Cemetery Boys(52)

“HEY!”

Yadriel’s eyes snapped right back to Omar.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Omar took another step forward.

Donatello and Michelangelo immediately lowered their heads, deep growls rumbling in their chests. Their jowls pulled back, baring their teeth in warning.

“Yads,” Maritza said, eyes wide with alarm as she gripped their leashes.

“Don’t tell them!” Julian repeated angrily.

Too many people were talking at once. It was overwhelming. Panic clawed up Yadriel’s throat.

Flaca and Rocky backed up. Omar dragged Luca behind him.

Yadriel burned under each set of eyes.

He didn’t mean to freak them out; he was just trying to help, and the dogs were only trying to protect him and Maritza. This was quickly spiraling out of his control.

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

Maritza tried to pull the dogs back.

Flaca tugged on Omar’s arm.

Yadriel fumbled, willing himself to just say something to cover up his mistake. “I— He—”

“LISTEN TO ME!” Julian bellowed. He grabbed his skateboard from the couch and heaved it over his head with both hands before slamming it down. The wood cracked like lightning against the pavement, echoing through the underpass and straight through Yadriel’s bones.

Everyone jolted. Donatello and Michelangelo whimpered, cowering as Maritza tried to regain control and not get knocked over.

The skateboard landed upside down, the wheels spinning.

Julian stormed through the group and tore off up the stairs, a blast of cold following in his wake. It kicked up dirt and bit Yadriel’s cheeks.

He stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Omar, Flaca, Rocky, and Luca had all converged, huddled together as they gaped at him.

Heat flooded Yadriel’s face. How had he screwed things up so badly?

“I—I’m sorry, I—”

Omar cut him off, pointing in the direction of the road. “Leave. Now.” His voice was a low growl.

“Yads,” Maritza warned, already backing up to the stairs, the dogs glued to her hips.

He saw their looks of shock and fear. Rocky squeezed a quaking Flaca, doing her best to look fierce, but it was a crumbling facade. Luca was barely visible around Omar, his eyes still stuck on the skateboard. “I—”

“NOW!” Omar shouted.

Yadriel flinched but quickly obeyed.

Maritza was already heading up the stairs, Donatello and Michelangelo pulling her along. As Yadriel hurried to catch up with her, all he could think about was Julian and his friends. Their faces. He wasn’t cut out for this. He’d only made things worse for everyone.





ELEVEN


“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Maritza said as she and Yadriel hurried to keep up with Julian. Donatello and Michelangelo trotted along happily on either side of her, as if nothing had happened.

“Not funny.” Humiliation and guilt warred in Yadriel, but he was also pissed at Julian. His emotional outburst didn’t sit right with Yadriel. Yelling and getting mad was one thing, but acting out violently was a whole other beast.

Julian refused to slow down or wait, causing Yadriel and Maritza to chase after him through the streets. A line of sweat trickled down Yadriel’s spine under his hoodie. October in Los Angeles was not cool enough, and his binder wouldn’t let him breathe deep enough for this.

They crossed the street to the iron gate of the cemetery. He didn’t need Julian storming in and attracting the attention of the brujx and the other spirits.

Yadriel jogged forward, catching up to Julian’s pace. “Hey!” he called ahead. “What kind of machismo bullshit was that?”

He was angry, and Julian’s outburst had scared him, which only made him more angry.

Julian turned so abruptly, Yadriel reeled back a step.

“You were going to tell them I’m dead!” he fumed, teeth bared. Cold wind whipped around him, sending his jacket flapping against his sides.

Yadriel stood his ground under Julian’s lethal stare. Even though instinct told him to back away. “No, I wasn’t!” he shot back, trying to channel as much fierceness as he could.

Julian’s laugh was sharp, his grin sarcastic and untrusting.

It got under Yadriel’s skin, which was probably the point. It took every bit of patience he had left to not lash out in return. “You told me not to tell them, so I didn’t.”

He met Julian’s glare defiantly. “I wouldn’t,” he emphasized.

Julian’s snarl wavered for a moment. His stare was intense, questioning, and calculating.

Yadriel met it unflinchingly. “I don’t out people,” he told him.

Slowly, the harsh lines of Julian’s expression began to melt. The wind calmed. The chill in the air ebbed. It was Julian who looked away first.

The tension in Yadriel’s shoulders relaxed.

For a long moment, Julian stared out at where the sun had set behind the rolling hills.

In the back of his mind, Yadriel knew it would be dark soon. If they didn’t get moving, he’d be in trouble with Lita and his dad. But, right now, there were more important matters at hand than missing curfew.

“I just wanted to give them a clean break,” Julian said quietly.