Page 44

CHAPTER 44

Carolina

Fast and steady, they paced through the woods. Every sound had her on edge. They were not alone. She could feel it in her bones.

“When we get to the summit…,” Lalo started, but she hushed him.

“Lean in closer to me if you have something to say,” she whispered. Hearing him speak, feeling his body vibrate against her, eased her mind.

Lalo pressed against her. They were almost cheek to cheek. “Like this?” he asked softly.

An explosion of goose pimples rippled over her skin. The hairs on her arms and neck stood on end.

“That’ll do,” she said, leaning into his warmth.

“When we get to the summit, the first thing we’ll need to do is build a protection ring. Vampiros cannot cross a line of obsidian. We’ll build the ring and use your blood to lure him out. Then I’ll take the lover’s blade that belonged to Vidal and strike him through. While he is caught off guard, you use Alma’s blade to finish him.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“I’ve no doubt, but know my main concern is to protect you at all costs.”

The pit in her stomach grew. She shook her head. “Here I was judging you for being a monster when it was my family who started this whole mess.”

“But it will be you to fix that.”

“No, we will fix it.”

When she was younger, she only cared about being the best hunter in Del Oro to prove her papá wrong. To show she was worthy, that he was mistaken for not believing in her. She didn’t really care about helping anything but her own pride. It wasn’t until Abuelo was slain that she truly understood the desperate hopelessness of loss. But even then, she’d only wanted to kill sedientos to make herself feel better, safer, and to establish herself as a fighter. Perhaps Papá had been right in holding her back. She wasn’t ready to join the guard because she was selfish. And arrogant. And stubborn. How could she protect anyone when her heart was in the wrong place?

Abuelo had tried to tell her when he’d given her the reata for her birthday. He wished to remind her to be humble. She didn’t want to hear it then. But Lalo had stumbled into her life and showed her what true goodness was, what true selflessness was. Since the very first day they met, he’d been trying to reverse the curse so his sister wouldn’t live in fear from that wretch of a woman Maricela. Now Carolina knew he was doing it for her and her family, too.

And she loved him for it.

The horse followed her lead up a craggy path. From the map she’d stolen from her papá’s office, this was the way to the tip of Devil’s Spine.

A strange, sizzling sound came from ahead. She narrowed her eyes and peered into the darkness. Their horse whinnied and suddenly reared back.

“Hold on!” Carolina yelled. But Lalo’s arms didn’t squeeze around her tight enough and he tumbled off the back of the gelding. Carolina struggled to regain control but caught a glimpse at what had startled her horse. The dirt trail they were on was moving just a few steps ahead. Undulating and lapping like a small lake. Something fizzled to the top and a bubble burst with a hiss.

“What in the saints?” Lalo asked while dusting off his bottom.

“Lago del fuego,” she said. “Boiling-hot quicksand.”

“Of course it is!” His voice had raised in pitch. “What else shall we come across? Evil mushrooms? Snakes with three heads?!”

“Lalo, lower your voice,” she warned.

“Or what?” He raised his hands. “What else can possibly go wrong? If we move in the wrong direction this way, we will be drowned in burning sand. But we cannot go back because wolves the size of wagons wish to devour me. Oh, and then there’s Maricela too. And Vidal. And…” He stopped short as his voice broke.

“What? And what, Lalo?”

His chin wobbled. “I’ve been fighting for air since the moment my parents were murdered. And every time I get close to the surface, every time I think I might finally break through, something even more terrible comes. I have been turned into the very thing I hate most. I was hunted and stabbed and shot. I killed! Day and night, I dream of the lives I took. I have nightmares about leaving my baby sister to fend for herself. And now there’s you, too.” He shook his head. “I can’t do it. I can’t take another step. It’s too much. I can’t lose you, Carolina. Not when we’ve only just found each other.”

Carolina inhaled deeply. “We won’t lose each other, Lalo. We will make it through this.”

“You don’t understand. I won’t be going back with you.”

“What?” The horse shifted under her as she tensed. “What are you talking about?”

His face twisted with anguish. “When we sever the ties between Vidal and Tecuani, it won’t only kill Vidal and undo the curse. Any sediento born of his blood will fall, too. Without him, there will be nothing to bind us to this realm anymore.”

Dear Gods , she had asked him about this when he first told her his plan, but he seemed so unconcerned, she just assumed it was because he wasn’t worried about anything happening tohim.

“How long have you known?” she asked.

“I’ve always hoped it wouldn’t be so, but every journal or book I’ve read about those given new life because of Tecuani leads to the same conclusion. Kill the original sediento, and the rest will fall.”

“And yet you still fought so hard to find Vidal and the daggers that would kill him? Why? Why come all this way just todie?”

