Page 82 of Espíritu

He climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him. The Stingray roared to life and peeled off, leaving Julian alone on the sidewalk, the echo of Rio’s fear still ringing in his ears.

Lunchtime couldn’t come soon enough.

Julian spotted Yadriel and Maritza in their usual spot at the far corner of the quad, tucked away from the noise and chaos. Maritza’s pink-and-purple curls glinted in the sun, while Yadriel’s black hoodie made him look like a pocket of shadow.

“Hey, you two,” Julian said, flopping down beside them. “Miss me this morning?”

“Like a little brother I never wanted,” Maritza said wistfully.

Julian clutched his chest dramatically. “Wow. Wounded.”

“How are you holding up?” Yadriel asked, eyes scanning him with quiet concern.

Julian shook his head, knee bouncing with leftover adrenaline. “Rio’s driving me nuts. He’s pissed at me for sneaking out so now he’s got this hawk-eye thing going on. I swear, if I breathe wrong, he clocks it.”

“Tell me about it,” Yadriel muttered, nudging his stained Tupperware of tamal toward Julian in silent offering. “This is already hard without our families Bubble Wrapping us.”

“Hard how?” Julian asked.

“Spirits,” Yadriel said, voice low. “They’re … not showing up the way they should. Lita says a few haven’t answered when called. Offerings sit untouched. A couple of usuals went quiet.”

A quick, stupid flicker of panic licked up Julian’s spine. What if the regulars he joked with by the gates, the ones who always seemed curious about him, had gone quiet, too? He shoved the thought down for now.

Julian’s jaw tightened. “You think it’s connected? To me? To Luca?”

“Maybe,” Yadriel said. “But the elders are tight-lipped.”

“Feels personal,” Julian muttered, picking a thread on his sleeve. “Like whatever’s out there knows where to press.”

“Then we push back,” Yadriel said. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Sure, if Rio doesn’t ground me into the next century first,” Julian muttered. “He’s got me GPS-tracked.”

“Then don’t let him track you,” Maritza said, a little annoyed like this was obvious.

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have a big brother who can sniff out your lies like a bloodhound.”

“Jules, Jules, Jules,” she chided in a singsong voice, fishing out her phone from the pocket of her puffer jacket. With a few swipes, she held it up, showing him the screen. “Location services. Turn ’em off.”

Julian squinted at the little gray arrow on her phone. “Wait, you can just … do that?”

“How d’you think I’ve avoided getting grounded for eighty years with all the shit we get up to?” She winked, the mischief in her eyes sparking a glimmer of hope in Julian’s chest. “Just go to where you say you’ll be so it clocks you at the location, then shut off the location services. It won’t update your location until you turn it on again, so it’ll look like you’re still there.”

“Wait, so, I just … snip the digital leash?” His mind raced, possibilities blooming like fireworks.

“Snip, snip,” Maritza confirmed, mimicking scissors with her fingers. “Gimme your phone,” she said, holding out her hand.

Maritza walked him through it like it was second nature. When she handed the phone back, Julian stared at it as if she’d just handed him the keys to a getaway car.

Julian laughed, actual relief bubbling up in his chest. “Damn. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“’Cause you’re not as smart as me,” Maritza said, flipping her hair with exaggerated flair.

Julian leaned back against the quad bench, the relief from Maritza’s quick tech fix starting to lift his spirits. He turned his phone over in his hand, inspecting it like it was suddenly a treasure chest full of possibilities.

“Okay. No more GPS babysitter,” he said, turning the screen off. “But I’m still basically on house arrest. One wrong move, and Rio’s shipping me off to boot camp.”

Yadriel shot him a dry look, mid-bite of his tamal. “You’re being dramatic.”