Estello turned to Richard and Jack with that cryptic glint in his eye. "Come on. There's someone I want you to meet."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "This one of your spirit friends?"
"Not quite," Estello said. "But close enough. And you'll keep this quiet, yeah? No records, no chatter. Promise me that."
Richard nodded. Jack muttered, "Yeah, sure. Secret grandpa quests are our thing now."
They followed Estello as he took a narrow path through the side of the warehouse, past the flickering remnants of ritual candles and toward the far edge of the village. It was quieter here. Humid. The air smelled of damp wood and distant rain.
They stopped in front of a small wooden house tucked beneath the shade of a massive balete tree. From the outside, it looked nothing special—simple, lived-in, old. Faded curtains. Potted plants. A tin roof half-swallowed by moss. The kind of place you'd pass without a second thought.
But Richard… he felt it.