The ghostly rider took another step forward, the glow of his pale eyes flickering like embers in the dark.

  Cami felt frozen in pce, but her mind was racing. The horse wasn’t the ghost—the rider was.

  Tomás gripped her arm, his breath ragged. “Cami…”

  The girl beside them clutched her bag tightly, her little chest rising and falling in sharp, quick breaths. The foal stomped a hoof, but even she seemed too afraid to move.

  The rider tilted his head slightly, as if studying them. Then, in a voice low and hollow, he finally spoke.

  “You’ve come far enough.”

  The wind gusted through the broken hacienda, rattling the door on its hinges. A thick silence followed.

  Cami’s throat was dry, but she forced herself to speak. “Who are you?”

  The rider didn’t answer. But he took another step.

  And then—

  Tomás jerked back with a choked sound, gripping his chest.

  Cami turned sharply. “Tomás?!”

  He swayed on his feet, his face twisting in pain. Like something was pulling him.

  The ghost rider lifted a hand—and Cami saw, with a jolt of horror, that his fingers were curling into a fist.

  He was calling Tomás to him.

  “No!” Cami lunged forward, grabbing Tomás before he could colpse. His body shook with the same eerie force that had taken him before.

  The girl suddenly thrust her bag at Cami.

  “Open it!” she cried.

  Cami didn’t hesitate. She tore the fp open and reached inside.

  Her fingers brushed against something hard. Smooth. Round.

  She yanked it out—

  And nearly dropped it.

  A skull.

  Small.

  A horse’s skull.

  It was old and fragile, its surface etched with strange symbols.

  The ghost rider stilled.

  The air in the hacienda grew thick and heavy, like the whole world was holding its breath.

  The girl’s voice was barely above a whisper. “It’s his horse.”

  Cami’s blood ran ice cold.

  The rider wasn’t just haunting this pce.

  He was looking for his lost horse.

  Tomás let out a sharp breath as the invisible force holding him loosened. He slumped against Cami, his body still trembling.

  The girl looked at the rider, her voice soft but firm.

  “It’s over.” She took a shaky step forward, her hand resting against the tiny filly’s back. “Your horse is gone. She’s free.”

  The ghost rider stood motionless, his glowing eyes locked on the skull in Cami’s hands.

  Then, the ntern flickered.

  The wind howled—

  And the rider vanished.

  Gone.

  The room felt lighter, like a pressure had lifted. The night outside was still again.

  Tomás exhaled, rubbing his chest. “Dios mío…”

  Cami’s hands were still shaking as she looked at the girl. “Who are you?”

  The girl hesitated. Then, finally, she said:

  “My name is Esmeralda. And I think… I think I’m the st of the Estrel family.”

  Cami’s breath caught. The st of the Estrels.

  The family that had vanished after the fire.

  The mystery was far from over.