Julian crooned, head bobbing in a nod as he looked between the two of them. “You guys are really shitty witches.”
Annoyance flared in Yadriel. “Look, this is my first time, okay?”
Julian blinked slowly at him, unimpressed.
“Spirits, like you, sometimes get stuck between the land of the living and the land of the dead,” he tried to explain.
Julian rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh.”
“Spirits get attached to a tether”—Yadriel held up the necklace—“which anchors them to the land of the living, so, to help you cross over to the other side, I just need to destroy the—”
“No, no way!” Julian shook his head and waved his arms. “My pops gave me that necklace!” He tried to snatch it from Yadriel, but, again, he was left with a fistful of empty air.
Maritza chuckled.
“No—just listen.” Yadriel brought out his portaje.
Julian scoffed, which was not how Yadriel thought any sane person should react to getting a knife pulled on them.
“What are you going to do, stab me?” Julian’s laugh was sharp as he tapped a finger to his temple. “Already dead, remember?”
“No, I’m not gonna stab you!” Though, to be honest, it was more tempting by the minute. “I use it to destroy the tie keeping you here—”
Julian opened his mouth to argue, but Yadriel pressed on.
“I’m not going to destroy the necklace! It’ll sever the tie anchoring you to the necklace, and you can go to the afterlife and be at peace, okay?” he snapped.
“Yeah, nah.” Julian squared his shoulders. “I’m not cool with that.”
Yadriel groaned. Of course the first spirit he summoned wouldn’t just be released willingly. No, he had to get stuck with one who had an attitude problem.
“Ghosts need to take care of unfinished business before they cross over, right? Well, I’ve got unfinished business,” Julian said, brow furrowed. “I wanna check on my friends. They were with me when I died. I wanna make sure they’re okay.”
His face twisted between annoyance and something that could’ve been worry. “And maybe they know who got me,” he added as an afterthought.
“I really need to do this, and, like, now,” Yadriel said. He didn’t feel good about it, but he didn’t have much of a choice, either. “We still need to find Miguel, and, besides, if you stay here like this for too long, you’ll turn all dark and violent and start hurting people.”
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