She fiddled with the book in front of her. Quiet.
I didn’t think she was going to respond when she snorted, then giggled, which turned into strange laughter.
The three of us frowned. Or two of us. MJ looked more like she thought Zera had lost her mind.
“It’s not funny. But it kind of is.”
We waited for her to elaborate.
“She was already dead. Now I’m crying over her kinda dying again?” She glanced at us. “It’s ironic, right?”
“I…” Had no idea what to say to that.
Ichi touched the large sword resting against her chair. “I imprisoned my dead sister’s soul in my sword.”
Well, if that was the direction we were going…
“I plan to kill my best friend’s adopted sister, who’s possessing my father, eating his soul, and planning to take over Hell.”
Silence.
Did I go too far?
“You all are messed up,” MJ muttered, then pulled out a white dagger I’d never seen before. “I made a knife out of my dead cordistella’s rib and only use it on people who deserve my revenge.”
The four of us grinned, and the sun beaming through the skylight bore witness to the forming of a bond.
A trauma bond, but a bond nonetheless.
“Are you finding any information on the Spinewalkers?” I sat beside MJ.
“No more than what we already know.” MJ pushed the handwritten text in front of me. “This is the only passage that might’ve had value.”
It only gave a warning about the Spinewalkers; everything around it appeared blacked out.
Spinewalkers inhabit Veil Forest. They’re dark entities whose bodies act as living voids. Touching them is ill-advised. Those who do are seldom recovered and are believed to be forever lost in their abyss.
The blacked-outpassages reminded me of when I tried to read about the creation of Hell.
I searched through our piles until I found that book and opened to the blacked-out page. But that wasn’t the only similarity between the books. They were written by the same hand.
One that wasn’t Cato’s.
“Thrones write all our history, right?” I asked, my mind working through something.
“Yes,” Ichi answered.
Which meant whoever wrote these books had to be a Throne from years ago. A Throne who’d once been living and was now dead because of Lilith, who’d made some sort of deal with the council. The same council that forced Lucifer into becoming king.
I grabbed Cato’s quill and quickly scribbled something on my notes, then stood with the paper and book on Spinewalkers. “I’ll be right back. I need to see Cato.”
I was onto something. I just needed a little help.
The hallway to his door appeared less ominous now that I wasn’t trying to sneak into his room. Not that it did anything to prevent my hands from turning clammy as I raised my fist to knock.
I paused, steeling myself, and the door opened.
How did he do that? Was I wearing some kind of magical bell that signaled to him whenever I was near?
