A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (25 page)

I removed the hair tie Edith had given me and combed through the little girl’s hair with my fingers. “No, thank you. We’re trying to find someone. It’s important, her name is Lucinda.”

The woman shook her head frantically and pulled her granddaughter away just as I finished fastening the hair tie. “No. No, no, no. I can’t help you.”

I pleaded with her with my palms out. “Please, she has my friend.”

Her eyes, deeply veiled with cataracts, welled with tears. “If the witch has him, your friend is already dead.”

Edith didn’t understand a lick of Spanish, but she read the woman’s resistance in her cowering stance. “Would you like me to make her talk?” Her tone sounded innocent except there was nothing innocent about her intentions.

I blocked her path. “Let her be. She’s already frightened enough.”

We abandoned the terrified woman and bolted out of the marketplace and into the street. The sun vanished from the sky. The last few stragglers hurried to their destinations as night descended like a thick cloak. The only signs of life rang from a run-down bar on the corner. Tye took a sniff just as the smell of
were
and vampire reached my nose. “How about a drink?”

Edith sashayed through the open doorway like she owned the place and the party couldn’t possibly start without her. With her tiny plaid skirt and neck-breaking boots, she’d have stood out anywhere. It didn’t take long for the bar patrons to take interest. A
were
rose from his stool and slinked his way to her. At five feet ten inches, she towered over him. He grabbed her ass. Edith grinned back with her fangs and bit his nose right off his face. The
were
collapsed on the floor with his hand over the opening, screaming and writhing. Edith spat out a chunk of skin and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She waved at the onlookers, who—funny enough—didn’t find her so appealing anymore.

The level of violence apparently wasn’t anything new. Everyone returned to their beers and conversation as Vicente Fernández blasted his sorrowful tune on the beat-up jukebox.

Humans sauntered through the mounting crowd of preternaturals, offering their bodies in exchange for a few bills. Most were teens, provocatively dressed and trying in vain to shield their bare flesh with their hands. I could smell their shame…and fear. Some were fondled for show before ultimately being shoved away. It was all I could do not to kill every male there.

One of the youngest prostitutes approached Tye. She lifted her chin and smiled to express confidence, but the indignity in her childlike face when she rubbed her body against his was as obvious as his disgust. He withdrew from her and pulled me close. “Ask her if she wants to make money.”

I stumbled over my words when a familiar scent cut through the mob. I whirled around, recognizing the lingering aroma of vampire I’d caught during my meet-and-greet with Lucinda. Tye and Edith shadowed me as I pushed my way to a vamp tucked in a corner with a young girl. The vamp teased her jugular with his tongue. Her right eye was bruised shut and she bled from the fresh scratches on her shoulders. She cringed, begging him to stop when he ruthlessly squeezed her breasts. I hauled him away from her and ripped off his shirt.

“Hey, baby,” he said in Spanish. His smile faded when I took a whiff of the cloth and scented the pale aroma of my favorite vampire.

My claws dug into his throat. “He’s been with Misha.”

My new friend must have held a leadership role. The patrons abandoned their booze and idle chatter and swarmed us. The young girls sprinted out screaming, sensing the escalating thirst for blood. I clenched the vamp’s throat tighter and shouted over their shrieks. “Get out of our way and no one will get hurt!”

They stalked forward, vicious hisses competing with lustful snarls. I didn’t like the odds and neither did Tye. “Can you
shift
us out?” he muttered.

“No. I’m blind when I
shift
and don’t know what’s beneath us.”

Edith perceived our dire situation as similar to finding a truckload of stranded virgins. She clapped excitedly. “I get to eat now, right?”

Tye roared, and everyone attacked. Chairs and beer bottles soared at my head. The moment I ducked, the vamp spun out of my grasp and jetted from the bar.

A weremule tackled me when I tried to chase after him. Michael wrenched the mule off before my fists could connect with his face. The vampires had heard Tye’s
call
. They flooded the bar, kicking ass and chowing down. I barreled my way through the mass of sweat-soaked bodies and out the door, stopping the minute I reached the cobblestone street. I closed my eyes. In the far distance, my ears tracked the quick feet of the fleeing vampire. I shot toward the sound. Vamps were outrageously fast. I was faster. Within a few minutes, I’d picked up his scent and was almost upon him.

