Page 5

CHAPTER 5

Lalo

Of all the wretched situations Lalo had been through, this was perhaps the most inconvenient. He’d fallen, right through some foxhole or cave, and wedged his body into an uncomfortable knot. And he had a knife stuck in his back. But he was safe from her, at least. That vicious monster of a girl hidden behind a ridiculous mask. Not to mention her companion had had the audacity to hit him with a pan.

She’d mentioned dealing with his ilk before. Had she seen Maricela? He gulped. But then he thought about the wall barricading the main pueblo from the world beyond. Perhaps vampiros had really been here all along.

Hope flooded his chest.

“Luck might finally be on my side.”

Del Oro was el pueblo where Alma Rosario’s body had been found. As far as he could tell, she was the first sort of victim in Abundancia to have died by being drained entirely of her blood. If she was truly the first, it could only mean Tecuani had been summoned somewhere nearby. The vampiro he created would still be here, for they were bound to the lands where they rose from the grave. If Lalo held any chance of turning himself back or at the very least ridding the world of monsters like him, he needed to find that vampiro.

According to the diary he discovered from one Friar Alejandro, a known expert on maladies inflicted by the gods, the only way to end the “death curse” was to find the firstborn monster and cut it down. That would sever the power of Tecuani from within all sedientos made from the original. Maricela would be no more, as would the threat of her wrath. And Lalo’s thirst would dissolve.

Considering that terror of a young woman knew about his kind, she might know specifically about Alma Rosario and the beast that took her life. He had to speak to her. The only problem was, she wished to kill him. And she’d been rather cruel about ittoo.

With shaking fingers, he reached behind his back and gripped the hilt of the dagger currently wedged into his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and tried to pull the blade out. Lalo’s stomach seized, and he almost vomited.

“Pathetic,” he whispered. “You are absolutely pitiful.”

Lalo felt as if he had waited long enough. From his estimations, he had been crammed inside this hole for over two hours. He was certain the women weren’t on the prowl any longer. But now the birds were beginning to chatter, which made him nervous. Birds didn’t often chirp until daybreak.

Grunting, he tried his best to squirm around so he could push himself up and out. His body hurt like bloody hell. Lalo would heal, of course. He had the blood of that buck flowing through him. The life he’d taken would mend what was broken. It would take much longer than if he’d drunk human blood, but there was nothing to be done about that. In his mind anyway.

His stomach pinched at the thought of what had transpired and how embarrassing this situation was. How appalling was it that anyone would come upon him while he fed?

At least they didn’t see him hunt. That would’ve been a greater humiliation. Lalo hadn’t even been going for the buck. He’d been chasing a raccoon but tripped and toppled right into the poor creature, fangs first. His only solace was that he had caught the buck so unaware that it didn’t realize what was happening before it was too late.

The saliva of un vampiro stunned and numbed its victims. The buck did not know any pain. Lalo would have tasted it in his blood otherwise. Still, Lalo saw flashes of its memories. He saw it grazing in a meadow full of purple and yellow flowers, butting heads with another male, and spotting the loveliest doe.

Lalo inched toward the opening but stiffened. A shaft of glowing sunlight cut a line straight through the entrance.

“You cannot be serious,” he groaned. He would have to stay here, inside a dingy den, for at least eight hours? Had he still wore his cloak, he could have tucked all his extremities inside and bolted home, but the cloak had somehow fallen off during his fight…and then humbling flight. His shirt and breeches wouldn’t protect him enough from the sun. And if he did try and that masked vigilante was out there waiting, what then? He’d have no way to protect himself.

Sighing, Lalo nuzzled against the stone and curled into a ball, making sure to keep the dagger lodged inside his shoulder from touching anything. He began to recite the alphabet backward. Something he’d done since he was a boy to pass the time. Lalo didn’t want his brain to relax. For whenever it did, his thoughts found their way to one of two things: the night his parents were killed or when he was trapped inside the underbelly of the cantina.

Overthinking didn’t work, and, unfortunately, he fell asleep.

His throat burned with need. His veins felt like they’d been dried to dust. His insides itched so terribly, he wished to claw into his skin. He thought he might go mad.

