Page 119 of Divine Oaths

“I just wanted you to know that you were brilliant tonight,” Kasem said. “That whatever you choose to do, whether it be finishing out your time at Westfield or something else, you don’t have to play for others. Play for you.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering in the cold, my heart hammering in my chest. The vigil was another reminder that this wouldn’t work. My feelings for him, the grief I carried always—none of it would just go away. So I forced myself to give us both closure.

“I can’t be with you, Kasem. I can’t love you.”

It felt like a lie, all of it, and yet the thought of forgiving him, of loving him despite everything, felt even more impossible.

Behind us, applause spilled from the greenhouse. The president had begun his dedication to the students who had passed away. His speech cascaded into the night, fragments of sentences that rang hollow, even in the dark.

“My feelings for you are my own. I’m not asking you to reciprocate them. That, at least, I won’t be selfish in.”

We shared a look, him with his vulture mask in his hands, me in my veil of mourning. When finally he pulled it over his face, we were strangers again, and his dark stare was brimming with unspoken regrets.

“See you soon.”

“Goodbye,” I answered.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

The green-eyed monster

JOJO WAS WAITING FOR ME in the empty lecture hall.

He was dressed in silver, a perfectly tailored suit and tie, and expensive Italian leather shoes, and carried the same drinking flute that the other board of trustees members had been given, though his remained untouched.

“You’re one of them now.”

“In talks,” he said. “But it’s a formality. Whenever an heir relinquishes their claim to the estate, the Board usually swoops them up to be a token symbol of its improved race relations and as a sign that they’ve been adhering in part to the will Westfield Saint James left.”

I remembered how Kasem had mentioned some of his ancestors had entrusted the estate to their children rather than themselves. I wondered if they too had been forced to do the ritual of disinheritance, if tragedy had struck others around them as they exchanged their lifelines. And then, when the heir was set to die, had they watched in relief, knowing that they’d be able to finish out the rest of their lives?

“Was that before or after you found out that Alaster and the Board were trying to kill Kasem?”

Jojo hesitated.

“Why won’t you help us?” I demanded. “Kasem told me about the cost of the disinheritance ritual—that unless it kills him, you can never set foot on campus after he inherits it. And so you want him to die? Just so you can remain at Westfield?”

“Of course I don’t want him to die,” Jojo snapped. “I don’t want any of this. I came back to Westfield, even though I knew he didn’t want me here to protect him.”

“Then help us. We have until midnight for the binding ritual. I’m sure you know Kasem’s a wraith, so help us return his soul to his body so he can live once the curse breaks.”

“You don’t understand,” Jojo said.

“No, I don’t. If you want Kasem to survive today, then what’s stopping you? It’s not Westfield. It’s not Alaster. So is it about your mother? If you blame him for what happened to her because of the ritual, know he blames himself.”

“That’s not the reason either,” Jojo said. “Though I was angry at him, at both of them, for that day.”

“Then what is it, Jojo?” I said, shouting now. I thought of Kasem’s words in my dorm, how he’d admitted to Jojo being in love with me and that he was too. But that was ridiculous. “Don’t tell me it’s because of me.”

We were at the front of the lecture hall, near the projector screen and a whiteboard. Jojo approached me but I retreated. He made to speak but his breath caught, and he turned away, coughing into his hand and gasping for breath.

“It’s not because of you,” Jojo whispered. “Though sometimes I wonder myself.”

Disbelief, rage—all of it washed over me.

“Jojo, you said that it would be delusional thinking you and I could be together. Every time I’ve tried to tell you, you’ve brushed me off.”

“I know. I lied. I pretended I couldn’t see how you felt for me. But I didn’t want you involved in this. I wanted us to be strangers. I didn’t want you to know about the curse or my family. And now, because of him, all of us will be punished. Kasem will die. The blood debt will be fulfilled. And his will shall be done.”