The Day of the Dead Read Online Free Page A

jagged, ugly scar on his right cheek, as if someone had dragged a
fork with sharpened tines over his skin. It was the sort of thing
that could be fixed by magical healers or covered by a glamourie.
Unless, of course, its owner preferred to look like an extra from a
horror flick.
    ‘ Meet my knife and gun
club,’ Sarah said, slapping the man on the back. ‘At least the ones
close enough to get here in time for the festivities.’
    The men didn’t greet him, and nobody
offered any names, but they also didn’t demand to know what Sarah
was doing with some strange vampire. Of course, she didn’t give
them much of a chance, launching directly into an explanation of
the problem. If Tomas had had a doubt about their profession, it
would have been quieted by their reaction to the news that they
were about to raid a vampire stronghold.
    ‘ Can I keep the bones?’ the
fanatic hissed, speaking for the first time. ‘They’re useful in
some spells.’
    ‘ Knock yourself out,’ Sarah
said, shrugging. ‘But no collecting until we have Jason,
understood?’
    The man gave a quick nod that reminded
Tomas of a lizard or some other kind of reptile. It wasn’t a human
movement. The other man didn’t say anything at all, just switched
out a couple of the weapons in the collection draped over his body
for several others he drew from a pack on his back. Then everybody
got in the car.
    Tomas pulled off the road a few miles
to the north, where a burbling stream snaked its way through the
dense jungle. ‘We walk from here,’ he said, pushing the car off the
road in case any of Alejandro’s men were out a little
early.
    ‘ I don’t see a house,’
Sarah had pulled night- vision goggles out of her associate’s pack,
and was staring around.
    ‘ There isn’t one. Alejandro
lives underground.’
    ‘ Come again?’
    ‘ There are some Mayan ruins
near here, with a maze of underground passages beneath them. He’s
lived there for centuries.’
    ‘ Great.’ She sounded less
than enthused.
    ‘ What is it?’
    'Nothing. What about
guards?’
    ‘ Normally, the entrances
are all watched. That’s why I picked tonight to return. They will
be open for the hunt, as the prisoners’ first challenge is to find
their way out of the maze. Many never do.’
    ‘ We need to reach them
before they’re released, then. Otherwise, they’ll be scattered in
the tunnels, in the jungle – we’ll never find them all.’
    ‘ I thought the plan was to
rescue your brother.’
    ‘ Yeah. Like I’m going to
leave you and the rest to be prey to that thing.’
    Tomas glanced at her, but it was
difficult to see much of an expression behind the absurd goggles.
She’d sounded sincere enough, though. And he couldn’t let her go in
thinking that way.
    ‘ I know where they used to
keep the prisoners. We’ll go there first. And if we’re lucky enough
to locate your brother alive, you need to take him and
go.’
    ‘ I don’t abandon a
colleague in the middle of a mission. We go in together, we leave
together. That’s how it works.’
    ‘ Not if you want to stay
alive!’ Tomas grasped her arm. ‘I have the best chance of reaching
Alejandro alone. If you stay to help me, both you and your brother
will die. Not to mention that you will almost certainly cause me to
fail at my task.’
    She stopped, looking from the hand on
her arm to his face. He released her, but the steady stare didn’t
change. ‘If you don’t want my help, why are you taking me along?’
she demanded.
    ‘ Because you wouldn’t find
your brother alone. Not in time.’
    ‘ And why would you care
about that? You don’t even know him.’
    ‘ I might not know your
brother, but I’ve known plenty of others.’ A thousand faces, ten
thousand, he’d lost count over the years. All of those eyes begging
him to help them, to save them. They’d seen his face, the one that
had prompted Alejandro to nickname him ‘my angel,’ and assumed he
was their savior. Only to realize with horror