Cemetery Boys(51)

What was it about his brother that set Julian off like that?

When Yadriel glanced at Julian, Omar’s eyes narrowed, trying to track what he was looking at.

“They wouldn’t even put out a missing-person alert for Jules,” Flaca continued.

“What?” Yadriel shook his head. “Why not?”

“Because he’s a Latino boy living in East Los Angeles with no parents,” Omar said, seething.

“They decided he was a runaway,” Rocky explained. “When a kid goes missing, they assume they’re at risk, so you get AMBER Alerts, calls in the media, and police searching and asking around. But if you’re a runaway?” She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“We can try talking to him—” Yadriel ventured.

Julian spun toward him. “No!” he barked.

Yadriel looked toward Julian on instinct. Quickly, he tried to turn away, but Omar’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe he’s heard something.”

“I said NO!” Julian shouted, so loud that Yadriel and Maritza both jumped, hit in the face with a wall of cold. Both their attention snapped to Julian. The muscles in his jaw jumped, nostrils flared and body rigid as he glared at them. His edges flickered.

Flaca, Luca, and Rocky glanced around to see what they were staring at and exchanged confused looks.

But Omar was zeroed in on Yadriel. “What?” he asked.

Yadriel blinked. “What?”

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Yadriel said, way too quickly. He was starting to sweat.

“We just want to find him and make sure he’s okay,” Rocky said, hugging her skateboard tight to her chest. “We don’t want him to end up missing for good.”

“Just like the rest of them,” Luca added miserably.

Yadriel frowned. “Rest of them? What does that mean?”

“Bunch of street kids have been going missing—that’s three now, right?” Rocky looked to Flaca for confirmation, who nodded.

“Three missing kids?” Maritza repeated.

Luca pressed his palms against his eyes. Yadriel caught a glimpse of his dimpled chin before Omar stepped in front of him, blocking Luca from view.

“That’s nothing new,” Omar insisted. “Kids go missing all the time, just no one notices ’cause they’re already living on the streets, or their parents threw them out.”

Flaca flinched.

“Yeah, but they all went missing in the same area—around Belvedere—and all been labeled runaways,” Flaca said. Her fingernails dug into the crook of her elbow. “Whoever took them probably took Jules, too.”

“They’re worrying too much about me and need to be worrying about themselves,” Julian spoke up, walking closer to the group. “They need to go somewhere more safe than this,” he said, thrusting his arms out.

“Is there somewhere safe you guys can ride this out?” Yadriel asked.

“Usually, when stuff goes down, Rio takes us in,” Flaca said in a small, crestfallen tone.

“There’s gotta be somewhere else!” Julian fumed, his patience, once again, wearing thin.

“There’s nowhere else you can stay?” Yadriel prompted.

“Not everybody’s got places they can run off to when they’re in trouble,” Omar sneered in a way that made it seem like he thought Yadriel was gloating.

It caught him off guard. “There’s got to be someone,” Yadriel said with a shake of his head. “What about your parents? Your families?”

“We’re it,” Omar snapped, gesturing between himself and his friends. “We take care of each other.” He stood tall, his chin jutting out stubbornly.

“Blood of the covenant,” Omar told Yadriel, holding his hands out as his sides.

Julian sighed and said in a defeated tone, “Is thicker than the water of the wound.”

“Is thicker than the water of the wound,” Yadriel repeated automatically. His eyebrows furrowed, and he glanced to Julian, barely able to keep himself from correcting him for yet another malapropism. Yadriel was so distracted, he hadn’t noticed that Luca, Flaca, Rocky, and Omar were all staring.

“What?” Omar hissed.

Yadriel jumped, turning his attention back to them. Their expressions were all varying degrees of shock and confusion. “What?”

“What did you just say?” Flaca asked, staring at him like she’d seen a ghost.

“Uh—” Yadriel rushed for a coherent reply. “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,” he said.

“No, you said wound,” Rocky insisted.

“Did I?” A nervous laugh bubbled in his throat.

“Shit, you weren’t supposed to say that!” Julian barked.

Yadriel scowled at him. It wasn’t like he did it on purpose.

“What do you keep looking at?” Omar demanded.

Yadriel backed up. “I—uh—”

“That’s what Jules always says,” Luca said, confused.

“How did you know to say that?” Omar pressed.

“Don’t tell them!” Julian shouted, his whole body flickering like lightning behind storm clouds.

Yadriel couldn’t help but look in his direction when Julian’s voice cut through his ears so sharply. He wanted to tell him of course he wasn’t going to tell them. Yadriel wasn’t going to out Julian as being dead if he didn’t want him to, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to out himself as being able to see spirits—