"The Day of the Dead"

**"The Day of the Dead"** — Short story from the **Cassandra Palmer series #3.1** Featuring the Vampire, Tomas.

## Synopsis

Tomas is a four hundred year old vampire obsessed with one thing: taking out Alejandro, his mass murdering bastard of a master. In “The Day of the Dead,” he returns to Mexico to contront his nemesis, and finds unexpected help in the form of a band of magical mercenaries. Think the A-Team with spells and potions instead of (well, actually in addition to) guns and knives and things that go boom. It makes for a lot of mayhem down Mexico way, but will it be enough? ~ Take A Chance: Books

Read the story online for free, just click  here (free download) or here (free read online). Warning: This story contains spoilers for the Cassandra Palmer novels Touch the Dark and Claimed by Shadow.

## Description

“The Day of the Dead” features Tomas, a character from the Cassandra Palmer novels, who was last seen cooling his heels in Faerie. He’ll show up again in the series, but what about in the meantime? What does a powerful, four-hundred-year-old vampire with a serious grudge against his old mass murdering master to do when he suddenly finds himself with too much time on his hands? Hang around Faerie, where there’s nothing to eat (Fey blood=nasty) just because our intrepid heroine parked him there?

Uh, no. Not so much.

Because Tomas is obsessed, and has been for pretty much his whole existence, with one thing: taking out Alejandro, the aforementioned murdering bastard. In “The Day of the Dead,” he slips back into our world to confront his nemesis, only to find unexpected help in the form of a band of magical mercenaries. Think the A-Team with spells and potions instead of (well, actually in addition to) guns and knives and things that go boom. It makes for a lot of mayhem down Mexico way.

NOTE: “The Day of the Dead” is a short story connected to the New York Times bestselling Cassandra Palmer series of urban fantasy novels. It was first published in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (2008) and is now being offered as a free ebook. It features Tomas, a character from Touch the Dark (2006), the first Cassandra Palmer novel. ~ Goodreads | "The Day of the Dead" (Cassandra Palmer, #3.1)

## Full Summary

Tomas goes to a village in Peru to kill Alejandro, his former master on the Day of the Dead—the night that Alejandro forces people to be hunted by his vampires though mazes and other obstacles, including a thick raw jungle. He teams up with Sarah Lee, a Jinx and her team of mercenaries, Fanatic and Forkface, searching for her brother, Jason Lee who was kidnapped by Alejandro to be one of the hunted.

They make their way into Alejandro's lair and eventually into his audience chamber where hundreds of victims were coraled. And, where Alejandro was trying to make three Necromancers, Jason included, turn the humans into zombies to create an army fully under his control. Tomas attempts to challenge Alejandro, not only to kill him as he dreamed of doing for centuries, but also as a distraction allowing Sarah and team to rescue Jason and the others. After a valiant effort, Tomas falls to an axe in is spine—just as Alejandro is about to finish him, Tomas looks up to see one of the Ancient Inca Kings take Alejandro from behind and drain him. After getting the others out and leaving, Sarah offers Tomas a job. He could take over Alejandro's And, in time, just like Alejandro. and claim to be the new head of the Latin American Senate. He takes the job.

## El Día de la Muertos—Day of the Dead

In many such villages, families stayed all night at the graves of their dead, waiting to welcome the spirits that returned to partake of their offerings. But not in the one in the village.

A vampire named Alejandro, had been organizing hunts on the Day of the Dead for as long as Tomas had known him. While families across Mexico were busily collecting delicacies for the dead – chocolate for mole, fresh eggs for the pan de muerto, cigarettes and mescal – Alejandro was collecting treats of his own. Strong, smart, cunning – they’d all had some advantage that made them attractive prey. Assembled together, they were always told the same thing: last until morning or escape beyond the borders of Alejandro’s lands and win your freedom. They were given flashlights, weapons and maps showing the extent of the ten-mile square area he claimed. Then, at midnight, they were released. — No one ever lived to see dawn.

Alejandro collected a variety of participants over the centuriesBut he left the magic users alone so as not to bring the Silver Circle down on them.
~ The Day of the Dead - read online free

## **World-Building**: Characters, Groups, Supe Elements, Places, etc.

**Setting**

* 500-year-old village near Cuzco in Peru—on El Día de la Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. The village looked much the same as it had for the last three millennia. Many of its people could trace their ancestry back to the days when the Mayan Empire sent tax collectors here.

