Page 4

CHAPTER 4

Carolina

When the house had finally gone quiet and her cousin Nena was tucked deep into her blankets snoring gently, Carolina slinked out of her bed and crept to the loose floorboard under her vanity. She snuck a glance at her door, but it was shut; only the soft glow of the sconces could be seen from underneath. Biting her lip, she dug her nails into the panel and pried a slat of wood back.

There, in the dust and darkness, was the clothing she often used when training with her abuelo. A loose black blouse, thick gloves, and—she smirked—pants. She grabbed the obsidian throwing daggers she used in practice and set them beside her. The black stone was the only thing besides wood taken from the roots of trees that could make a death blow because of its natural wards against evil. Then she pulled out the reata Abuelo had given her and placed it on her lap. She’d found it in the trash bin after her papá had taken it away. Carolina rubbed her thumb over the braided strips of leather.

“I miss you, Abuelito,” she whispered. “You were the only one to ever truly believe in me. I won’t let your death be in vain.” Carolina had not forgotten her promise to her grandfather the night he was slain. She’d never let her family hurt like that again. She would kill every sediento she could. And she’d do it with or without her papá’s approval.

She took the garments and weapons and slid the floorboard back in place.

Carolina stripped off her nightgown and prepared in silence.

When her boots were laced, she stood and eyed herself in the looking glass. If Abuelo could see her now. Her mouth went dry at the thought. There was no one in the world who would be prouder of her. Certainly not her papá. But her actions tonight might change his mind and everyone else’s in this pueblo. She’d find a sediento, slay it, and bring its fangs back as evidence of her kill. She’d show them she was as good a hunter as anyone in her father’s guard.

Heart thundering, she placed a mask she’d cut from an old cape over her face. She didn’t want to get caught and snitched on before she even made it out of the hacienda. She figured it’d be best to stay concealed until she wanted to make herself known.

She tugged on her flat-brimmed hat and grinned. In this outfit, she no longer looked like the prim and proper daughter of the mayor. She dressed like a monster hunter. Though she’d never seen a hunter with such temptingly round hips. She winked approvingly at her reflection.

“What in the stars?”

Carolina whirled around. Her cousin Nena had woken up, her mass of dark curls falling into her eyes. Nena shoved them back and scrambled onto her elbows. “Carolina?”

“Um…” Carolina tore the hat and mask from her head and attempted to conceal them behind her back.

Nena snorted. “There’s no use trying to hide now. I already saw you done up like some masked vigilante.” She cackled, the sound like a gun blast within the sleeping casa.

“Quiet!” Carolina grabbed a pillow from her bed and chucked it at Nena. It bounced off Nena’s face and landed on her lap.

“Hey!” Nena protested.

Carolina rushed to Nena’s bedside and knelt before her. “You must not tell a soul about this.”

“About what? What is this?” Nena gestured toward Carolina. “Is the fiesta we’re having tomorrow evening for Abuelo meant to be a costume party?”

“No. I…” Carolina chewed on her lip for a moment. “Nena, you must promise to keep a secret.”

Now Nena’s attention was truly sparked. “What sort of secret? Why are you dressed like this? Are you planning on sneaking out?” She gasped. “Is it about a boy? Or a girl?” Nena’s thick brows wiggled. “Have you kissed yet?”

Carolina shook her head. “This isn’t about kissing, Nena. Saints. ”

Nena’s jaw dropped in shock. “Did you do something more than kissing?”

Her cousin was thoroughly awake now and sitting up. Her hands rested on the pillow; her nightdress hung loose over one shoulder. Nena was the prettiest girl in el pueblo by far. She was curvy and had dark brown skin that always smelled of citrus and vanilla. She was only three months younger than Carolina, but they lived vastly different lives.

Antonina Fuentes was free to do whatever she pleased because the things she loved most—dancing, flirting, sewing, and donning beautiful dresses—fit into what her parents expected of her. Nena would happily marry a suitor of their family’s choice because marriage meant she could finally travel away from DelOro. That was perfectly wonderful for her, but it wasn’t what Carolina wanted in life. She didn’t care about shopping or capturing the attention of gentlemen. What Carolina wanted was to hunt. And not for this season’s most coveted lace.

