’s eyes darkened. He turned to Rafael. “Did you give him that mount? We have dozens of horses, and you wasted our time by offering this one? We have a reasonable lead, I left the tradesmen before they have even signed their contracts, and you think to do this?”

The smile on Rafael’s face wilted.

“My men were killed, Rafael. Taken from their familias, yet you play pranks?”

“I…It was only…”

“Switch horses,” Se?or Fuentes ordered.

“?Qué?” Rafael questioned. “Pero…”

“You made a mockery of this hunt. Now I shall make one of you. Switch horses.”

“Se?or, it is fine,” Lalo intervened. “I’m sure Rita and I can keep up.”

“No, you won’t. That pony was Carolina’s when she was a child. It isn’t meant for such things. Besides, my daughter would kill us if she learned we’d taken Rita out here.” He glared at Rafael. “You knew that.”

Slowly, the two men dismounted and traded reins. Lalo could smell the animosity steaming from Rafael’s skin. He really and deeply loathed Lalo. He supposed he’d hate himself too, if the roles were reversed. Carolina was a desirable woman. And she had clearly chosen Lalo over Rafael.

“I know who you are,” Rafael whispered as they passed each other.

Lalo’s footing faltered, but he forced himself forward.

“I will expose you this night. I’ll tell se?or your name isn’t—”

“Take Rita back to the stables,” Se?or Fuentes ordered him. “If you wish to join us, we will be heading west. If not, I will not hold it against you.”

“But, se?or…”

“You made a poor judgment call, Rafa. You must make it right.”

“But…”

“You’ve squandered enough time. I will tell your father of this. Go.”

Rafael’s chin fell to his chest. “Sí, se?or.”

“?ándale!” Se?or Fuentes tightened his heels on his stallion, and the pair took off at a startling speed. Jorge and his father followed suit. Lalo was the last to urge his horse on, holding tight to the leather straps as he raced after the Fuenteses.

He fixed his eyes forward. The men in his company hadn’t exactly laid out what they were off to do, but it didn’t take much to put the pieces together. Se?or Fuentes had gotten word there were fresh tracks. And now they were hunting for whoever had killed the guards.

A shiver ran up Lalo’s spine. Carolina had taken out two vampiros in the town square. And he’d killed the sediento near the schoolhouse. He had hoped they’d found and ended the guilty party. But after discovering these new tracks, Lalo wasn’t so sure. Maricela, or another one of her children, could be the beast they needed to slay.

A scream tore through the night. Roosting birds took flight from within the woods.

“?Vámonos!” Se?or Fuentes called, and they rode as if the devil were nipping at their heels.

The horses’ hooves pounded over nettle and dirt. The smell of fear and spilled blood filled Lalo’s senses. He gripped the reins harder, fighting against his unnatural urges. His fangs pierced through his bottom lip and his mouth watered, the hunger inside him surging. Saints above, he was starved for human blood, its essence. If he could have one taste. A single drop.

“There!” Jorge yelled. The three men riding ahead of Lalo pulled their pistols out in unison. He remembered Carolina saying in the duel not to worry because the bullets weren’t made of wood. But the bullets in these pistols must be.

Lalo couldn’t see past their bodies, but he didn’t need to see to know what stood before them. He could taste it in the air. Flesh and death and blood. So much blood.

“It’s Fabiola!” Jorge yelled.

Lalo had heard that name earlier. She was one of the young women batting her lashes at him when he entered the barn.

“You bastard!” Jorge roared. He took aim.

Lalo’s horse shifted, and he could see the vile scene. Fabiola dangled limp in a large man’s arms. Even in the moonlight, the ashen tone of her skin was clear. Blood oozed from bite marks on her neck and wrists. And what was left over—the blood the sediento could not drink—dripped at his feet.

A blast rang out as Jorge pulled the trigger. Smoke filled the air. In the second it took for it to clear, the sediento had disappeared, leaving the woman in a heap on the ground. Jorge and his horse plunged into the forest after him. His father, Vicente, and his steed right behind.

“Check on the girl!” Se?or Fuentes ordered Lalo before crashing into the woods.

“What? No! I’ll come too.” But Lalo was already abandoned.

He managed to bring his mount to a halt. His eyes jerked from left to right, hunting for any signs of the sediento. Everything was quiet. Lalo threw his leg over the saddle and ran toward the poor young woman, holding a bandanna over his nose and mouth to keep the scent away. Even still, his stomach squeezed. His body thrummed with thirst.

If he could have one drop. One tiny taste.

He shook his head.

“Why did he put me in charge of this?” he mumbled through the cloth.

Lalo shouldn’t even be there. He should have refused. He should have said he was still ill. Anything. But no. He wanted to match Rafael in machismo. Look where that got him.

He bent down, doing his best not to breathe. “Se?orita?” He gulped. “Fabiola?”

With a single finger, he prodded her, so her face was angled to him. He reared back, falling on his ass. Her eyes were moon white. Her mouth open in shock. Multiple bite marks bruised her skin, but there was nothing there. Not a hint of life. Not a sliver of asoul.

“Damn you,” Lalo cursed the foul monster who did this. “Damn you!”

“But we are already damned,” a slithering voice whispered from behind.

Lalo jumped to his feet and spun around. He recognized that voice instantly. How could he ever forget it?

“Maricela,” Lalo growled, clenching his fists at his sides.

