Page 21 of Cemetery Boys

He thought that was a perfectly reasonable explanation, but Julian crossed his arms over his chest. “Nope.”

Yadriel looked to Maritza for help, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

“Look, I didn’t want it to come to this,” Yadriel told Julian. Drawing himself up, he gripped his dagger in his hand. “We don’t like releasing spirits by force—”

A thick eyebrow quirked. “I thought you said you’ve never done this before?”

“But you’re leaving me no choice.” Yadriel held the necklace higher in the air.

Julian remained where he stood, defiant and unmoving, but his wide eyes cut back and forth between his necklace and Yadriel’s face.

“¡Muéstrame el enlace!” Yadriel called out. His portaje glowed bright, filling the church with a warm blaze that made all three of them squint. A golden thread sparked to life in the air, starting from the pendant of St. Jude and ending at the center of Julian’s chest. He tried to sidestep it, but the line followed.

Yadriel inhaled a deep breath, ready to say the sacred words. “¡Te libero a la otra vida!”

Julian squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact.

Yadriel sliced his portaje through the air, aiming directly for the golden thread. But, instead of severing it, the edge of his blade caught on the line. The dagger vibrated in his hand, and small sparks flew from where they met. The thread didn’t even so much as bend.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yadriel saw Julian’s posture relax. He could sense the obnoxious smirk on his face.

But he wasn’t giving up. Yadriel raised his arm and tried slicing through it again. The force of its sudden stop jolted up his arm, into his shoulder. He tried sawing at it, but all it did was send more sparks flying.

The light of his portaje dimmed until it was back to gray steel. Disappointment dropped heavily into Yadriel’s stomach. “Shit.”

“Man, you really suck at this,” Julian said, looking entirely pleased with himself.

Yadriel turned to Maritza. His heart hammered in his ears, and his throat felt like it was closing up on him.

The sudden aching in his chest threatened to swallow him whole.

“¡Mira!” Maritza was immediately at his side, her voice calm and soothing as she gripped his arms. “Don’t worry about it, this isn’t your fault!” She jerked her head in Julian’s direction. “He’s probably too bull-headed to force to cross over—”

“Hey!”

Maritza ignored Julian. “Just like Tito, remember?”

“Maybe,” Yadriel mumbled, shame hot on his cheeks. Maybe that was the explanation, but what if it wasn’t?

“Look,” Julian called, taking a step forward. “I’m willing to look past this and cut you a deal.”

Yadriel and Maritza turned to him.

He looked much more relaxed now, his attention glued to the golden thread attached to his chest. “If you help me find my friends and make sure they’re okay, I will willingly let you do your witchy thing and send me on my way to the afterlife or whatever.” He plucked curiously at the thread. It was already fading away.

Julian glanced up at Yadriel and splayed his palms out at his sides. “Deal?”

Yadriel looked at Maritza. He was already in way over his head, and something told him this wasn’t going to be as easy as Julian made it sound.

“I don’t think we’ve got much of a choice,” Maritza told him.

It was either help Julian and do this on his own, or go to his dad and tell him what happened. Yadriel would get into a boatload of trouble for sneaking around, defying the ways of the brujx, and disrespecting their ancient ways.

And, worse, there was no way they’d agree to let Yadriel be part of the aquelarre.

“Fine,” Yadriel agreed begrudgingly.

A satisfied grin pressed dimples into Julian’s cheeks.