A giggle floated down the steps. From behind the barred door, Lalo could see two pairs of shiny boots. He heard hushed voices and soft kisses. The scent of warm bodies caressing slithered into his nostrils. He breathed in deeply. His mouth watered. Fangs he didn’t even realize he had sunk into his bottom lip.

A desperate, all-consuming need exploded through his system. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t hold himself back. His own consciousness retreated and let the beast win.

With a strength he’d never known, Lalo tore the door from its hinges. He lunged forward before the couple could even turn their faces toward him. He jumped onto the first person he reached, piercing the man’s neck without an ounce of grace. He drank and drank and devoured. Lalo saw the man’s life flash before him. He had a wife and child. Lalo knew he should stop, but he couldn’t. He drank until there was nothing left.

The woman screamed and bolted up the steps. Lalo jerked his fangs from the dead man’s flesh and dove after her. He burrowed into her, tasting her soul. She wasn’t this man’s wife. She had memories of her own husband mixed in with this torrid affair.

Footsteps pounded through the cantina. Hisses mixed with screams. Lalo knew there were sedientos within the throng, but he didn’t care. He had no fear. Only feverish thirst. And it was far more powerful than anything. He tore through a swarm of bodies trying to stop him. He bit and clawed and bathed in their screams until the noises ceased.

Lalo jerked awake with a gasp. He shot up, bumping his skull on the cool stone of the den. He rubbed his head as his brain frantically came to terms with where he was and how he’d gotten there. That masked girl. The scuffle. His cowardly retreat. His tumble into the cavern. This, the nightmares, the screams, the lives he had taken. They haunted him every time he closed his eyes.

He shifted and winced. The angrier woman’s scent lingered on his clothing. And it was ironically pleasant, with hints of vanilla, leather, and the soft velvet of lavender. How could a person so quick to inflict pain smell so sweet?

Lalo rubbed his hands over his face. Everything was so complicated. This new normal was quite literally the very last thing he wanted for himself.

Boring. Dull. Safe. Quiet. Those had been the things Lalo longed for in his life. And now? Well, now he was stuck in a hole after fighting off some spiteful vampiro hunter and her pan-wielding sidekick.

“Lalo!” Fernanda’s voice echoed from inside the woods. “Lalo!”

“Thank the gods,” he sighed. His body tensed. What if this was a trap? That beast of a woman might have his sister at knifepoint. If that were the case, Lalo needed to save Fernanda at once. But that killer might best him again. And then he’d have to watch the disappointment play on his sister’s features as he was slain. She’d think, why was I cursed with such a miserable brother?

He pulled himself up just enough to glance out. The light of day had subsided, and the deep blues of dusk peeked through the canopy.

“Lalo?” Fernanda’s brows were raised, surprised. She was also unaccompanied by anyone trying to murder him. Her pinched face softened with relief, and she put her hand to her heart. “Praise the saints! You’re all right.”

He was dusty and grimy and stiff from head to toe, and it felt almost as bad as being knifed by that fiend. “I spent a whole day trapped in some foxhole. I have been stabbed and assaulted with cookware. I’m hardly all right.”

Fernanda put her hands on her hips. “And I spent an entire day thinking my brother and only family was forever lost.”

Lalo’s stomach sank.

“But you aren’t. Which is fantastic, because I have the most exciting news.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!” Fernanda rushed to his side, plucked a beetle from his coat, and flung it away.

Lalo gasped in horror.

“Look.” She thrust out a letter. “It’s a special invitation for a fiesta tonight. Two young women brought it. The party is being put on by their family.”

“Two young women?” He eyed the scrawling letters written by a delicate hand.

To Se?or and Se?orita Montéz:

They had changed their surname from Villalobos to Montéz to be inconspicuous and planned to tell anyone who asked that they came from the farthest city they could find on a map, Puerto Blanco, instead of Los Campos. He didn’t know how far-reaching vampiro communication lines could travel, and he would not make it any easier for Maricela to find them.

I have recently learned of your arrival to our glorious pueblo. It is not often I come into acquaintance with new people my age and thus would love to invite you to the fiesta my family is hosting. I would be honored if you would attend as my special guests.

