✓ | Curse Breaker ⋆ Julian Blackthorn [1]

xxvi. FALSE LEADS

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CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: FALSE LEADS

❛i had a really bad feeling

you've been lying to me.❜

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Leaning against the doorframe, with arms crossed over his chest, Julian Blackthorn watched Diana Wrayburn tuck her duffel bag into the trunk of her truck. With a worried expression plastered on her sharp features, Diana rounded her car and froze as she noticed the brunette boy carefully eyeing her.

"Jules," the woman breathed out his name, blinking a few times as their gazes connected. "What are you doing out here?"

Julian raised his eyebrows, walking down the stairs. Each step of his echoed into the growing dusk. "I could ask you that. Are you leaving?" He asked, although he had already been given an answer. "Again?"

Diana's fingers knotted in her dark strands, tucking the loose locks behind her ears. She was wearing an all-black outfit, as if she wanted to melt into the shadows. "I have to go."

"How long will you be gone for?"

"I don't know."

"So we shouldn't depend on you."

Julian felt as if all the air was being knocked out of his chest, lungs crumbling behind his tight rib cage. All the worries were slowly piling up, creating a mountain that was ready to grind down upon the boy. His siblings had discovered the meaning behind the lines and the sole thought of Blackthorn blood being somehow included didn't pour any comfort to his restless mind. There was also the fact that he had slept with his best friend. He had slept with Zoya Caldwell and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Believe it or not," Diana spoke, "I'm doing my best for you."

Julian took a deep breath, glancing at the setting sun. "What do you expect me to tell them?" He inquired. "If they ask me where you are."

"Make something up," Diana replied swiftly, gaze never once abandoning the brunette boy. "You're good at that."

Julian had to bite his lips to prevent an angry huff from escaping. Diana had practically called him a skilled liar ー which, in a way, he was. What no one knew was that it was never by his choice. Lying had become a crucial part of his life solely because he had no other exit to take, no other way to shield his family from falling apart.

"I know things about you," Julian uttered. "I know you left your travel year, went to Thailand, and didn't come back until after your father died."