“What is the secret you wish me to keep?” Nena queried. “So long as it isn’t something that will put you in danger, I am ready.”

“Well…about that…”

Carolina slowed her stallion as they came to the entrance of the forest. The usual sounds of midnight greeted her—crickets, leaves shuffling in the breeze, water flowing from a stream nearby. But she would not let the normalcy trick her. Nor would she let the thrum of fear in her mind turn her away now. She had never been so far from el pueblo. Not once in all her eighteen years. She wouldn’t let her own trepidation ruin this moment.

“This is the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Nena said.

“Hush,” Carolina whispered. “Do you want the entire world to hear us?”

She wouldn’t let Nena ruin this moment either.

“What world?” Nena replied. She had put a mask over her face as well, but there was no denying who she was. Her figure alone would give her away to anyone from their town. And Nena had never been shy about that.

Nena searched left and right. “The only people I see are the two fools right here.” She gestured at the two of them.

Carolina rolled her eyes. “No one asked you to come.”

“What did you expect me to do when you told me what you were up to? Just nod my head and say best of luck ? You’re my cousin, I must look out for you.”

“You’re younger than me. I’m supposed to be looking after you.”

Nena fluffed her curls. “But I am far more mature.”

Carolina scoffed. Nena scoffed in return.

After a moment, Nena said, “I think you forget sometimes that he was my abuelo, too.”

This gave Carolina pause.

“Everyone is hurting, Carolina. Even your father. But is sneaking out to prove you’re some warrior worth risking your life?”

Carolina took a deep breath. “I know you think I’m mad for wanting to stalk vampiros.” She eyed her cousin. Waited for Nena to deny it, but in true Nena fashion, she pursed her lips and nodded. A small laugh escaped Carolina. “But Abuelo trained me well, Nena. I can shoot and ride better than any of my brothers. Yet, because I am the daughter of Luis Fuentes, I must sit quietly and look pretty.”

“There is nothing wrong with looking pretty,” Nena said.

“I know.” Carolina certainly didn’t mind when people complimented her appearance. She quite liked her high cheekbones and arching brows and the way her lips curved into a pout. But she didn’t want to just be some person’s dutiful wife. She wished for the wind to run through her hair. She wished for sedientos to see her and retreat in fear.

“You want to be beautiful and have dirt under your nails,” Nena offered.

“I suppose I do.”

“Then I shall get my hands dirty too. Unfortunately.” She said that last part under her breath.

“You should go back, Nena. You’ve never wanted to fight.” Carolina had asked Nena to join her with Abuelo once. Nena had laughed in her face and went back to her puzzle. “This will be dangerous, and you don’t know how to wield a weapon.”

“Then what is this?” Nena reached into the bag strapped to her horse’s saddle. She pulled out a cast-iron pan.

Carolina sighed. “ That is what you brought? Not any of the dozens of sharp knives in the kitchen?”

“This thing is heavy. I’ll hit the monster. You stab it through. Piece of cake.”

Carolina had half a mind to turn around and go home. She shouldn’t have let Nena come. The forest wasn’t a safe place for her. Nena hadn’t exactly given her a choice, though. She threatened to tell their nanny the second Carolina left without her. A dirty threat. Something Carolina most certainly would have done if the roles were reversed. And if she wanted to bring back her kill and present it at the fiesta to show everyone what she had done, she might not be able to do it on her own.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s go. Stay right behind me.”

Carolina slipped off her horse just outside the woods the sedientos always came from. She wanted to slither about like the monsters she’d come to slay, and it would be much easier on foot. She tied her stallion, Guapo, to a boulder and helped Nena do the same with her mare, Luna. Carolina adjusted her belt laden with her reata and daggers. She’d also stolen a machete from the barn. The time had come to prove her worth as a Fuentes and as a fighter.