The footsteps suddenly stopped and he disappeared. I scanned the neighborhood he’d led me to. Pathways and sidewalks separated the houses instead of streets and branched into different developments. I’d wandered into a maze, sniffing out my rat.
Where are you?

A scream from a nearby home alerted me to his presence. “Shut up,” he mumbled in Spanish.

I snuck up the concrete steps to a single-story home and peeked through a window. A terrified woman clutched a child in her lap. Five more children gathered around her, the oldest one no more than ten.

A petite little girl cried against her mother’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I let him in, Mami.”

The woman pulled her around to shield her from the vamp. “Please don’t hurt my children,” she begged. “I’ll do anything.”

“You speak again and I’ll cut their throats,” he hissed.

The woman covered her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. I took a breath to relax. If I didn’t calm I’d kill him for threatening the family. I needed him alive—well, at least long enough to find Misha.

The house rested on a small hill. It seemed solid enough so I
shifted
underground and across. My guess to where the vampire stood was slightly off. Instead of surfacing behind him like I’d planned, I popped up in front of him. I scared the crap out of everyone there, including the vamp.

He fell back into a chair. When he realized it was just tiny ol’ me he laughed. “I’m going to kill you, little bitch,” he told me in Spanish. “But first we’re going to have some fun.” He lunged at me at full vampire speed. I used his momentum to flip him over and slam him to the floor. He kipped up. I kicked him in the face and knocked him back to the floor with a second shot to his knees.

Tye leapt through the door and pinned the vamp against the wall with his forearm.

“Sorry I’m late, dovie. Is there something you’d like to ask him?”

“Where’s Misha?” I yelled at him in Spanish.

“Who?”

“The vampire Lucinda holds.”

The family gasped behind me.
“Go to hell,”
the vamp said, then spat in Tye’s face. Tye forced his fist into the vamp’s mouth, tore out his jaw, and tossed it over his shoulder.

The poor woman fainted, dropping to the floor with a loud thump. One of the older girls caught the baby before their mother rolled on top of her. I hurried to them, speaking softly. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you,” I assured them. I lifted their mother carefully in my arms. They followed me into a small bedroom, holding hands and watching me as I lay her across the bed. “Stay here with your mami,” I told them.

The girls listened. The oldest, a little boy, followed me out. “You may not want to see this,” I warned.

He jutted his chin. “I’m not afraid.”

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. He reminded me so much of Taran. I picked the vamp’s nasty jaw off the floor and passed it to Tye. “He can’t tell us anything if he can’t speak.”

“Good point.” He rammed it back in the vampire’s face. The jaw cracked and popped into place. As the muscles knitted together the little boy charged forward and staked him in the heart with a broken wooden spoon.

Tye and I gaped at him in shock. The kid sprinted toward the bathroom, but he never made it. He hurled all over the kitchen floor. I guessed he hadn’t realized how much blood would squirt before the vamp turned into ash.

Tye swore and paced the room. We’d lost our only lead. I knelt near the kid, trying to maintain my composure. “Are you all right?”

He took a few deep breaths, obviously working hard not to vomit again. “I will be once I take you to Lucinda.”

Chapter Twenty-two

My lips parted. “You know where Lucinda is?”

He nodded and reached for an old rag to clean the floor. “You’re strong,” he said.

“Yes.”

He stopped wiping. “Will you be strong enough to kill the witch if I take you to her?”

I thought about how she’d almost suffocated me with just one touch. “I don’t know.”

He threw the rag into a bucket. “But will you try? Or how about your friend?” He motioned to Tye. “Could he kill her?” He did a double take. “What is he doing?”

Tye took the ashes of the dead vamp and smeared them across the threshold. “He’s warning all supernatural predators that if they try to harm those who reside here, they’ll meet the same fate. But forget that, you’re safe. Tell me why you want Lucinda dead.”

“The witch wanted my baby sister for a sacrifice. She sent her devils to take her. She killed Papi for trying to protect her.”