“Because I want Fernanda to be safe. I killed Maricela’s children. Journeying here was the only way I could ensure Fernanda would never have to look over her shoulder again.”

“Then continue for her. And for me. But do not give up, Lalo. Do not forfeit your life. Because I…” She palmed her chest as the scope of his heartbreak befell her. He had endured endless tortures for his sister’s sake. But he wouldn’t anymore. At least, not alone. “I love you, Lalo. And I need you here. Your sister and I need you here. Do you understand? There must be a way for you to survive this. I will find a way, and you will not give up because I cannot face this world without you.”

“Lina,” he whispered.

A sob escaped her. Abuelo had been the only other one to call her that, but it sounded so effortless from Lalo’s lips.

“Maybe it is selfish of me to beg for you to not give up when you’ve been through so much,” she said. “But life isn’t something one just eases through. Life is a constant battle. Every moment of peace, every smile, every kiss that is worth a damn must be earned. So fight with me, Lalo. And if you are too weary from everything you’ve already been through, then I’ll raise my fists and fight for us both.”

Lalo held her gaze as black tears slid down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away. “I pity anyone who stands against you.”

Carolina laughed through her sorrows. “Me too.”

“And I pity myself for having to spend the last five minutes listening to you two,” a sultry voice taunted.

Lalo’s eyes widened before his body jerked back and disappeared into the shadows. Shock filled every morsel of Carolina’s flesh. She dug her heels into the horse and pounded after her love.

“Lalo!” she screamed.

She could hear his curses. Could hear the panic in his voice.

“Hold on!” Carolina bellowed.

Something slammed hard into Carolina’s body. Her hands tore away from the reins, and she tumbled off her horse and onto the hard earth. The air in her lungs whooshed out of her body. Her back skidded against rock and thistle, and she gritted her teeth to hold in a shriek.

A sediento with long red hair and gleaming eyes climbed over her body. Maricela, the woman from the tradesmen party. Lalo’s maker. She grabbed Carolina’s wrists and slammed them over her head and into the ground.

“So nice to see you again, Carolina.” Maricela grinned.

Carolina tried to free herself, but the woman’s grip was bone-crushingly strong. “I’d say it is nice to see you too, but it isn’t. In fact, I may as well tell you exactly how I feel about you, you coldhearted, ugly beast.”

Maricela clicked her tongue. “Don’t be ridiculous, amor. I am far from ugly.” Her gaze flicked to somewhere just beyond Carolina’s line of sight. “I really should thank you for bringing me back to Del Oro, Eduardo. It has been a long time since I have been home, and I nearly forgot how delicious it truly is.”

Home? What was Maricela talking about?

“Let her go, Maricela,” Lalo shouted. “Your quarrel is with me. I killed your children in the cantina. Me. This has nothing to do with Carolina.”

“That is where you are wrong.” Her gaze snapped to Carolina. “She has pure and sacred Fuentes blood, that of our mother and father.” She grinned and turned her head toward Lalo. “It is probably why you think you’ve fallen so hard for her. But it isn’t Carolina you want. The life force thrumming inside her veins calls to you.”

“You know nothing of love,” Lalo spat.

“Love is a curse. Just look at what has happened to the Fuenteses because of it.” She squeezed her claws deeper into Carolina’s wrists. “Alma’s love cursed an entire bloodline. Everyone is damned. She gave Tecuani the souls of her descendants as payment for her beloved. The golden gates to el Cielo will not open for a Fuentes. They are confined to the Forest of Souls, doing Tecuani’s bidding forevermore. It is only by Vidal’s grace and affection that a Fuentes may live on. He turns those that are worthy. He keeps their souls in this realm.”

Did that mean Abuelo’s soul hadn’t found peace? He was trapped in Tecuani’s forest, serving the hunter of hearts instead of finding Abuela in el Cielo.

“Now.” Maricela’s eyes suddenly blazed like embers. “Let’s see how la ni?a tastes. I am so very thirsty.”

Carolina squirmed underneath Maricela. She kicked out her legs and thrust her shoulders, but the vampiro’s hold was unyielding.

“You won’t best me, Carolina Fuentes. I know your tricks. I’ve been watching you since I arrived. Waiting for my chance to strike.”

“Get on with it then,” Carolina growled.

Maricela chuckled. “You certainly have the Fuentes arrogance.” The sediento revealed razor-sharp fangs.

“No!” Lalo roared. “Do not harm her. Please! Please!”

“Shut him up!” Maricela snapped to the sediento holding Lalo at bay.

Lalo’s muffled cries echoed through the night. Carolina fought to free herself, but she couldn’t break away. A small gasp escaped her lips as Maricela sank her teeth into Carolina’s throat.

Terror coursed through her. She tried to scream but everything from her head to her toes had gone numb. Gritting her teeth, she ordered her limbs to move, to do anything, but they would not listen.

