“Relax,” she said.
“Thisisme relaxed.”
Carolina smiled. She placed her hands on his shoulders. Lalo’s eyes widened. Before he could say anything, she shook him hard.
“What in the…”
She laughed. “I’m trying to loosen you up.” She grasped his waist and twisted his hips. “You’re as stiff as the target board.” She wiggled him around until Lalo was smiling too. And, stars, what a smile it was.
“I think I am quite loose now,” he said.
Feeling a bit smug, Carolina plopped the first dagger into his palm. These blades were forged from steel not obsidian, so he could handle them with ease. “Throw this at the center of the board.”
Lalo sighed.“I am not a man built for fighting but a man built for love.”
Carolina scoffed. “That is the very worst line Pío Parra ever wrote.”
His brows raised. “You think so?”
“I know so. To love is to fight. You must fight for love every day. Don’t you agree?”
He pursed his lips. “I suppose you are right.”
She cupped her ear. “Say that again.”
Lalo huffed. “I don’t think your ego needs the encouragement.”
He raised the blade and chucked it at the board. The dagger thumped on the wood and bounced into the dirt.
“I can already see the problem.” She placed another dagger into his hand. When he gripped it, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist and pressed her body against his. “When you get to about here…” She moved his arm parallel to his eye level. “You release the blade. Do not flick your wrist. Just open your hand and let the dagger do the rest.”
“That seems easy enough.”
“It isn’t. But if you practice a million more times, you might actually hit your target.”
He chuckled. “I’m not so sure we have that kind of time.”
“Perhaps not. But you have the speed and strength of a god thrumming through you. Surely that gives you a bit of an advantage. Focus in on how your body feels. Use those unnatural instincts.” Carolina released her hold on him and backed away. “Give it a try.”
Lalo did as he was told, he let himself tune into the power that he tried to hold at bay. He released the dagger. It sank into the very top of the board. It wasn’t a bullseye, but at least it held.
She clapped. “Well done. Now do it again.”
“Carolina!” one of the twins yelled from a distance.
“Carolina, you need to come help with decorations!” the other added.
She puffed. “I have to go.” She patted Lalo’s arm. “Keep practicing. I will tell my mamá to excuse you from lunch on account of your feeling unwell. I’ll return as soon as I can. There’s much to discuss before the fiesta tonight.”
He nodded numbly, then balked. “The what?”
From the diary of Señora Llanos (town gossip)
The Fuenteses are a pious and integrous lot. It would be any mother’s delight to see their child marry into the family. Why, my dear niece expects an offer of marriage any day now from Rufino’s boy. They would make a handsome couple indeed.
But I told my Nacho one day, I said, “Nacho, even the best of families has secrets they wish would stay buried.”
CHAPTER 29
