ELEVEN

“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Maritza said as she and Yadriel hurried to keep up with Julian. Donatello and Michelangelo trotted along happily on either side of her, as if nothing had happened.

“Not funny.” Humiliation and guilt warred in Yadriel, but he was also pissed at Julian. His emotional outburst didn’t sit right with Yadriel. Yelling and getting mad was one thing, but acting out violently was a whole other beast.

Julian refused to slow down or wait, causing Yadriel and Maritza to chase after him through the streets. A line of sweat trickled down Yadriel’s spine under his hoodie. October in Los Angeles was not cool enough, and his binder wouldn’t let him breathe deep enough for this.

They crossed the street to the iron gate of the cemetery. He didn’t need Julian storming in and attracting the attention of the brujx and the other spirits.

Yadriel jogged forward, catching up to Julian’s pace. “Hey!” he called ahead. “What kind of machismo bullshit was that?”

He was angry, and Julian’s outburst had scared him, which only made him more angry.

Julian turned so abruptly, Yadriel reeled back a step.

“You were going to tell them I’m dead!” he fumed, teeth bared. Cold wind whipped around him, sending his jacket flapping against his sides.

Yadriel stood his ground under Julian’s lethal stare. Even though instinct told him to back away. “No, I wasn’t!” he shot back, trying to channel as much fierceness as he could.

Julian’s laugh was sharp, his grin sarcastic and untrusting.

It got under Yadriel’s skin, which was probably the point. It took every bit of patience he had left to not lash out in return. “You told me not to tell them, so I didn’t.”

He met Julian’s glare defiantly. “I wouldn’t,” he emphasized.

Julian’s snarl wavered for a moment. His stare was intense, questioning, and calculating.

Yadriel met it unflinchingly. “I don’t out people,” he told him.

Slowly, the harsh lines of Julian’s expression began to melt. The wind calmed. The chill in the air ebbed. It was Julian who looked away first.

The tension in Yadriel’s shoulders relaxed.

For a long moment, Julian stared out at where the sun had set behind the rolling hills.

In the back of his mind, Yadriel knew it would be dark soon. If they didn’t get moving, he’d be in trouble with Lita and his dad. But, right now, there were more important matters at hand than missing curfew.

“I just wanted to give them a clean break,” Julian said quietly.

Yadriel didn’t think that was possible. He didn’t see how anyone could get a clean break from Julian once they entered his orbit.

Himself included.

Yadriel studied Julian’s profile. The worry in his brow, his strong nose, and the stubborn curve of his chin. His cheeks were flushed, the muscles of his jaw working. The waning light washed everything in cool pastels. It was like Julian had been painted against the city in shades of silvery blue. A watery reflection.

He was a bit of an ass. Headstrong, impulsive, and definitely obnoxious. But Yadriel could see how ferociously he cared about the people who were important to him. He believed Julian would die for his friends.

He probably had.

“I know you don’t want to hurt your friends,” Yadriel said, in a gentler tone this time. “Or your brother.” Julian glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. “But this isn’t just about you anymore.”

Julian looked ready to argue, so Yadriel hurried on before he got the chance.

“You were attacked last night, and whoever did it killed you; we know that much. But then you—your body—completely vanished, without a trace,” he explained. “A couple of hours after that, Miguel died, and now we can’t find him, either.”

At first, he hadn’t put the pieces together. Not until they talked to Julian’s friends and they told him what Julian couldn’t remember, or didn’t know. They filled in the gaps, and the picture being painted was frightening.

“Miguel was supposed to be patrolling the cemetery, and we found your necklace in the cemetery,” Yadriel stressed, pulling out the St. Jude pendant from under the neck of his hoodie.

Julian’s attention went right to it, eyebrows tipping. His fingers went to his own neck, as if yearning to have it back.

“That can’t be just a coincidence. Whatever happened to you probably happened to Miguel, too.” Yadriel sighed, his hand falling back to his side. “There’s something bigger going on here, but I don’t know what.”

