Guadalupe's Tears Read Online Free PDF

there’s’ something they want. Tell me, pretty Livvy, what could you possibly want with a big bad wolf?”
    She opened her mouth to speak and the door slammed open. The spell was broken. Bruce the bartender grabbed Livvy by the arm and hauled her out the door. Seconds later, a man was shoved through. He hit the floor at Lee’s feet.
    The door slammed shut, and Lee heard the distinct sound of the door bolt engaging the hasp. His mind riveted to the sound of scuffing boots and the scent of raw meat and blood. Lee watched his prey the way a snake regards a rat.
    The man scrambled to his feet, his face flushed, his eyes wide with fear. The man sweated like an overridden horse and to Lee’s surprise it smelled good. Really good, the same kind of good that came from smelling roasted meat cooking over an open spit.
    The cowboy crouched, his arms wide, giving Lee that one last act of defiance look that came from men who knew their time was up but wasn’t giving up without a fight. He lunged toward Lee, swinging a meaty fist at his jaw. With speed that shocked even Lee, he ducked the blow, grabbed the man by the throat and tossed him onto the floor.
    The man fought, but there was little he could do. Lee’s blood thirst kicked in and he sated it to full measure.

    ****

    I’m going to kill her, Lee decided with the same finality as he would give purchasing a horse. He rested with his back against the wall, his mind clear as he listened to Phaedra’s siren call, which was loud and strong now. His body longed to rip free from the shackles that bound him, to rush up into the mountains and spend heated nights with the red siren that unmade him. But the spark of soul that was left behind after she had taken everything away from him burned like an ember in his mind. He watched as the living came into his room and extracted the dead.
    “What is she?” he asked the day riders. “What am I?”
    The men ignored him.
    At some point he dozed again, and again he could hear Phaedra’s song. His body yearned for her, ached in a way that he never had for any woman before. He loved her. He worshiped at her altar. And when the time was right, he was going to bury her.

    ****

    He woke with a start, aware that someone else was in the room. Livvy, the slave girl, had returned. She crouched just before him and so close that he could grab her and drain her in an instant. Yet he did not. He craved other things from her, but not her blood.
    “I see you’re back, pretty Livvy.”
    She was silent for the span of several heartbeats. “Father Miguel told me once it’s a sin to make a deal with the devil,” she said, her voice soft and clear, “but I think I done my time with him.” She cast a hated glance at the door. Her hand was curled over something that she was hiding in her lap. “That old fat pig of a bartender has been rutting around on me since he bought me from Old man McKenna last spring. Massa weren’t worth a hoot in hell, as he beat me every chance he got, but at least he didn’t do what Massa Bruce did.” She cocked her head, studying him. “I figure the worst thing you can do is suck me dry like you did those mens back there, and after what I done been through that’s not such a bad thing.”
    “What do you want?” Lee heard himself ask.
    “They’s some things about this town you need to know. And some things about Phaedra you need to know too, since you’re studying on going up there on her mountain and killing her.”
    “How did you know about that?” Lee asked. “I ain’t said anything about killing anyone.”
    “Yes, you have. In your sleep.” Livvy’s teeth glistened as she smiled. The whites of her eyes caught the fading moonlight, giving her a Cheshire cat appearance. “You talk a lot in your sleep.”
    “How long have I been here?” he asked.
    “Nearly a month. Massa Bruce and Preacher Hopkins, they’s the ones who are making sure you’re kept fed and still. You’re their pet now, so they say.