A lump begins to form in my throat. I stumble over the next words. Kiki’s hand seeks mine out, clutches it almost tight enough to hurt.

“They went up like kindling. I remember seeing someone through the flames. My mother, I think. She was just standing there. Watching. I rolled out quickly, but my shirt was on fire. I couldn’t put it out.”

“Ana…”

“Then somebody else ran in and threw a bucket of water on me. It was Esmeralda. She grabbed my mother by the throat and pulled her out of the room while the women tended to me. Paid for the physician out of her own pocket. I never saw my mother again. I don’t know what Esmeralda did to her or what she said, but the woman never came back. And Esmeralda let me stay. I wasn’t much good to her. I never would be. Not looking the way I did. Nobody wants a scarred whore. But she let me stay.”

“She saved your life,” Kiki says softly.

I nod, eyes riveted on the darkness. And then, I add, “I don’t want to believe she has anything to do with Rosalita going missing. She’s a bit of an asshole—”

“She did have us arrested,” Kiki mutters.

“But she cares about her girls. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt us. Them. She wouldn’t hurt them. Especially not Rosalita. She always was her favorite.”

“I’m sure she isn’t involved,” Kiki says. “And whoever it is, we’ll get to the bottom of it. I promise you.”

Kiki’s hand rises to brush the hair off my face.

I close my eyes, leaning into her touch. She sighs, inching closer to me. It’s cold in the cave, so, so cold. When her ankle hooks around mine I shiver for more reasons than that.

“We should rest,” Kiki says, her voice so soft I can hardly hear her. “Heavens knows what we’re going to find tomorrow.”

I nod, burrowing into her side.

With the storm raging outside, sleep doesn’t come easy, but eventually it does come. Kiki is right. We don’t know what tomorrow will hold. All we can do is keep looking until we find the answers we need.

CHAPTER 25

Ana

We move at first light.

The convent is nestled in the treacherous mountains outside of Potosí, protected by natural dangers provided by God’s own hand. The ground grows more perilous the higher we climb. Tornado huffs as rocks slide under his hooves. We walk in a single line for the path is too narrow to ride side by side. Behind me, Kiki swears, angry and colorful as only she can be with her learned vocabulary.

After several hours, the convent rises from the barren landscape like a mirage.