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.