✓ | Curse Breaker ⋆ Julian Blackthorn [1]

xxv. CHASING KILLERS

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CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: CHASING KILLERS

❛the deeper you dig, the darker it gets.❜

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"Diana said you went to the convergence," Livvy stated bluntly, gaze skipping between Emma and Zoya as the girl displayed a saber in her hand.

All the Blackthorns, along with Emma, Cristina, Diana and Zoya, had gathered in the library and claimed their corners. Ty sat at the farthest end of the table, enjoying the apricot sun as he shuffled through a pile of papers. Mark towered next to the boy while Livvy danced on top of the table, barefoot and wielding her weapon. Diana and Dru were trying to entertain Tavvy, offering him an illustrated book. Cristina watched the entire scene from the distance, back pressed against the tall bookshelves, Emma keeping her company.

"Fighting Mantids without me," Mark shook his head, sparing a brilliant smile. "Hardly fair."

"There weren't any Mantids," Emma replied, pushing her back off the bookshelf and taking a seat opposite Ty.

Zoya, standing beside the window, folded her arms over her chest. "Emma's right," she added, meeting everyone's gazes. "But that wasn't the most unusual scene, I'd say. We found a whole bunch of peculiar things within the cave." The girl paused briefly, feeling an intense, but familiar gaze on herself. Julian leaned against the head of the table, following her every word. "For example, there were two porthole doors. One was a closet of sorts. There was a dress inside."

"A dress?" Cristina echoed, forehead creasing.

"This doesn't sound very likely," Livvy furrowed her eyebrows as she spoke. "Who keeps a dress in a cave?"

"It might have been a ceremonial outfit," Emma pointed out. "It was an elaborate robe ー and very elaborate jewels."

"So maybe the necromancer is a woman," Cristina suggested. "Maybe it really is Belinda."

"She didn't strike me as that powerful," Mark shook his head.

"You can sense power?" Emma asked. "Is that a faerie thing?"

Mark was quick to dismiss, a ghost of a smile plastered to his lips. "Just a feeling."

"But speaking of faerie things, Mark did give us the key to translate more of the markings," Livvy announced proudly.

"Really?" Emma inquired. "What do they say?"

From where she was standing, Zoya saw Ty lifting his head from the papers. "He gave us the second line, and after that it was easier. Livvy and I worked out most of the third. From looking at the patterns of the markings, it seems to be about five or six lines, repeated."