Grant us steadfastness to move through the Desert of Iniquities.
Be caring, Chipahua.
Grant us strength to climb the Mountain of Retributions.
Be understanding, Xipil.
Grant us permission to enter the gates to el Cielo.
CHAPTER 51
Lalo
Death was not what heexpected. There was no screaming of tortured souls. There was no infinite doom. The world around him was quiet, peaceful, and smelled quite a bit like dog.
He was lying flat on his back. Grasses tickled his arms. Something sniffed loudly at his side. A warm snout nudged his shoulder. When Lalo opened his eyes, he shuddered. A chupasangre was hovering over his body.
Lalo scrambled to his feet. The beast simply tilted its head like a common pup. They stood in the center of a dense forest, one so similar to the one he’d gone through with Carolina only hours ago.
“The chupasangre know you do not belong here,” a voice called from within the trees.
Lalo spun around but saw no one. “Here?” he yelled. “Where is here?”
“You are in Tecuani’s territory now. The hounds protect theLand of the Dead from the living. It is their duty to ensure only the truly departed may enter.”
“But Iamdead,” he said.
“Her blood thrums inside you. Her love will not let you go.”
“Carolina’s?” Lalo gulped. “Does this mean…”
A man and woman holding hands stepped from behind the stretching branches. He recognized them at once. Alma Rosario Fuentes, a nearly identical match to her great-great-great-granddaughter, and Vidal Fuentes, more human than Lalo thought possible. Golden light haloed the lovers’ bodies.
A cool breeze whispered about Lalo’s skin as dozens of men and women slipped from behind the trees. He had seen many of these faces in the portraits hanging within the Fuentes casa. He was among Carolina’s ancestors.
Chills rippled over his skin when a woman with red hair stepped through the throng. She was in a simple garment of black linen, something he would have seen people in el pueblo wearing decades ago.
“M-Maricela? What are you doing here?”
“I lost my way. There were so many voices, so many thoughts running through my mind from the lives I stole, I had all but forgotten who I was. Who my family was. I am sorry, Lalo. I…” She shook her head.
“You are a Fuentes,” he whispered as he noticed the likeness among the relatives.
She looked at her hands and nodded.
He gazed at the faces surrounding him and saw so much of Carolina within them. His heart ached for his vampiro hunter.
He folded his arms against himself. “What does this mean?”
“That is up to you,” Alma said. “You may cut the ties that bindyou to Carolina. Your heart will stop, and the chupasangre will bring you to Tecuani’s throne. He will decide if you may enter the Land of the Dead, where you will ultimately discover the gates to el Cielo. There, you will find nothing but peace and comfort.”
He shifted his weight. His parents would be there. He would find the quiet and serenity that he always wanted. But that had been before he met Carolina Victoria Fuentes.
“Or,” Vidal said, “you can climb through the veil and truly live.”
Lalo stared at the ground. The crack between this world and that of the living was little more than a glistening vein in the soil.
“You must hurry,” Alma urged. “Make your choice before Tecuani knows you have come, and it is too late. Stay here and find the harmony you once longed for or go back and experience a life full of dangers and joy.”
