“I’m sorry about your parents, too,” she said softly.
His vision blurred. He blinked, and a tear ran down his cheek. Lalo swiped it away. His eyes snagged on the inky moisture staining his fingers. His jaw dropped.
Blood. He’d cried blood.
Frantically, he rubbed away the gore. He couldn’t let her see him like this. He couldn’t be a reminder of the very beasts that had taken her beloved abuelo.
Carolina started to pull away, but he held her tightly to his chest.
“Lalo?” she mumbled into his shirt.
He didn’t let go until he believed he’d cleaned off the mess. When she slipped from him, he immediately missed the feel of her.
She laughed shyly and brushed at the tears drying on her face. “I feel rather foolish.”
“Don’t,” he said. “Never be embarrassed about anything when it comes to me.”
Carolina smirked. “I’ll remember that.”
A rooster crowed from somewhere in the distance. Her gaze went to the skies.
“We should go,” she said. “Dawn is coming, and the clouds have gone.”
“I’ll escort you home.”
CHAPTER 24
Carolina
Carolina’s mind reeled with moreand more questions the entire ride back from Orilla del Río. What had Alma done? More importantly, what were the exact terms of the deal she had made with Tecuani?
Her mind scoured over what she knew of the day Alma’s body was found. The Fuentes familia had been the ones to lead the charge into the forest. They found her on a trail they’d crossed a few days prior. Her skin was ghostly pale. Her eyes had rolled back in her head. She appeared emaciated.
They covered her in veils and flowers as was the tradition then. But on the second day of mourning, Alma awoke. Her eyes were blood-red, and she had fangs and claws. Un diablo had taken her place, or so they thought.
Lalo said Tecuani was a trickster. Perhaps bringing back her lover only to have him kill her had been the god’s cruel joke.
“Shit,” she said, shaking her head.
Her great-great-great-grandmother accidently created the first vampiro in Abundancia.
The sun was cresting over Basilio’s Point. Carolina shouldn’t have stayed near the grave for so long. But she and Lalo had to cover the empty coffin back up. She’d told him to run back to his home as soon as she thought they’d be safe to check on Fernanda.
Carolina pressed her legs into her horse’s body, urging him to move faster. Her family would be too busy hunting sedientos to worry over her. But Luz Elena was always sneaking about.
She rounded the bend of granite that stood as a marker she was nearing home. She needed to get through the cattle grounds unseen and then she could slink in through the rear of the hacienda.
Something massive cut right in front of her. Guapo reared up so suddenly, Carolina had no time to correct herself. Her hold on the reins faltered, and she tumbled back through the air. She landed hard on her bottom, her palms scraping over dirt and pointy shrubs.
Ignoring the stinging nipping at her hands, Carolina unsheathed the first weapon she could reach, the blade from the grave, and clambered to her feet. But a sword was already waiting for her. The point of it landing on her shoulder.
“What. Are. You. Doing?”
Carolina’s stomach dropped to her knees. The voice dripping with fury was her papá’s. His face was red. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen.
“Where have you been? Where? Where, mija?”
“I…” She couldn’t tell him the truth. Not all of it, at least. “I went to hunt for the sediento who killed our men.”
