“Yes!” Papá roared. “I had to learn from Rafael that you brought a devil into my home! You welcomed him in, with your little brothers, with your expecting mamá, your tías and tíos who could not defend themselves. You put our family in danger. You pretended to be his lover. For what? For what, mija?! To hurt me?”
She shook her head “No! I wanted to keep our pueblo safe from sedientos. I wanted to prove myself as a hunter but so many things got in the way.”
Carolina couldn’t deny how selfish she had been, but he had been selfish too. All the Fuenteses had been.
“I was wrong to go behind your back, Apá. And I’m sorry for that. But I am glad I did because I learned the truth.”
Her father blinked with confusion.
“The sedientos aren’t the only enemy here. They aren’t the only monsters we face.”
“What are you talking about, Carolina?” Papá asked.
“Alma Rosario Fuentes,ourancestor, is responsible for the vampiros plaguing our lands. She called the god of souls to this realm and begged him for her husband, your great-great-grandfather, back. She went against the laws of nature and struck a deal with Tecuani. He brought Vidal from the Land of Souls, but Vidal was no longer the man she loved. No longer a Fuentes. He was a monster.”
Her uncle Domingo’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Gods do not intervene in the ways of humans.”
“But they will if that human offers them something in return.”
Tío Domingo turned toward her father. “What is she talking about?”
Anger laced through Carolina. Why look to Papá when she was right here, explaining everything? Would they never believe in her?
“Vidal was created with Tecuani’s power and Alma’s blood,” she explained. “Why do you think attacks are more rampant here than anywhere else in Abundancia? Becauseshedamned us, out of desperation. She promised Tecuani her descendants’ souls. We are either made into vampiros or stuck in purgatory, never allowed out of Tecuani’s forest. Abuelo is not in el Cielo. He is trapped in the Forest of Souls.”
“Carolina, stop!” Papá ordered, but she continued.
Fiery pain shot from her head to her toes. The wound on her neck throbbed. But she couldn’t let the agony distract her from what needed to be said. “Our forefathers knew what she did but kept her secret hidden. All this time we could have sought a way to end these monsters but failed to because our forefathers would rather let people die than expose our family’s dirty sins.”
“It isn’t as simple as you think, mija, we did not know what we were facing.”
Her eyes widened. “So you knew?”
“What I knew is that I had to protect my people.”
“Yet so many still died. You didn’t see what befell primo Lorenzo. His humanity had been stripped as un vampiro. Lalo and I have come here to end what the other Fuenteses could not.” Her mouth had gone dry. Her throat desperate for drink. “We must end this, Apá.” She shoved her braid back, revealing the raw bite marks on her skin. “Or I am dead, too.”
Carolina would never forget the absolute devastation twisting her papá’s features.
“No,” he whispered. “Please, saints, no.” Tears welled in his eyes. “Not you. Not my baby girl.”
“Lalo and I can fix this. If you would just help me get to him, we can explain everything. We can—”
A roar echoed from where Lalo had fallen into the cavern below. Carolina gasped.
“Lalo!”
She shoved the men holding her and started to run back toward the fork in the forest but was caught by her papá.
Tears raced down his cheeks. His chin quivered.
“Mija, I…” His eyes roamed over her face. “I can’t lose you.”
“Apá, we must help him.”
Faintly, she thought she heard Lalo scream.
“Let me go, Apá! Please!”