The other children poked their heads out of the bedroom door. The baby watched me with huge brown eyes. “Your papi sacrificed himself so she would live,” I said quietly.

The little boy shook his head. “No. Mami was pregnant at the time. That’s my new baby sister. Lucinda got her intended sacrifice after she killed Papi.” He averted his gaze and rose to wash his hands.

So the little boy who was trying to be a man had lost both his father and infant sister. I tried my best to keep my voice soft. “What’s your name?”

“Armando.”

“I’m Celia.”

His small round face pleaded to me. “Promise me you’ll kill the witch, Celia.”

“I promise I’ll do all I can to stop her.”

Tye came to stand by me. “What did he say about Lucinda?”

We had a little talk with Armando after I explained. He insisted Lucinda’s home was in an obscure location and we wouldn’t be able to find it unless he led us there. He said his sister Conchi could look after his younger siblings as she often did when their mother worked. I didn’t want the vamps to influence him. Little minds were too fragile to mess with. So Tye left to retrieve the others when it became clear we couldn’t ditch Armando.

“Why can’t we go with him now?” Armando asked me.

“We’re sneaking you out of the house. I don’t want your neighbors to know you helped us in case things don’t go our way.”

Armando jutted his chin again. “I’m not afraid to die.”

I crouched down to face him. “You should be, Armando. I know I am.”

He frowned. “But you’re strong.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t get scared.”

I stepped out into the dirt garden where a giant mango tree expanded its thick branches over Armando’s house. I’d only been gone a day and yet I missed my family like I’d been gone a year. My first thought was to phone my sisters, but I didn’t want to risk a fight. So instead, I called Danny. The phone rang only once. He’d been waiting for my call. His voice shook and I could sense his anxiety with each word. “They know. I told them.”

A cold wash of sweat dripped down my back. “What?” I asked, although the fear pulsing through my veins told me I knew exactly what he meant.

“Aric, the Elders, your sisters—
everyone
. They all know Anara hurt you, Celia.”

My back fell against the trunk of the tree. I jerked away from it when the thick bark scratched my back. “Oh my God, Danny. You don’t realize what you’ve done! Everyone I love is in danger—”

“Celia, Anara must be stopped. He can’t get away with what he’s done to you.”

My head pounded. “How did you even manage this?”

“Heidi told me about a luncheon celebrating Anara’s new position. She let me into the Den…and I sort of interrupted the party by announcing he’s the one who attacked you.”

I was shaking so violently I could barely speak. “What…happened?”

“At first there was a deafening silence, as you might expect.” He swallowed hard. “And then Anara charged.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “How are you still alive?”

“Aric and Martin intercepted him. Don’t you see, Celia? Anara couldn’t use his
were
power there, there were too many witnesses—including your sisters. And those in attendance—Aric, Makawee, Martin—they could stop him.” He paused. “The
weres
could scent I was telling the truth, just like they knew he was lying when he denied it.”

I resumed my pacing. “What happened after that?”

“Aric went ballistic and attacked, but…”

“Oh, God—did he kill Aric?”

“No! No, of course not. There was a large explosion and Anara disappeared. Makawee and Martin issued
were
protections for all of us and now Anara is wanted by the entire North American Were Council. The whole situation is worse than we thought. The Elders are distressed and suspect he’s involved in more than just the plot against you.”

“Danny, he’s still an Elder, he still has power. He’ll come after us.”

“He can’t. Not anymore. Martin and Makawee conducted a sacred ceremony and stripped him of his Elder power. And from what Gemini says, any
were
who finds him has been ordered to kill him on sight.”

Danny expected his news to grant me the relief I’d long sought. And yet as much as I wanted to believe Anara was weakened and wouldn’t waste his time on me, I knew better. “What does Aric think…about everything?”

“No one knows. He took off soon after Anara disappeared.” Danny’s voice grew soft. “He’s gone to find you, Celia, to bring you home and keep you safe.”

My ears heard what Danny said, but my heart warned against believing him. “But Aric hates me.”

“No, honey. He loves you.”

I choked back a sob and wiped my tears with the bottom of my tank top. “Are the others with him?”