Page 100 of Cemetery Boys

“Julian!” Yadriel shouted, fear shredding his voice.

Julian thrashed, hands scrabbling at Tito’s arm, feet kicking wildly as he choked.

Yadriel yanked out the bottle and clumsily unscrewed the top. With shaky hands, he dumped the blood onto the blade.

“¡Muéstrame el enlace!” he said, and his dagger burst to life with glowing light.

The golden thread appeared, drawn between the garden shears on the ground and the center of Tito’s chest.

Tito’s head swung to Yadriel. He tossed Julian to the side with surprising strength. Julian careened through headstones and out of sight. Yadriel had no idea if a spirit could destroy another spirit, but he could hear Julian groan.

Tito lunged for him, and Yadriel was barely able to throw himself behind a sarcophagus in time. The voice in his head screamed at him to get to the shears, to cut the tie.

An inhuman screech filled the air. Tito threw himself onto the sarcophagus, nails digging at the stone in a frenzy as he tried to reach Yadriel.

Yadriel ducked out of Tito’s reach, his feet slipping through slick mud as he tried to propel himself forward.

He dove for the shears, but he wasn’t fast enough.

Tito was on him in a blink, knocking him off his feet and onto his back once again.

As he pinned Yadriel down, Tito’s mouth opened wide. Black lips split open, revealing rotten teeth. A rattling growl flowed from the gaping hole. Something wriggled under his purple tongue.

Yadriel tried to get his dagger free, but Tito had his wrist in an iron grip. He shoved his hand against the side of Tito’s face, trying to push him away, but his dead skin was slippery and squished under his fingers.

Tito’s blackened teeth snapped.

Yadriel thrashed wildly, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

A strangled shout ripped from his throat.

“¡Muéstrame el enlace!” someone bellowed.

In his peripheral, there was a flash of light, but all Yadriel could see was Tito’s lumbering form on top of him. The golden thread ignited at the center of Tito’s chest, shooting off to the left.

Tito raised his meaty fist over his head, ready to slam it down onto Yadriel.

He threw his arms up to shield himself, but the blow never came.

“¡Te libero a la otra vida!”

Tito’s face went slack.

Yadriel could’ve sworn he heard a soft sigh, and, a moment later, Tito dissolved into thousands of glowing marigold petals. They fell in a gentle cascade over Yadriel, tickling his cheeks before they faded and disappeared into the mud.

Yadriel stared at the spot Tito had been, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs.

When he looked up, a man stood over him in a black rain jacket, a portaje glinting in his hand. When he pushed back his hood, it was his father’s stunned face staring back at him.

“Yadriel?” He pulled him up to his feet and gripped tightly onto Yadriel’s shoulders. “Are you okay?” His father’s panicked eyes searched his before looking him over.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” His voice quaked. Immediately, he looked for Julian, but he was nowhere in sight. “I—”

His dad pulled him to his chest and locked his arms around him tight, pressing his nose into Yadriel’s hair. “Thank the saints!”

Yadriel could feel his dad’s shuddering inhale. His own body trembled in his dad’s embrace. Enrique withdrew, still holding on tight to his shoulders. “What on earth happened?”

Nerves and adrenaline fried Yadriel’s brain as he tried to come up with something. “I—I—”