Page 39

CHAPTER 39

Lalo

His skin sizzled. He writhed in agony. The pain was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He was living through a rampaging wildfire. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The torment was too great. But he’d fight through hell and back to keep Carolina safe. She’d gotten them far enough for him to take over.

The covering flung back yet again as Carolina jerked at the reins and they came to a sudden stop. His full face and neck were exposed to the blazing sun. An explosion of heat seared through his entire being, cutting to the very wick of his soul. Bellowing, Lalo jumped off his horse. He dug his head into his shoulders and ran for Carolina who stood, readying to fight the chupasangres.

Lalo spared no time by explaining himself. He scooped her into his arms, held her tight against his body, and bolted for the trees.

“What are you doing?!” she shrieked.

“Is it not obvious?!” He gritted his teeth and kept his eyes locked on the spindly branches ahead. His thighs pumped as the power of Tecuani thrummed through his veins.

“Holy shit, you’re fast!”

Her legs and arms wrapped around him, and she clung tight, making it easier for him to maneuver and shielding him from some of the sun’s agonizing rays. One of his hands fisted the back of her bodice like a life raft while the other pumped as hard as it could. Everything hurt. His skin, his eyes, his scalp. The sun’s rays were like badgers clawing away at his flesh.

“Almost there,” she said softly into his ear. And the sound was like jumping into cool waters.

His muscles were tiring. The daylight was ravaging him. He would not make it much longer.

But then he smelled the pines and damp earth. The torture eased as his feet pounded through the mouth of the woods. Lalo didn’t stop. He could hear the chupasangres still speeding toward them.

Something rattled in his chest. His lungs seized, and he gasped for air. His boot snagged on a fallen branch, and they tumbled forward. Carolina fell out of his grasp as they hit the forest floor. Lalo tried to push himself up, but the last of his energy depleted and the pain he’d been suppressing exploded within.

Carolina scrambled to his side. She gasped. His injuries must be extensive. They certainly felt like it.

“We’ve got to keep going, Lalo,” she panted. “Those beasts are still coming, and most of my weapons were left with the horses. Can you stand?”

He could hardly open his mouth to reply.

A chupasangre howled dangerously close.

“Shit,” Carolina spat. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“Go,” he wheezed. “Leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Her confession tore through his heart.

She was quiet for a moment. “They are attracted to sedientos, right?”

Lalo whispered, “Yes. They cannot see, but their sense of smell is extraordinary. They can smell death on sedientos. They know we do not belong in this realm.”

Another howl echoed through the trees. Loud and near.

“Then there’s only one thing to do,” she said.

She eased her body on top of his until every part of her touched every part of him.

Lalo’s eyes bulged.

“Are you trying to get us both killed?”

“I’m hiding your scent from them.” Her face hovered just above his. Her lips were dangerously close. Her everything was close.

A twig snapped.

“Do not move,” she mouthed.

Slowly, she pulled one of the lover’s daggers from its sheath and held it at the ready.

Three chupasangres burst through the brush. Lalo listened to Carolina’s pulse racing as the beasts’ heavy paws crunched over fallen branches and dead leaves. Her gaze held his. And for possibly the first time since meeting her, he saw true fear within her eyes.

Two of the chupasangres edged slowly toward them. One sniffed at the air; it let out a deep puff of breath, causing Carolina’s dark hair to flutter over her face.

A low and hungry growl came from the chupasangre. Its haunches raised like spikes down its spine. The hound’s lips pulled back, revealing its razor-sharp teeth. It bent low as if readying to pounce.

Carolina took the dagger and sliced into one of her arms and then the other. The chupasangre quirked its head as her blood seeped over Lalo’s body. Its shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

Lalo gritted his teeth and held his breath. Her blood was so warm. It smelled of Carolina. Of fire.

A howl sounded in the far-off distance, and the three chupasangres’ heads snapped up. Two bounded into the brush straight away but one lingered. Its nostrils flared as it gave the air around Carolina and Lalo one more deep sniff. The beast took another step toward them but halted when a second howl came.

Its ears flicked toward the noise, and it huffed before turning west, disappearing behind the trees.

Carolina let loose a breath and slumped onto Lalo’s chest. The sudden pain rocked through his core. The edges of his vision blurred.

“I’m going to faint,” he wheezed.