She shoved a thorny branch out of her way and entered the woods. A dankness clung to the air. The branches above stretched like skeletal fingers, blocking out the moonlight. Even the vegetation felt menacing. She understood why, locally, the forest had been named Boca de la Muerte—Death’s Mouth. It was like a flytrap. Everything within the woods seemed as lethal as the next. And with sunlight unable to seep in during the day, it was no wonder vampiros considered this place to be home.

She pulled the machete from its place on her hip and offered it to Nena. Her cousin shook her head and raised her pan. Carolina clamped her lips shut to hold back her laugh. Nena had a way of making her giggle during the worst of times. Whenever Carolina got in trouble, which was often, she could never risk meeting Nena’s eyes. The last time she had, Carolina burst into a fit of hysterics, incensing her papá. Carolina had been forced to pull weeds and dried-up leaves from Mamá’s garden until the entire plot was clean. Her back ached for days and Nena didn’t even come outside to help. In fact, she made faces at Carolina from their bedroom window. The wretch.

The girls wove deeper into the trees. Taking slow, methodical steps forward, Carolina felt before her with her free hand. Her fingers slid against rough bark and thorny brush. Her boots treaded on a bed of pine needles until they came upon hardpacked earth.

“I’ve found a game trail,” she whispered. All sorts of animals used it to get to the creek just east of where she stood.

“What’s that?” Nena asked quietly. She pointed at something dangling from a branch ahead.

Carolina plucked it off and rubbed her thumb against what appeared to be a bit of torn cloth.

Nena grabbed the scrap of fabric and sniffed. “It smells like the citrus soap the merchants bring in from the ciudades. Saints, I can’t wait to marry so I can travel all about Abundancia. I’ll go to every dress shop I see.”

“Why would this be here?” Carolina whispered to herself, ignoring her cousin. “And more importantly, why is the smell so fresh?” Her brow furrowed. “Perhaps it’s from a bandito. Or…what if this fabric belongs to a vampiro’s next meal? Have we had any traders come to town this week? A member of their party could have gone missing.”

Nena shook her head. “They aren’t expected to arrive for a few more days.”

A muffled cry sounded through the brush ahead. Both girls stared at each other, mouths agape.

“What do we do?” Nena whispered.

“Someone’s life is most likely in danger. Let’s go.”

She slipped the cloth and machete into her belt holster and ran up the path as fast as she could. Carolina kept her ears perked, her eyes wide.

Another strange noise stopped her in her tracks. Nena bumped hard into her back. She stumbled forward but caught herself before falling.

She heard slurping. Then a moan, followed by a gag.

Carolina’s muscles tensed. Whatever it was, it was feeding onsomething.

She crept behind a thick oak and peered around the tree.

A figure sporting an elegant cloak hovered over some sort of body. The copper tang of blood tainted the air. Carolina squinted, hoping to get a better view through the darkness.

The figure shifted, and she could see the prone body on the forest floor was that of a buck. Two gaping holes lay open on the animal’s neck and blood oozed out. Carolina’s nails dug into the bark of the tree.

The monster let out a guttural groan.

Her hands itched to sink a stake into the fiend’s heart.

“Stay here,” she mouthed to Nena.

Nena gripped her cast-iron pan harder and nodded once.

Holding her breath to quiet her pounding heart, Carolina slithered around the trees. A twig snapped underfoot. Shit. The creature’s head shot up, its spine going straight. It turned in her direction, slowly.

Carolina didn’t waste a second. She sprinted forward, readying the machete. Her body slammed into the monster’s. She used her entire weight and strength to tackle it to the ground. The sediento didn’t fight back, didn’t even lift a hand to protect itself. It simply huffed a dramatic breath as they crashed into the earth.

Carolina was on top of the sediento at once, her machete to its neck.

The hood of the cloak fell from its face, and she had to hold in her gasp of surprise. The sediento was a young man, maybe even the same age as her. And he was… handsome. So much so, her heart gave in to a little flutter.

The wretch had a well-kept mustache, like the young men she’d seen in Nena’s socialite papers. He was utterly human-looking and more beautiful than any boy she’d ever witnessed before. A waste.

