“It was nothing, señor.”
Rafa knew what Lalo was now. The moment he woke, he’d alert everyone of what had happened, and then Lalo would be even more dead than he already was.
CHAPTER 34
Carolina
Church bells rang in thefar-off distance. Carolina ran to the windows, pulling loose the shutters. Dawn was breaking over the forest, and she hadn’t heard word of Lalo yet.
She chewed on her lip and started to pace. Something must have happened to him. She should go, saddle her stallion, and track down her family. What would they do to him if they learned what he really was? Her father would be irate. Probably angrier that he had been made a fool by having un vampiro in his own home.
Carolina stopped dead in her tracks.
Had that been why the evidence of what Alma did was kept hidden? To save face? She was a Fuentes. They ruled the valley. If word got out that one of their own had done this, what would el pueblo do? Would their neighbors turn on them? Exile them?
Horse hooves pounded through the gates. Someone callingfor help echoed through the courtyard. Carolina picked up her skirts and bolted out of her abuelo’s room. Her thighs flexed as she moved as quickly as she could down the hallway and steps.
The front door burst open just as she entered the foyer. Lalo jogged in, appearing as disheveled as she’d ever seen him before. His shirt was open wide, stained blood clung to his chest. His hands were caked with soot. He seemed haunted. Frightened.
Anguish twisted his features when his eyes met hers.
Carolina rushed to him. She grabbed his arms. “Is it my papá?”
“No.” He shook his head. “He’s fine. Your family is whole.”
“Thank the stars.” She couldn’t help herself; the relief of seeing him, of knowing they’d come home safely, overwhelmed her. She knew she shouldn’t, but she found her arms wrapping around his torso. Her cheek pressing against his bare chest even though it looked like it had been through a battle. She could see remnants of wounds healing.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again,” she whispered.
Slowly, he enfolded her and pulled their bodies tight to one another. “I didn’t know if I’d see you again either.”
His chest rose and fell for a moment. Then everything began to quiver and shake.
She pulled away, only enough to view his face. Tears of blood slithered down his dirt-covered cheeks. Carolina gasped. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward his room before anyone noticed.
When the door was shut behind them, she asked, “What the hell happened out there?”
The notch in his throat bobbed as he gulped. “My maker found me. She is here. She knows of you.”
“Of me?”
He nodded. “She…She smelled you on me.”
Heat rose up Carolina’s throat.
“Where is your maker now?”
“Rafael staked her, but she got away.” Lalo slumped. “I believe she might have overheard what he and I spoke of before she disappeared. Maricela knows what we plan to do.”
Carolina jolted. “Maricela?”
His eyes shot up. “Do you know her?”
“She was here. At the barn last night.” Carolina balked. “She was watching us. That fiend watched you and I dance under the stars. I nearly ran into her when Amá beckoned me.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve put you and your family in grave danger,” he whispered.
“You’re wrong,” she said.
