“Look away, Lupita,” I say. Her eyes are wide, and her shoulders shake. I turn her head against my chest and pull her close, then bury my face in her hair. “You should not see this.”

“She is a horse no man can catch, galloping across the desert,” Zito says. “She is—” He screams again.

“Pack everything up, we move out now,” the Perdito says.

“Cut his throat,” comes the animagus’ slippery voice, and his preternatural calm is more chilling than all the rage in the world.

“Do it yourself, Chato,” the Perdito leader answers. “Use him to work your blood magic. But someone was with him, so I suggest you make quick work of it before Paxón’s men hunt us down.”

I dare to peek from the cave’s entrance. The Perdito gestures to the others to leave.

The animagus hisses, catlike, and the sound is so wild and inhuman that I shrink against the rock wall at my back. “The leash holding back the spring must be renewed daily,” he says. “All our work is wasted if we leave now. The land will heal itself quickly.”

“And all our work is wasted if we’re dead,” the Perdito says. Then he and his men melt into the jungle, opposite the direction of Khelia Castle.

The animagus glares after them a moment, then prods Zito with the end of his staff. My steward groans and twitches, and relief fills me.

I scramble backward, dragging Lupita with me. “Are you sneaky?” I whisper. “Are you fast?”

“Yes,” she answers uncertainly.

“Espiritu is dead, and the bad men have gone away, all but that one. We cannot let him escape. I need you to run back to the castle and tell everyone.”

She shakes her head. I understand her fear, but she must do this. I reach for her arm and give what I hope is a reassuring squeeze.

“You can sneak down on the shadowed side, hiding between the rocks. And then you must race back to the castle and tell your tía Calla everything.”

“I’m scared.”

“Of course you are. So am I. And Lady Calla is scared for you too. And your grandmother and grandfather. But I cannot run back to the castle, not with my ankle. You’re the only one who can do this. You must save your aunt by warning her about the Perditos.”

I should hate myself for manipulating her this way, but I don’t. I watch carefully as the fear on her face transmutes into something else. It’s that same steely look Elisa gets when I’m about to scold her.

Not sullenness, I understand suddenly. Bravery.