This couldn’t be how her life ended. She could not get so close to ridding the world of these bastards only to be taken down by the monster who turned Lalo. It wasn’t fair. He’d already watched his parents get slaughtered. She wouldn’t let him see her die too.

Something sizzled to her right. She dragged her attention to the ground. The writhing sand was only inches away. If she could just get the sediento off her. If she could just…

A chupasangre howled in the distance, rumbling through the night. The vampiro jerked up. Her glowing eyes scanned the forest. Carolina took her chance. She forced her body to move.

She shoved her numb feet under herself and used her leg muscles to lift up the sediento. The momentum flung Maricela forward. She released her hold on Carolina’s wrist to catch herself. With her arms free, Carolina clamped them around the vampiro’s waist and used her strength to scoot her bottom up. With a better position, she dug her elbow into Maricela’s arm. Maricela buckled and Carolina sent them rolling toward el lago del fuego.

A bubbling hiss fizzled up and then a fiery burst exploded from the quicksand. Maricela screamed when her foot sank into the burning sinkhole. She attempted to yank out her leg, but el lago del fuego only pulled her in deeper.

Carolina attempted to scramble away, but Maricela snatched her by the ankle. She kicked out, slamming her boot into Maricela’s face, but the two women kept inching deeper into el lago. Carolina could already feel the scorching heat emanating from it. She reached out and grabbed on to anything she could. Her fingers scraped over dirt and stone and fallen leaves until they snagged on an exposed root.

“Lalo!” she screamed.

“I’m coming!” he roared. He clashed with the vampiro holding him captive. Lalo’s claws slashed through the air. His fangs dug into flesh. But the vampiro he faced was thrice his size.

Maricela shrieked. Half her torso was now inside the quicksand. Carolina’s fingers slipped from the root, and she skidded back.

“Lalo!”

The sediento Lalo battled thumped to the dirt. Lalo yanked one of the lover’s daggers from the dead sediento’s chest and stalked forward, hatred glowing in his eyes. He raised his arm and threw the dagger. The blade pierced Maricela’s neck.

Maricela’s head fell back, and her hold on Carolina’s ankle released. With a cry of relief, Carolina crawled away.

Lalo ran past her toward el lago del fuego.

“What are you doing?” Carolina yelled.

He skidded to a stop at the very rim of the quicksand and reached out. His fingers wrapped around the hilt of the dagger and he jerked it free. Lalo stumbled back and landed hard on his bottom beside Carolina just as Maricela’s head and red hair were devoured.

“Holy shit,” he panted. He turned to Carolina. “I killed her. The beast who murdered my parents is gone.”

Carolina reached out and grasped his hand, ignoring the aches screaming through her body.

He shook his head. “I…I thought I’d feel relieved. But my mother and father are still gone. Her death doesn’t change that.”

“No,” Carolina said. “But now there is one less vampiro trying to end us before we reach Vidal. Two, if you count the oaf you also killed. Besides, Maricela was a real bitch.”

Lalo chuckled. “Truer words have never been spoken.”

A deep howl rumbled through the air. Birds that had been roosting in the trees above took flight.

“The chupasangres are coming,” she said.

Lalo nodded. “And who knows what other sedientos might be heading this way.”

Slowly, they stood. She started forward but her knees gave out. Lalo’s hand caught her.

“What is it? Is it your ankle?”

She shook her head. “The bite,” she gritted her teeth. “It burns.”

“Saints,” he whispered. His thumb grazed over the wound.

Carolina hissed. The sensation felt like a thousand knives digging into her skin.

Lalo bent down and licked her burning flesh. His warm tongue slipped over her. But no relief came.

“It’s not working,” he cried.

He tried again.

“You aren’t healing.”

Her veins felt as if they were on fire. “What is happening to me?”

Lalo sucked in a breath. “You drank my blood.”

She gripped his arms as hard as she could, but it was barely a pinch. “What are you saying?”

“You…” His eyes met hers, so full of sorrow. “You’re turning.”

“What? No. That can’t be.” Her chest, shoulder, and arm burned as if the bite was lava seeping down her body. She gritted her teeth. “How long until I become a sediento?”

“Depends on the person. It’s faster when the body is already dead, but the power of Tecuani unleashed with her bite will stop your heart eventually. The process could take a week. Could be days.” He paled. “Could be hours.”

A howl sounded again. This time terribly close.

“We must go,” she whispered. “I see a path through the lago del fuego just ahead.”

Carolina tried to get up, but pain exploded through her body.

“Here.” Lalo gently put his arms around her and eased her up, holding her against him.

She cried out in agony.

“I know,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

Bushes rustled in the distance. A voice roared with fury. “Carolina!”

They both gasped. Papá had found them.