She could hear his curses. Could hear the panic in his voice.
“Hold on!” Carolina bellowed.
Something slammed hard into Carolina’s body. Her handstore 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’swrists. “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 niña 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 holdinghim captive. Lalo’s claws slashed through the air. His fangs dug into flesh. But the vampiro he faced was thrice his size.
