✓ | Curse Breaker ⋆ Julian Blackthorn [1]

xxxii. AN OVERTURE TO HELL

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CHAPTER THIRTY TWO: AN OVERTURE TO HELL

❛no word of mine

will ever hurt you.❜

⋆ ✧ ⋆

Your death will be a mercy to everyone you love. Remember that, Zoya Herondale.

With a hollow feeling invading her chest, Zoya marched into the quiet night. Her aquamarine irises seemed to have become dreary in the milky moonlight, her words running out as quickly as the grains of sand slipped from the hourglass, and yet no one but Emma Carstairs knew why.

Returning pain and newfound shock knocked on her door, conquering her every vein even though Zoya wanted to keep them free of the said feelings. She was entirely lost, particles of the ancient past raising and creating a thick veil of impenetrable fog that held the girl a convict. She had never thought she could feel this way ー like her heart was being carved out her chest, leaving her limbs and lungs unmoving. There was an increscent gap, a swallowing hole, growing within her chest at the mere thought of her life being a complete lie. She couldn't even begin to fathom the possibility of her parents keeping a secret so significant away from her; why hadn't they told her that she could feel things she wasn't ever meant to feel? Did they even know about it? How was it possible for her to feel multiple things at once ー emotions and danger? How was it possible that she was a Herondale, for the Angel's sake?

There were so many questions that erupted within Zoya's mind ー questions that needed to be buried until she figured out what she was supposed to do next. Was she supposed to tell Julian and the rest of his siblings? Call Jace? Or Tessa and Jem?

Zoya didn't know, but the moment she took in the sight of Ty, Livvy, Dru and Tavvy sitting on the ground ー her heart felt slightly more at ease. The youngest boy was resting in Livvy's arms, drowsy but with a light shadow of a smile painted on his face. Nearby stood Kieran, arms crossed over his chest and an outline of a persistent scowl on his lips as he observed the children.

"How is Tavvy?" Julian headed toward his siblings, instantly greeted by Dru's tight hug. "Is everything all right?"

A loud, scratching sound glided through the night, announcing that the passage that led toward Malcolm's hidden chambers was closing. Diana attempted preventing the stones from obscuring the way, but her actions were fruitless.

"You cannot stop it," Kieran announced, glancing toward the Wrayburn woman. "The opening and the path inside were made by Malcolm. This hill does not naturally hold within it tunnels and caves. Now that he is dead, his enchantments are failing. There may perhaps be another entrance into this space, at some other ley line convergence. But this door will not open again."