With a growl, she dug her blade into the soft flesh of his throat. A tiny squeak escaped his lips. His fingers wrapped around her wrist with his beastly strength. He jerked her body off him, and she tumbled into the dirt.

“Oh no,” he said. “I didn’t mean to…”

Carolina smacked into the trunk of a tree, her teeth rattling in her skull. The sediento was to his feet in an instant, moving toward her. He was tall and slender but with wide shoulders that spoke of strength. Well, she was strong too.

She readied her weapon, ignoring the pulsing headache blurring her vision. “Enjoy these moments, bloodsucker,” she spat. “For they will be your last.”

The boy put his hands up in surrender.

“I—I didn’t mean to throw you like that,” he stuttered. His voice was smooth as silk. Shock ran through her. She’d never heard one of them speak. “I promise,” he said, inching closer to her. “I mean you no…”

Nena ran from her hiding place, screeching like a mother hen. She raised the pan and cracked the vampiro hard across the face. The sediento staggered, his hands going to his cheek.

“Hells below!” he bellowed.

He was calling to the other devils, beckoning them to assist him. “Not on my watch,” Carolina growled.

She scrambled to her feet and swung the machete at the sediento. His eyes went wide with disbelief, but he skittered away just in time.

“Wait!” he shouted.

She swung again and again. Each time, he dodged her advances. She snarled with frustration. Her arms were already tiring. She hadn’t fully healed from the attack a month ago, the attack where her abuelo had been viciously cut down.

Fiery rage burned within her at the thought.

“You will die this night,” she snarled, grabbing her rope.

“But…I’m already dead.”

“Do not mock me you…you…” What word was worse than “life-sucking prick”?

“Deplorable demon?” he suggested.

“Do not finish my sentences, you deplorable demon!”

“I will happily stop, when you cease trying to murder me!” He ducked, and her lasso missed its mark.

“Never!” She flicked her wrist and this time the reata found its home, wrapping around his waist. His mouth fell open. Digging her heels into the dirt, she yanked so hard, he lost his footing and dropped to all fours.

“Se?orita, please…if you would just…”

Stars above, he was attractive. She’d never seen any magazines or weeklies with a face so fine. He wasn’t a he. She had to remind herself. He was an it. An abomination. A thing to be destroyed. But it was rather hard when he was so striking.

“What are you waiting for?” Nena yelled. “Kill him already!”

“Shut up, Nena!” Carolina held her dagger to him. “Your death will be slow and vicious,” she said to the sediento.

His eyes bulged. “These lands are free to hunt, are they not? I saw no signs saying otherwise. I have done nothing wrong.”

She laughed bitterly. “Your very existence is wrong, devil.”

A muscle in his strong jaw flexed. Her traitorous knees weakened at the sight. And in that moment, in that wretched second of distraction, the sediento spun around and ran. He pulled the rope out of her hand, sending her toppling into the dirt once more.

“Bastard!” she screamed.

Carolina flung the knife. The gleaming blade flipped through the air and sank into a tree just as the sediento dipped low.

She hit the ground with her palm. “Dammit!” Carolina climbed to her feet and gave chase. She burst through the brush but he wasn’t there.

“What the hell?”

Fingers clenched her shoulders from seemingly out of nowhere, pushing her against a large tree. The sediento’s hands were strong on her arms but not in a crushing way as she had felt once before. He towered over her, but she would not be intimidated.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked, his voice laced with panic.

She scowled, although he wouldn’t see it, considering most of her face was covered with her makeshift mask.

She could hear Nena thrashing behind them. Carolina needed to keep him distracted long enough for her cousin to come with the frying pan in hand.

Carolina raised her chin and forced herself to meet his eyes. Eyes, she realized, that were honey brown. Not glowing blood-red. How could that be?

“What are you?” she asked. “Why do you not have the devil’s eyes like the rest of your ilk?”

Alarm clouded his features. “Are there other vampiros here? What do they look like? Does one have red hair?”

How dare he ask her questions? He should be answering to her.

She kneed him hard in his groin. He hunched over with a startled moan.

“That really hurt!” he wheezed.