He hesitated, anticipating Julian’s reaction before he could even get the words out. “If we could just go to your place—”

“I don’t want to go see my brother,” Julian snapped.

Fatigue and frustration flared. “I know, but—”

Maritza stepped forward. “If we could get one of your shirts or something, we could try tracking your body down,” she suggested with a small lift of her shoulder. “I mean, Donatello and Michelangelo didn’t pass the tracker test, but it’s all we’ve got to work with.”

Julian looked between her and the dogs, not seeming the least bit convinced.

Yadriel, on the other hand, had hope. “We could give it to them and go back to where you got jumped,” he said. “They could pick up the scent and lead us to your body, and maybe Miguel’s, too.” It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was at least somewhere to start. And it was better than standing around doing nothing.

He tried again. “If we could just talk to Rio for a second—”

Julian growled, looking just as irritated as Yadriel felt. “I don’t—”

“We could ask if he’s heard anything. Maybe the police did find your body and contacted him,” Yadriel continued. “While we’re there distracting him, you could grab something of yours for the dogs to get your scent. I mean, you’ve been practicing your haunting skills, right?” he pointed out, thinking back to the mess Julian had created in his room.

Julian leaned his head back and made a noise of frustration up at the cobalt-tinted clouds.

Yadriel took him not immediately arguing as a good sign. Maybe he could be reasoned with. “Look, I know all you cared about was making sure your friends were okay,” he told him. “But they could be in danger, too.”

Julian tensed.

“Whatever happened to you probably happened to Miguel and those missing kids.” All these connections couldn’t possibly be sheer coincidence. “And if we don’t figure out who did it, they might go after your friends next.”

That got his attention.

Yadriel could see the panic rising. How Julian’s hands tightened into fists at his sides. How his eyes flitted around like he was trying to think of an alternative plan.

Yadriel didn’t know what to do if Julian said no. This was more than just proving he was a brujo. It was much bigger than that. He wanted to find Miguel and help him. He wanted to help the others. He didn’t want Julian to be complacent about the fact that he’d been murdered. Whoever did this to Julian and Miguel, Yadriel refused to let them get away with it.

“We need your help,” Yadriel said. “I need your help.” He leaned in, trying to catch Julian’s eyes.

Julian turned. His brow wrinkled as he pressed his lips between his teeth.

“Please, Jules.”

Julian flinched, but then his shoulders slumped in defeat. Hope leaped in Yadriel’s heart when Julian’s lips parted. “I—”

“I’ll help you,” someone called.

Yadriel, Julian, and Maritza all jerked to turn toward the voice.

A boy in a large olive green sweater stood across the street, a skateboard tucked under his arm.

“Uh-oh,” Maritza murmured.

Yeah. This was a big “uh-oh.”

Julian’s shoulders slumped. “Luca, you idiot,” he said as the boy crossed the road and perched on the edge of the curb.

“Hey…” Yadriel trailed off awkwardly. How much had he heard?

“I’ll help you guys,” Luca repeated. He didn’t look freaked out, or even upset. He looked more curious than anything.

Maritza and Yadriel exchanged looks.

“What is he doing here?” Julian scowled, pacing back and forth in front of Luca. “He shouldn’t have come all this way on his own.”

“Look, whatever happened back there was kinda … weird,” Luca said, a nervous laugh bubbling past his lips.

“We really didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Yadriel said, because it was true and he felt like he owed an explanation.

“I want to help,” Luca offered again, shifting his grip on his stateboard as his eyes kept dashing back to Donatello and Michelangelo.

Jules groaned and dragged his hand over his face.

Maritza gave Yadriel a surprised look.

“You … do?” Yadriel was going to keep his word to Julian, so he wasn’t going to offer up any information without knowing what exactly Luca meant, or how much he knew. Or guessed.

Luca bobbed his head yes, a ghost of a smile playing across his lips as he watched Donatello wiggle at the attention.

“See? This! This is your problem, Luca!” Julian barked, throwing his hands up.

“Is Jules dead?”

He asked it so suddenly, and so casually, it left Yadriel speechless and staring.

“I’m not sure I believe in ghosts,” Luca admitted.

“Christ,” Julian groaned.

“But the skateboard.” Luca scratched the back of his head. “Jules has kind of a quick temper.”

“No kidding,” Maritza grumbled under her breath.

Julian huffed and tugged his hood over his head.

Luca gave them an apologetic smile. “He doesn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

Julian glowered, heavy brow pulled down over his dark eyes, but Luca seemed to be thawing his anger.

“But when he gets mad, he’ll throw it like that, y’know? It was really freaky.” He lifted his bony shoulders in a shrug. “Plus, you guys were talking to like, nothing.” Luca gestured vaguely. “So either you’re both crazy, or Julian’s dead,” he guessed. “And you guys can see him?”

Maritza looked to Yadriel, but he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he looked to Julian. He wasn’t going to say anything without his permission.

Luca followed his gaze, searching the air and tilting his head, as if he just needed the right light to see Julian standing there.

Julian’s eyes were hidden under the hood of his jacket. Yadriel couldn’t read his expression, but he could see his jaw was clenched. After a moment, he gave a curt nod. “Okay,” he said. “Tell him.”

Yadriel swallowed, trying to find his voice through the tightness of his throat. “Yes,” he said.

He regretted it immediately.

Luca’s expression wavered between surprise and sadness. “I thought so,” he said, sniffing as his large eyes started to glisten in the waning twilight. Luca tried to smile, but his chin wobbled. “Julian wouldn’t have just left us without a reason, he wouldn’t—” He cut himself off, rubbing at his forehead.

Yadriel felt Luca’s grief, rolling off him and hitting him in the stomach.

Julian stood there, body rigid and expression still hidden.

Yadriel tried to come up with something to say that would offer the smaller boy comfort. What would his mom say if she were here?

“Luca—” he started gently, but Luca didn’t let him finish.

“Yeah, see, there’s no way Rio will see you on your own.” Luca rubbed his nose on his sleeve, drawing Yadriel’s attention back to the bruise. “He doesn’t like strangers, doesn’t trust people—kind of like Omar, but worse.”

Yadriel wasn’t sure that was possible.

“But if I’m with you, he’ll at least let you in the door,” Luca explained.

Julian crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “You little traitor…,” he said, but it lacked heat.

“I don’t know…” Yadriel trailed off, waiting for Julian’s guidance.

“I owe him.” Luca’s expression pinched, his delicate eyebrows bunching together. He tugged anxiously on the frayed hem of his sweater. “Julian, I mean. If he is dead, it’s because of me. He was trying to protect me, and then I ran off, and…” He swallowed hard.

Yadriel stole a glance at Julian.

He pushed his hood back, expression somber as he looked down at his friend. “Luca…”

“I want to find out what happened,” Luca went on. “We were too scared to go to Rio, but if he does know something…” When he spoke, his voice was firmer, more sure of himself. “I want to help, if I can.” He was staring down at the dogs again, as if they were part of the conversation. “I owe it to Jules, and Rio.”

Julian winced. “You don’t owe me shit,” he said in a quiet sigh. He tipped his head to the side, watching Luca as the smaller boy waited for an answer.

Yadriel didn’t say anything. This was Julian’s choice, not his, no matter how much he wanted Julian to agree to it.

Luca, meanwhile, was distracted. “Can I pet your dogs?” he asked Maritza with a hopeful lift of his eyebrows.

Maritza laughed. “Yeah, sure,” she said moving closer. “They’re friendly.”

Luca immediately put down his skateboard and dropped into a squat, small arms in long sleeves held out to his sides. Donatello and Michelangelo bowled Luca right over, knocking him off his feet. He was practically swallowed up by the large dogs as they nudged and licked at him happily.

As he laughed, hands giving them both a good scratch, Donatello’s lolling tongue gave him a particularly good swipe. It slicked back Luca’s mass of light brown hair, revealing a large scar running down the side of his face. It was a patch of marbled skin.

Yadriel’s heart made a hard thump in his chest. He’d seen scars like it on Maritza’s dad’s arm. Burns.

She noticed, too, the grin on her face slipping to a look of shock.

Julian didn’t say anything.

There was a lot about Julian and his friends that Yadriel still didn’t know.

When Julian remained silent, Yadriel said, “I don’t think he wants us to see Rio.”

Luca stared up at Yadriel with his large deep amber eyes while Michelangelo lapped at his ear. “So you can hear him? And see him?”

Yadriel nodded. “Yes.”

Luca looked around, twisting his fingers together. “Where is he?”

Both Yadriel and Maritza looked at Julian.

Julian stood there, motionless as he watched Luca. Even his silence was loud. His stillness was unsettling. Yadriel didn’t like it. He almost preferred Julian yelling to this.

Luca searched the empty air, squinting, even venturing to take a step closer. “Can he hear me?”

“Yes, he can hear you,” Yadriel said softly.

Hesitantly, Luca held out his hand. “Can he touch me?”

Julian’s expression was slack, his spine bowed and eyes dull as they studied Luca. He stepped forward and reached out. His hand hovered just above Luca’s. Yadriel held a breath as Julian’s face pinched in concentration.

Julian lowered his hand, and his fingers slipped right through Luca’s palm.

Luca shivered, his arm quaking inside the large sleeve, but otherwise didn’t react.

“It doesn’t really work like that…,” Yadriel said as Julian stepped back and turned his head away.

Pink bloomed in Luca’s cheeks. He dropped his hand to his side and rubbed his arm. He gave that apologetic little smile again.

“Fine.”

Julian’s voice was so small, at first Yadriel wasn’t sure he’d heard right.

“Really?” Yadriel asked, trying to get a look at his face, but Julian kept it turned away. Instead, he gave a jerky nod.

“What?” Luca asked, looking around again. “What’d he say?”

“He said yes,” Yadriel said. The relief crashing over him felt so good, he smiled.

Luca smiled back. “I could meet you guys tomorrow morning, give you the night to think it over?”

“It would need to be the afternoon, we’ve got school.” Yadriel nodded toward Maritza.

“Oh, right. Afternoon, then.” Luca nodded. “Where should I meet you? Do you live nearby?”

“Yeah, I live there,” Yadriel said, motioning through the large gate. The lights were on in his house. The church loomed on the other side.

Luca’s eyes went wide. “You live in there? Whoa, no wonder you can see ghosts.”

Maritza laughed.

Yadriel grinned and bit back the urge to correct him.

“I’m Maritza, by the way,” she cut in. “And that guy is Yadriel.”

“Oh.” Luca’s eyes did that quick little dart to Yadriel’s chest.

On instinct, Yadriel curled in on himself, tightly crossing his arms as heat crawled up his neck. He hated that glance, and he hated the mix of embarrassment and shame that came with it.

“I’m Luca.” His lips tugged in a lopsided smile. “But I guess Jules told you that already?” He laughed. “Okay, well I’ll meet you guys here, then, tomorrow afternoon.”

Julian straightened as Luca hopped onto his skateboard. “He can’t walk back on his own, it’s dark out—”

“Do you need somewhere to stay the night?” Yadriel asked quickly. He was already housing one boy in secret, he didn’t think he could handle another, but Julian was right—it was dark out, and if someone was going around picking off kids from the street—

“You could stay at my place,” Maritza offered, toying with her rosary. “I bet if I talked to my parents—”

“Oh, no, that’s okay!” Luca waved her off, rubbing at the back of his neck. “My parents live a few streets over—”

Yadriel saw Julian tense.

“I’ll just stay there tonight.”

Before Yadriel could think of something convincing to say, Luca was already rolling down the sidewalk and around the corner.

For a moment, all three of them stood there, not saying anything.

All the ferocity Julian had shown earlier seemed to have drained out of him. And, to be honest, Yadriel felt too exhausted to be combative, either. “Julian—”

He spun on his heel and glided right through the iron bars of the gate.

Yadriel sighed.

Maritza shooed him. “Go on after him. I have to go home before my mom kills me.” She gave a short wave before Donatello and Michelangelo pulled her down the street.

Yadriel raced through the headstones to catch up to Julian. Voices came from the church, and he could see through the windows that the brujx had gathered inside. Warm light spilled from the open doors of the church, washing over the steps and path lined with marigolds. A couple of stragglers made their way into the church.

He remembered what his dad had said that morning, that they were having family dinner. Had he meant a meeting? Or was this an impromptu gathering?

Either way, he needed to get Julian safely into his room before he could figure it out. At first, he thought Julian was just going to barge into the house, but he stopped at the door and waited for Yadriel to catch up.

Tentatively, he opened the door a crack and listened. No music, no voices. Everyone must’ve been at the church already. He waved Julian in and ushered him up the stairs. “I need to go to the church,” Yadriel told him as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check his messages. “Lita is going to kill me if I…” He trailed off.

Julian hadn’t acknowledged him at all. He went right up the stairs.

“Hey,” Yadriel said, watching him from the foot of the steps.

Julian looked back over his shoulder.

Yadriel frowned at him. “Are you okay?”

Julian gave him a withering look.

It was a dumb question. He was dead—he’d been murdered—and he was worried about his friends; of course he wasn’t okay.

“Yadriel?” said a voice from the kitchen.

He froze. The floor creaked. His eyes widened in alarm, but he didn’t have to warn Julian. He disappeared up the stairs and around the corner before Catriz stepped into the living room.

“There you are,” Tío Catriz said with a sigh. “Your dad sent me looking for you.” He frowned and glanced around the empty room. “Who were you talking to?”

“Uh.” Yadriel held up his phone. “Just Maritza.”

Tío Catriz watched him for a moment, for three heartbeats longer than was comfortable, but then his mouth curled into a smile. “You two really are attached at the hip,” he said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

Yadriel laughed along with him, maybe a little too loud.

“Come on,” he said, waving for Yadriel to follow him. “Your dad called a meeting with everyone. Even the outcasts,” Tío Catriz added with an amused grin.

“Yeah.” His attention was pulled back to Julian. “Let me just ditch my backpack real quick?” Yadriel asked, already inching toward the stairs.

Tío Catriz nodded. “The black sheep might as well show up fashionably late,” he said, smoothing down the front of his dark button-up shirt.

Yadriel hurried to his room.

Julian sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees and hands fidgeting.

Yadriel tossed his backpack onto his desk. “Are you okay?” he asked again, a bit tersely.

“I’m fine,” Julian replied, not even bothering to look at him.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Yadriel considered him for a long moment. He was annoyed with Julian, but he also felt bad for him. The two emotions were at war with each other, making it difficult for Yadriel to sort through. He just wanted to help. Not only Miguel, but everyone, including Julian and his friends, but things were just getting more complicated and difficult. He wished Julian would cut him some slack.

Then again, he probably needed to cut Julian some slack, as well.

Yadriel tried putting himself in his shoes. How would he be handling this, if he was suddenly killed and woke up as a spirit? If he couldn’t speak to his friends and family? If he thought they were in danger?

Yeah, he definitely wouldn’t be handling it well. Probably about as well as Julian. Maybe worse.

Yadriel sighed. “I have to go to church. There’s some big meeting going on.”

When Julian didn’t respond, he headed for the door but then paused with his hand on the knob.

“One thing, though.”

Julian glanced up.

“If you ever throw a tantrum like that again, and I have any reason to think you’re going to hurt someone, especially Maritza…?” Yadriel pulled Julian’s necklace out from under his hoodie, letting the St. Jude medal dangle from his thumb. “I’ll throw this and you down the sewer. Got it?”

Julian’s ears burned bright red. He nodded, shoulders hunching.

“Great.” Yadriel left the room and closed the door with a snap.