“Don’t you mean ‘Mother’?” The beast haunting his nightmares smiled, revealing fangs stained red.

Faster than Lalo could even think, Maricela was on him, slamming him hard into a large oak. He grunted in pain.

“You killed your siblings, then tarnished my business,” the sediento said, her breath tainted with memories of a life taken too soon. “For weeks I trailed only days behind you. My time was not wasted, though.” One of her sharp nails dug into his cheek. “Every minute of my journey, I thought of the most excruciatingly delicious ways to end you.”

“How did you find me?” he rasped.

“You aren’t as clever as you think. I drank your memories. I know all. When I returned to my cantina the night after you slaughtered my children and their guests, I searched through every thought I had taken. I saw what you read in your little books and scribbles about this valley. I knew you’d never do the smart thing and run. Though your mind is rational, your heart is too pure. Too attached to the people you care for. I knew you’d do whatever was necessary to save your sister. I suppose I should thank you, for bringing me back.”

“You have come upon a valley of hunters. They will not let you live, Maricela.”

“And yet I have already walked among them. Spoken with them.” The sediento laughed. “I believe I will find my new friend Carolina first. Then I will snatch your sister and rip out her throat. Purely for my own amusement.”

Rage roared to life inside Lalo. He fought against Maricela, but she only dug him deeper into the bark. “Tell me—does Carolina taste as good as she smells?”

Lalo growled, low and predatorial. She had taken his parents from him, had ruined his entire life.

“You will not touch a hair on the head of anyone I love ever again.”

“Love?” Maricela raised a brow. “This makes things much more entertaining.”

Using what he’d learned from Carolina, Lalo kneed Maricela hard in the groin. A shocked gasp escaped her, and Lalo attacked. He pounced on the sediento. The two tumbled into the dirt. They both hissed and snapped and dragged their claws across each other’s bodies. But she was far too strong. She had fed off human life; her body was thrumming with power from a bounty of essences. Maricela pinned Lalo to the ground and Lalo bellowed as claws ripped into his torso. He felt his flesh tear open. Felt his ribs crack. The sediento was going for his heart. And the agony was unbearable.

“Time to fix my mistake. Your lover and sister will die knowing the monster they care for suffered a wretched—”

Her words cut off mid-sentence. Her eyes went wide before flicking down to her chest. To the wooden stake protruding from it. The sediento clutched at the blood-soaked weapon, gasping like a fish out of the sea. Hands clasped her shoulders and threw her off of Lalo.

Rafael’s face came into view. He glared at Lalo, his body shaking with indignation, as he took in Lalo’s exposed chest. “You are one of them.”

“Let me explain.”

“You brought them here?”

“No…yes…wait.”

Rafael pointed his pistol at Lalo’s head.

“I knew there was something off about you. Carolina would never choose someone else over me. You charmed her. For what purpose?”

“I came to end sedientos. She intends to help me.”

A bitter laugh came from Rafa. “You expect me to believe that, sanguijuela?”

A third sediento burst from the thicket and launched himself at Rafael. A shot went off. A spark of light flashed in the air. But Rafael had missed. The vampiro grabbed him and flung him like he was made of feathers. Rafael’s body smacked into a tree and bounced on the ground. He didn’t move. Didn’t attempt to rise.

“No!” Lalo clambered up. Clutching his chest, he raced after Rafael, but the burly sediento was faster. He reached Rafael, lifting a clawed fist to give death’s blow. Lalo saw the pistol on the ground, picked it up, and aimed.

“Saints, guide me.”

The bullet discharged with a resounding boom. Everything else was silenced by the ringing in Lalo’s ears. The smoke cleared.

The sediento clenched at the hole in his chest before slumping to the ground. Lalo dropped the pistol as if it were aflame and rushed toward Rafael. The man was out cold, but his pulse still thrummed. His head must have taken the brunt of the hit.

Branches rustled behind them. Lalo braced himself. He sighed in relief when Se?or Fuentes appeared, followed by a limping Jorge being held up by Vicente.

“What happened?” Se?or Fuentes said, breathless.

“We were attacked by a pair of—” Lalo jolted. His eyes snapped to where Maricela had been. She was gone.

“No,” he whispered. Had she heard what he said to Rafael? Did she know what he and Carolina were planning to do? “No. No. No.”

“What is it, mijo?”

“There were two sedientos. But only one is here.”

“Shit.” Se?or Fuentes wiped a hand over his face. “I shouldn’t have left you. Carolina would have murdered me if you were hurt.”

“We need to go after the last vampiro,” Lalo urged. “Right now.”

Carolina’s and Fernanda’s lives were on the line.

“We will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“But what if she kills again?”

Se?or Fuentes’s eyes met his own, and inside them, Lalo saw fear.

“I don’t know. But I can only control what is in front of me at this moment. And that is Rafa and my nephew. We get them home. And we will protect what is ours until we come up with a better plan. Daylight is coming. The sediento will have to hide away. We will be safe for a bit.”

Lalo sought out the skies. They were still shrouded in darkness, but he knew the sun would soon be up. There was nothing to be done. He himself needed to hide away.

“You did well,” Se?or Fuentes said kindly. He grasped Lalo’s shoulder. “Thank you for saving Rafa.”

“It was nothing, se?or.”

Rafa knew what Lalo was now. The moment he woke, he’d alert everyone of what had happened, and then Lalo would be even more dead than he already was.