“That’s the point, pendejo!”

She dug her fingers into her boot and pulled out another throwing dagger. Seeing what she was doing, the sediento bolted away. She flung the blade and watched as it found its target, sinking deep into his shoulder.

He cursed—more like screamed—but continued to run.

Carolina shoved a low-lying branch out of her way as she dashed after him. When she made it to a clearing in the woods, she jerked to a stop. She surveyed the area, spinning in circles.

“This can’t be,” she said. She peered into the trees above. “This cannot be!”

The sediento was gone.

She let out a frustrated growl and stomped her foot. There was nothing in the earth. Not even a single footprint. Though, the lack of light could easily be to blame for her not being able to see much. She wasn’t a sediento. She did not thrive in darkness.

That boy was smarter than any vampiro she’d seen before. They were normally so lost in their bloodlust, they didn’t think of fleeing. Lorenzo couldn’t even communicate. But this one did. Had the sedientos somehow evolved? Were new kinds of monsters coming to hunt her people?

Nena suddenly came through the thicket, panting and sweaty. Leaves and branches clung to her curls.

“You ditched me!” she huffed.

“I was a bit distracted.”

Nena’s eyes flicked about. “Where is he? Did you slay him?”

“No, I…” A breeze fluttered through the trees, bringing with it the scent of smoke. Carolina tilted her head. “Why would there be a fire way out here?”

The nearest rancho was at least seven miles away. She wouldn’t smell anything from here. She rushed forward.

“Carolina, wait!” Nena called after her.

But she was already slicing through the forest at a hound’s pace.

Carolina’s feet skittered to a halt when a lone hacienda popped into view. The rundown manor was the old Alicante estate. No one had lived there in years and yet the tiniest bit of smoke puffed from the chimney on the eastern end of the home. A single candle flickered past one of the windows on the second floor. Carolina’s back stiffened. She couldn’t be certain from such a distance, but it looked as though a lady had walked by. It happened again, and—yes—it was someone. The figure stopped before the window. The woman waited there for what felt like ages. She stuck her nose close to the glass as if she were trying to peer into the surrounding woods.

Was she waiting for him? The monster? Could she be one too?

“Dammit, Carolina.” Nena grabbed Carolina and shoved her behind a tree. “Have you no self-preservation? Someone might see you.”

“That’s not just someone,” Carolina said. “There is a sediento inside.”

“No,” Nena said slowly as if Carolina couldn’t grasp that word. “The Alicante estate is being rented by a family from some port ciudad. Puerto Blanco, I think. I’ll have to check the map and see where that is.”

“What do you mean? How do you know this?”

“It’s only been the talk of el pueblo for a week.”

“I wouldn’t know that because no one has spoken to me since…” She couldn’t say it. She didn’t want to bring up Abuelo now.

“ I told you, days ago. But you were too busy not listening.”

“Who are they?” Carolina asked.

“A brother and sister. I haven’t seen the brother yet, but I did catch a glimpse of the sister in town this morning.” Nena grinned. “She’s…rather attractive, I won’t deny that.”

“You said you saw her in the morning? Was the sun out?”

“Sí. Very much so. And the girl didn’t burn or even flinch. She’s as human as you and me.”

“But we don’t know about the supposed brother. He could be the monster.” She started forward, but Nena grasped her wrist.

“It would be rather rude and highly improper for the daughter of the mayor to suddenly show up on their doorstep at this hour,” Nena said. “There will be too many questions to answer if the siblings tell people we came banging on their door at this time. And what if you’re wrong? Also…you’re in pants!” Nena waved her hand at Carolina’s legs.

Nena had a point. Chewing on her bottom lip, Carolina made her decision. She would go home before her family caught on to their absence. She could stand getting in trouble, but she wouldn’t let Nena be punished for her choices.

“Fine,” she said. “But as soon as I can, I’m coming back here to see what is what.”

Nena smiled. “I’ll come with you.”

“You’re not tagging along just to flirt with some pretty girl.”

“I know.” Nena wrapped her arm around Carolina’s shoulder. “That’s a bonus.”