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On his own now, Marcos attempted to stay near the crowds, which was rather easy, thankfully. Aguarey had ample foot traffic despite the constant rains. Temperatures were usually mild enough that walking wasn’t terribly unpleasant so long as one had a raincoat or umbrella.

The last leg of his journey proved problematic, however. The Elroy Estate didn’t sit on a main road, which meant he would have to abandon the comfort of the crowd in order to actually make it home. But it wasn’t that far. He just needed to make it past the madega tree at the end of the next street, round the corner, and then it would be a straight shot the rest of the way.

He gathered his courage and went for it, quick as he dared on the slick concrete. He glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone emerged from the crowd to pursue him. He stopped dead when he instead saw his jackass brother there.

Marcos was at once incensed and relieved. “Cisco! Were you following me?!”

“Maybe.”

“Why?!” Marcos had to stifle his next words, realizing they would only have been an admission of fear. He didn’t need Cisco making fun of him.

Cisco took his sweet time answering, letting his eyes drift elsewhere, probably talking to his reaper privately like Marcos wasn’t even there.

Marcos hated when he did that.

“No reason,” said Cisco. “I was just wondering why you’re always disappearing.”

“I disappear to get away from you!”

“Good to know.” Cisco closed the distance between them and put an arm around his brother. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Marcos squirmed out of his grasp. “What’re you doing? Don’t touch me.”

“Just move your ass, brat. No one likes a sluggard.”

“A what?”

“It means a slow and lazy person.”

“Then why didn’t you just say that?”

Cisco pushed him forward. “Walk.”

Marcos walked. He didn’t understand what was going through his brother’s head, and he didn’t much care to, either.

They finally reached the gate, and Nico and Jorem welcomed the brothers home. Marcos thanked them for the courtesy, while Cisco only nodded.