Esmeralda’s words hung in the air, heavier than the lingering ghost that had just vanished.

  Cami stared at her, mind racing. The st of the Estrel family?

  Tomás shifted beside her, still pale. “That’s impossible. The Estrels vanished decades ago.”

  Esmeralda’s dark eyes flickered toward him. “Not all of us.” She hesitated. “At least… not right away.”

  A shiver ran down Cami’s spine. “What do you mean?”

  Esmeralda’s fingers tightened in the filly’s mane. The little horse nickered softly, pressing against her.

  “There was a fire,” Esmeralda said, voice quiet. “Everyone knows that part. But what they don’t know is… it didn’t start on its own.”

  The words sent a chill through the room.

  Tomás shifted, frowning. “Are you saying—?”

  “It was set on purpose,” Esmeralda interrupted, her voice firm. “Someone wanted the Estrel family gone.”

  Cami’s heart thudded. “But why?”

  Esmeralda hesitated, her gaze flicking to the old skull in Cami’s hands.

  “It started with the horses.”

  A gust of wind rattled the broken windows.

  “The Estrels weren’t just breeders,” Esmeralda continued. “They had something special. Horses unlike any others.” She reached out, running her hand down the filly’s silvery neck.

  Cami felt a jolt of realization.

  “The Pampalosas.”

  Esmeralda nodded. “They were rare. Too rare. And there were people who didn’t like that the Estrels were the only ones who had them.”

  Cami and Tomás exchanged a look.

  “You think someone burned the ranch down… to destroy the bloodline?” Tomás asked.

  Esmeralda’s jaw tightened. “I don’t think it. I know it.”

  Silence.

  Outside, Luna Brava shifted restlessly, as if she, too, could feel the weight of the truth.

  Cami swallowed hard. “And you? How did you survive?”

  Esmeralda lowered her gaze. “I didn’t.”

  The words were so quiet, Cami almost didn’t hear them. But when she did, her breath hitched.

  Tomás stiffened. “What?”

  Esmeralda lifted her head. “I didn’t survive the fire,” she repeated. Her eyes darkened, and in the ntern light, her skin looked almost translucent.

  A second ghost.

  Cami felt her stomach drop.

  Esmeralda wasn’t just the st of the Estrel family.

  She was one of its lost souls.