of sight, Yadriel punched a hand into the air. “Jules, come on!” he said, waving for Julian to follow him. They ran to the house, and Yadriel threw open the door without thinking.
“Yadriel?” Lita’s voice came from the kitchen.
Julian raced up the stairs while Yadriel lingered in the living room. “Yes, Lita!”
Diego poked his head out of the kitchen, saw Yadriel, and frowned. “Jesus, what happened to you?”
Yadriel barely glanced down at himself. He was soaked to the bone and covered in mud, but he didn’t care.
He was going to be in the aquelarre this Día de Muertos. He was triumphant. He was powerful. He felt ready to take on the world.
He was a brujo.
“Is Tío here?” he asked.
“No,” Diego said, giving him a strange look.
Yadriel was disappointed, but only a little. There would be plenty of time to tell him what happened tomorrow.
“Are you okay?” Diego pressed, stepping farther into the living room.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Yadriel beamed at his older brother, which only seemed to confuse him more. “I’m amazing!” Without further explanation, he ran up the stairs and into his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
Yadriel’s smile was so big, it hurt. He didn’t have to release Julian to the afterlife. He could remain in the cemetery like the other spirits.
Julian could stay.
The thought made him so happy, Yadriel felt like his heart might burst in his chest.
But, when he turned, he found Julian sitting on the edge of his bed. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, his posture curved around his chest like he was in pain.
“Are you okay?” Yadriel asked, confused.
“Are you okay?” Julian countered, concern etched into his features.
“Yeah, I’m okay!” Yadriel laughed.
Julian didn’t respond.
Yadriel wanted to grab Julian and shake him. Didn’t he see how amazing this was? Why did he look so somber?
A lump under the comforter moved, and Purrcaso wiggled her way out. With a little chirrup, she hobbled over to Julian. She rubbed herself against his arm. When he scratched her chin, loud purrs vibrated through her tiny body.
Yadriel’s excitement began to quickly bleed out of him. Julian must’ve been rattled by seeing Tito going maligno. “That was terrifying, wasn’t it?” Yadriel asked, sitting next to him on the bed. Still, Julian said nothing, his attention focused on Purrcaso. He was too still, too quiet. It put Yadriel on edge.
“You saved my life,” Yadriel told him. “I mean…” He let out a little laugh. “It was completely stupid, and reckless, and if you try something like that again, I swear, I’ll—”
“Is that what I’ll become?” Julian finally looked up at him. His dark eyes were empty, distant. “Is that what happens to spirits?” he repeated.
“No, not all spirits,” Yadriel said quickly, wanting to say whatever he could to ease Julian’s mind. “Only the ones that turn maligno.” He couldn’t stand the look on Julian’s face.
“Día de Muertos is soon, you’ll see, Tito will be all better. Like my Lito? When he died, he was so weak and tired. It was like he was only a shell of who he had been. But when he came back that first Día de Muertos? It was like he was back to his old self again,” Yadriel told him. He felt like he was rambling, filling in Julian’s unnatural silence. “He wasn’t tired or in pain, he was downright spry.” The memory made him grin.
Still, Julian said nothing.
“My point is, you’ll still be you for a really long time,” Yadriel told him. “I mean, there’s no reason for me to release you right now! You can stay for as long as you like,” he said, shy and hopeful. He felt a blush bloom in his cheeks. “And then when eventually you do cross over, you’ll be able to come back every year and see me.” But that wouldn’t be for a very long time, Yadriel would make sure of it.
“You’re forgetting something, Yads,” Julian said, finally looking up at him.
“What?” Yadriel asked. Something about the look on Julian’s face sent his pulse fluttering anxiously.
Julian’s lips quirked into a sad smile. “I’m not a brujo.”
Yadriel’s heart sank. His shoulders fell. No. Julian wasn’t a brujo. He didn’t get to come back.
Yadriel let himself stare at Julian. He was so … visceral. He was so real. Even with his blurry edges and chilling touch, he was a force of nature. He was loud, he was stubborn, he was determined, and he was reckless. But, still, he would fade.
Yadriel remembered the other night. The thrashing and