Warmly,

Carolina Victoria Fuentes del Rancho Fuentes

“Fuentes,” he whispered to himself. The Fuenteses. As in the founders of Del Oro.

“Oh, Lalo. She was the loveliest girl! So polite and funny, too. I imagine she has dozens of suitors. And her cousin was quite fetching.” Fernanda clapped her hands.

“When did you receive this?” He held the letter to his nose, sniffed it. His entire body went stiff. Lavender, vanilla, leather. His bones rattled. This…this was the scent still clinging to his clothing. She had visited his home.

“Carolina was certainly inquisitive,” Fernanda said, a grin warming her entire face. “She’s eighteen, you know. I suppose because she’s the mayor’s daughter, she asked so many questions about us.”

He gulped. “Like what?”

“Where we hail from. Why we ventured here. She even requested to see a portrait of you.”

The audacity. “What did you do?” he asked.

“I told her we had unfortunately lost most of our possessions in a fire. It was the first thing I could think of. I couldn’t exactly say we stole away in the middle of the night to escape a vengeful vampiress.”

That was sort of a relief. “But…”

Fernanda rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, brother. I was perfectly charming and convincing. As far as she and everyone I have spoken to thus far know, you are a scholar, and I am your younger sister and ward. Which is mostly true. Now that you are no longer operating father’s boot business, you can dedicate all your time to research. And clearly, I take care of you, but we don’t need to fuss over details.” She quirked her lips into a grin. “She seemed so curious about you, though, which was odd seeing as I was standing right there. I am far more interesting. Perhaps she’s determined to lay eyes on you before anyone else. I can’t imagine there are too many unattached men in these parts.”

“Indeed.”

“She asked me at least three times where you were. I told her you had business to attend to in the next pueblo over.”

The next pueblo over was at least a day’s ride away and surrounded by a river. A sediento could never cross the flowing waters because of the curse. Perhaps that would at least convince the daughter of the mayor that he wasn’t a monster.

“Saints, I wish you would have been there,” Fernanda said. “They were so amiable. I think we will be the best of friends. Or more. I’m not sure yet.”

“When did they come?” He suddenly had a horrified feeling she was lurking somewhere nearby, readying her blade, or her lasso.

“Perhaps an hour ago.”

He recoiled. Only an hour ago! He’d just barely missed her. She could still be in the woods now, spying. Lalo took his sister by the arm. The movement brought on a fresh wave of pain. That wretched dagger was still lodged in his shoulder.

“Come on, let’s get inside,” he said. Trying his best to not sound as frightened as he was. “I need you to help me get this thing out of my back.”

“What dress should I wear to the party?” Fernanda asked.

“We aren’t going,” he said. How could they? This young lady, this—he eyed the invitation—Carolina Victoria Fuentes, was playing with him. The fiesta was most likely a trap.

Fernanda walked beside him, nearing their casa. “You said we should speak to the locals and get information. Carolina is a good start. She seems more than knowledgeable. She said we should be careful. That the forest is full of deplorable demons.”

Lalo let out a bitter laugh.

“Do you really think I can handle being in a room with so many people?” he asked.

Fernanda pursed her lips. “Maybe we can stick some goat dung into your nostrils. That way you won’t take in everyone’s scent and want to devour them?”

“Not funny.”

His sister beamed. “I disagree.”

They moved up the steps and into the house. Lalo wanted a bath and some quiet. But how could he possibly let his guard down when there was a killer on the loose? In fact, that killer had been inside his home. He could smell her everywhere.

“We are going to the fiesta,” Fernanda said. “And that is final.”

Lalo huffed, incredulous. “I am your guardian, little sister. I say what is absolute and what is not.”

She raised her chin in defiance. “You are not the boss of me.”

He wasn’t. He knew that. He could never truly boss Fernanda around. He didn’t think there was a soul in Abundancia who could. But he wasn’t going to lose this battle.

If this Carolina was bold enough to go to his home, she was bold enough to do just about anything. They might show up to her fiesta and have stakes flung at them as soon as they entered the doorway.

No. He wouldn’t risk it. He wouldn’t put Fernanda in any more danger than she already was in. The possibility of Maricela hunting them down was terrible enough.

Carolina Fuentes might have tried to set a trap, but he was far too smart to walk into it.