**Characters**:

* **Tomas**: Vampire, Cassie's former roommate. Hiding in Faerie from his Master Louis-Cesare.
* **Sarah Lee**: a **Jinx**—a young woman looking for her missing brother
* **Alejandro**: Master Vampire,
* **Jason Lee**: Sarah's missing brother Jason who's a reporter for The Oracle, he's also a Necromancer.
* '**Fanatic '**: tall, gaunt man, with eyes of a fanatic set deep in a craggy face—uses bones for spells. He can make a **silence shield** using bones.
* **Forkface'**: a mage who used magic to mask his breath, the sound of his heart beating, his footfalls. He didn’t look like a mage. He had a jagged, ugly scar on his right cheek, as if someone had dragged a fork with sharpened tines over his skin. It could have been covered by glamourie unless he preferred to look like an extra from a horror flick. — He has a belt and a backpack full of potions and magical weapons.
* **Rico and Miguel**: two thugs in the employ of Alejandro. The bartender brought Sharah to them to barter for his nephew's safety—telling them she is a witch.
* **Cassandra Palmer** — Tomas' former rommate
* **Alcazar**; Bar regular—burst in the bar claiming her was followed by something from the cemetery where he was visiting his wife, Elia’s, grave. He has a daughter.
* **Consuela**; Alcazar'a woman, ran off with some wealthy bastard
* **Paolo**; busboy in cantina
* **Bartender**: Takes Sarah to the church to find her brother. He meets Alejandro's vampires, Rico and Miguel, then tries to barter her for his nephew's safety. His unconscious body get thrown off a cliff during an earthquake.

**Supe Elements**:

* **Jinx**: Mage with unredictable powers that can cause anything to go wrong at any time.
* **Necromancers**: Mages that can animate the dead—make zombies.
* **Mummies**: mumified bodies of ancient Inca kings that Alejandro acquired them as trophies shortly after following Pizarro to the New World (in Peru), and brought to his permanent residence in Mexico.
* **Zombies**: dead bodies animated by Necromancers
* **Magic**: Silence Shield, Shadow spell,
* **Vampires**:
* **Master Vampire**:
* **Mages**:

**Groups & Organizations**:

* **The Oracle**: paper  for the magical community—that Jason Lee works for.
* **Vampire Senate**:

**Places**:

* **Faerie**:
* **Oaxaca**: mountain range behind the village.

**Objects**:

### **Glossary**:

* **La Calaca**: statue of The skeleton lady was holding a placard with her usual warning

## First Sentence

* “I’m looking for my brother,” the girl repeated, for the third time.

## Next & Previous Books

* **Next Book**: Curse the Dawn
* **Previous Book**: Embrace the Night
* **Next Short**: "Rogue Elements", CP #3.1
* **Previous Short**: "Buying Trouble"
* **Previous Book (Cassie's World)**: Midnight's Daughter

## See Also

* **Full Reading Order List**
* Dorina Basarab series
* Cassandra Palmer series
* Karen Chance

## External Links

**Links related to this book**:

* The Day of the Dead (Cassandra Palmer #3.1) **read online** free by Karen Chance
* Smashwords – "The Day of the Dead", by Karen Chance
* Take A Chance: Free Stories (Free Download)
* Take A Chance: Books
* The Day of the Dead (Cassandra Palmer) - Shelfari
* Goodreads | "The Day of the Dead" (Cassandra Palmer, #3.1) by Karen Chance

**Content Refs**:

* Day of the Dead - Wikipedia
* Day Of The Dead / El Dia De Los Muertos from MexOnline.com
* Maya civilization - Wikipedia
* Maya - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com
* Guadalajara - Wikipedia
* Peru - Wikipedia
* The Difference Between The Aztec, Maya, Inca, And Olmec - KnowledgeNuts
* Calaca - Wikipedia

**General links**:

* Cassandra Palmer series - Urban Fantasy Wiki
* Take A Chance: Gallery ~ Author, all books
* Cassandra Palmer Series ~ Shelfari
* The Cassandra Palmer series - Wikipedia