“It’s Fabiola!” Jorge yelled.
Lalo had heard that name earlier. She was one of the young women batting her lashes at him when he entered the barn.
“You bastard!” Jorge roared. He took aim.
Lalo’s horse shifted, and he could see the vile scene. Fabiola dangled limp in a large man’s arms. Even in the moonlight, the ashen tone of her skin was clear. Blood oozed from bite marks on her neck and wrists. And what was left over—the blood the sediento could not drink—dripped at his feet.
A blast rang out as Jorge pulled the trigger. Smoke filled the air. In the second it took for it to clear, the sediento had disappeared, leaving the woman in a heap on the ground. Jorge andhis horse plunged into the forest after him. His father, Vicente, and his steed right behind.
“Check on the girl!” Señor Fuentes ordered Lalo before crashing into the woods.
“What? No! I’ll come too.” But Lalo was already abandoned.
He managed to bring his mount to a halt. His eyes jerked from left to right, hunting for any signs of the sediento. Everything was quiet. Lalo threw his leg over the saddle and ran toward the poor young woman, holding a bandanna over his nose and mouth to keep the scent away. Even still, his stomach squeezed. His body thrummed with thirst.
If he could have one drop. One tiny taste.
He shook his head.
“Why did he put me in charge of this?” he mumbled through the cloth.
Lalo shouldn’t even be there. He should have refused. He should have said he was still ill.Anything.But no. He wanted to match Rafael in machismo. Look where that got him.
He bent down, doing his best not to breathe. “Señorita?” He gulped. “Fabiola?”
With a single finger, he prodded her, so her face was angled to him. He reared back, falling on his ass. Her eyes were moon white. Her mouth open in shock. Multiple bite marks bruised her skin, but there was nothing there. Not a hint of life. Not a sliver of asoul.
“Damn you,” Lalo cursed the foul monster who did this. “Damn you!”
“But we are already damned,” a slithering voice whispered from behind.
Lalo jumped to his feet and spun around. He recognized that voice instantly. How could he ever forget it?
“Maricela,” Lalo growled, clenching his fists at his sides.
“Don’t you mean ‘Mother’?” The beast haunting his nightmares smiled, revealing fangs stained red.
Faster than Lalo could even think, Maricela was on him, slamming him hard into a large oak. He grunted in pain.
“You killed your siblings, then tarnished my business,” the sediento said, her breath tainted with memories of a life taken too soon. “For weeks I trailed only days behind you. My time was not wasted, though.” One of her sharp nails dug into his cheek. “Every minute of my journey, I thought of the most excruciatingly delicious ways to end you.”
“How did you find me?” he rasped.
“You aren’t as clever as you think. I drank your memories. I know all. When I returned to my cantina the night after you slaughtered my children and their guests, I searched through every thought I had taken. I saw what you read in your little books and scribbles about this valley. I knew you’d never do the smart thing and run. Though your mind is rational, your heart is too pure. Too attached to the people you care for. I knew you’d do whatever was necessary to save your sister. I suppose I should thank you, for bringing me back.”
“You have come upon a valley of hunters. They will not let you live, Maricela.”
“And yet I have already walked among them. Spoken with them.” The sediento laughed. “I believe I will find my new friend Carolina first. Then I will snatch your sister and rip out her throat. Purely for my own amusement.”
Rage roared to life inside Lalo. He fought against Maricela,but she only dug him deeper into the bark. “Tell me—does Carolina taste as good as she smells?”
Lalo growled, low and predatorial. She had taken his parents from him, had ruined his entire life.
“You will not touch a hair on the head of anyone I love ever again.”
“Love?” Maricela raised a brow. “This makes things much more entertaining.”
Using what he’d learned from Carolina, Lalo kneed Maricela hard in the groin. A shocked gasp escaped her, and Lalo attacked. He pounced on the sediento. The two tumbled into the dirt. They both hissed and snapped and dragged their claws across each other’s bodies. But she was far too strong. She had fed off human life; her body was thrumming with power from a bounty of essences. Maricela pinned Lalo to the ground and Lalo bellowed as claws ripped into his torso. He felt his flesh tear open. Felt his ribs crack. The sediento was going for his heart. And the agony was unbearable.
