Carolina took his hand in hers. “We are meant to be, Lalo Villalobos.”
“Forever.”
She smiled and intertwined their fingers. “I like the sound of that.”
“Though, we should really talk about your bossiness.”
“Me? Bossy?”
They started for the clearing. They were beat up and tired but at least they had hope.
Lalo started to speak. “When we reach—”
The ground beneath them shifted suddenly. Lalo shoved Carolina back before plunging into a massive pit below.
She scrambled from her ass to her hands and knees and screamed his name. Her voice reverberated into the expanse. She leaned forward waiting for him to call out for her, but only an echo of her voice came back.
“Lalo!” she screamed again. “Lalo!”
She heard nothing.
Glowing torchlight bounced off the brambles behind her. Carolina spun around and gasped. Her father and his men had finally caught up.
From the journal of Jonathan Monroe of Santemala
A fully fed vampiro is a terrible thing to behold.
CHAPTER 47
Lalo
Bones and rocks crumbled ontop of his body as he crashed into hard earth, sealing him in a dusty tomb.
“Carolina,” he rasped, the sound less than a whisper.
She’d never hear him. Not from underneath so much rubble.
Lalo shoved at the stones crushing him. He pushed and dug and clawed his way out. As he thrust the last rock off his chest, he assessed the scene before him.
He was in a massive cavern. Limestone walls curved upward, revealing various pockets like the one he’d fallen through. Moonlight trickled in from above. If his body weren’t screaming with pain, he’d be able to scale up the stones.
“No!” he heard Carolina cry. “Leave me be!”
Her father’s shouts of anger echoed off the walls.
“Don’t touch me!” Carolina shrieked.
Gritting his teeth, Lalo tried to get up. He had to get to her.He had to explain to her father what was going on. If he could explain to Señor Fuentes what he was, could show him there was a way to end vampiros for good, then surely he’d see the amazing feats his daughter had made to save them all and he’d want to help her instead of controlling her.
He opened his mouth, ready to call after Señor Fuentes and his family when a gravelly voice cut through the darkness.
“What do we have here?”
Lalo froze.
Glowing eyes broke through the darkness. A slender figure slinked into view. He wore breeches and a simple shirt but nothing more. His black hair was pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck. If it weren’t for the blood-red irises, he might look like nothing more than a young man not much older than Lalo himself.
The vampiro knelt beside Lalo. He sniffed. “Why has one of Maricela’s children come to my lair?”
