“You’re not tagging along just to flirt with some pretty girl.”
“I know.” Nena wrapped her arm around Carolina’s shoulder. “That’s a bonus.”
From the journal of Friar Alejandro Ibarra
Throughout the seventy-six years I have served the church, I have learned of and witnessed for myself the various famines, obstacles, and maladies inflicted on us lowly humans by the gods. But perhaps the cruelest of these impediments isthe death curse, or, as some would call it, vampirism. The creature holds the power of Tecuani in its heart but must consume human life to survive.
Vampiros aren’t merely shells thriving on Tecuani’s power alone. Their hearts still beat, their organs still work, but when one perishes, their blood turns to tar. Un vampiro must feed on fresh blood, on the essence of life to stay powerful and to keep their insides from failing.
It is my understanding that the gods wish us to retain valuable lessons through our sufferings, but I will never see why a god would raise a soul from the grave only to turn it into a monster.
CHAPTER 5
Lalo
Of all the wretched situationsLalo 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.Andhe had a knife stuck in his back. But he was safe fromher,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 inAbundancia 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 pushhimself 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 hedidtry 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 aball, 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.
