Page 126 of Divine Oaths

I emerged from the wardrobe, waiting for Jojo to come out too. But he remained immobile, his eyes bright, haunted.

“We have to find Kasem,” I said. “The binding ritual—”

But before I could finish, a chill formed in the corner of the room.

I froze as General Winhall’s wraith emerged before us, towering and clad in the pale gray uniform in which he’d died.

“I didn’t expect this betrayal from you, Ojore. But then again, I’ve been too lenient.”

Jojo stepped between us, shielding me from the general’s view.

“I’ll do what you ask,” he said. “Just let her go.”

The general sneered. “A negotiation is only effective if there’s something of value to bargain with. You have no inheritance. What could you possibly offer to me?”

I stumbled backward, but the door to the office opened and President Saint James emerged with the three masked Sigmas and Angelica.

“Jayson,” the general said, nodding at one of the masked Sigmas. “Return to me my blade.”

The Sigma, a hulking man dressed all in silver except for Westfield’s blazer, took off his mask. Burns covered half his body, and his eyes were bloodshot and red from the fire in the greenhouse. Despite his tragic appearance, I recognized Jay from my vision. But his gaze was glassy. It was him, yet not. He was dead, but his soul was tethered to the mask.

The general had made Jay’s corpse a relic.

I cried out, fighting against Jay’s clumsy strength as he shoved me against the shelves, wrestling the satchel with the blade away from me while the other Sigma attacked Jojo.

The general hummed in pleasure, admiring his own twisted work. “My soldiers,” he said, “reanimated for but a brief period. Of course, they will rot over time. Duncan did when I first killed him and possessed him. But it is a burden to have to share a body with another soul as I do with this current one.” He glanced at Jojo. “After we’ve killed your brother, I want you to test the theory you’ve been researching.”

I turned to Jojo, who had stopped fighting the moment the switchblade was returned to the president. As the president spoke, a soft light emanated from beneath Jojo’s shirt, matching the now glowing blade.

The president—no, Winhall, was performing an incantation.

Angelica raised her hands and chanted too. Her words weren’t in Akan this time but in Jamaican patois, her incantation a fiery benediction I didn’t recognize, and yet I knew it was to counter his spell. Jojo’s head snapped back, his eyes rolling as blood seeped from his nose and eyes.

“Keep trying to break my hold on him,” the general said. “It will kill him. And when he dies, I’ll use his body too. Fitting, for him to be the first subject of his own research.”

The other Sigma grabbed Angelica and twisted her wrist violently.

She screamed, falling to the ground and clutching her broken wrist, unable to channel with her right hand.

When I tried to run toward her, Jay grabbed me, pulling me to Winhall.

“General, you said I was to be the first experiment,” Jay sputtered. “You said she could bring my body back to life.”

He was looking at me now, his eyes wide, desperate. “You have time magic—you can reverse anything. You can bring me back and bind my soul to my body. That’s what Jojo said.”

My blood ran cold.

“Sianna,” Jojo said, pleading. “I did it for Kasem. If he dies, and we can’t break the curse, then maybe we can save him.”

“You were working with them?” I whispered.

“I was researching the affinities of time. I was studying Vivian, focusing on her at first—but you brought Kasem back to the realm of the living, and came to Westfield wielding powers strong enough to reverse the weight of time. It was the only way I could think to save my brother. I wanted to tell you. I swear, I did. But I couldn’t. Not without the president finding out. And with his hold on me, helping you break the curse or sharing why I’d come back to Westfield would have put all of us in danger,” Jojo said. “I wasn’t going to use my research for the general. I was going to save Kasem—even if it meant bringing him back from the dead.”

The general roared in laughter.

“You thought you could betray me? Very well. Let’s put your research to the test,” he said. “It’s almost midnight. And we have a birthday to celebrate.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT