Page 72 of Divine Oaths

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I have thee not

KASEM FROZE AT FIRST, HIS lips half parted in surprise. But then he drew me to him, his hand cupping my cheek, tilting my head back as he pulled me closer and closer.

His lips were soft against mine, tentative as we explored each other; first a brush, skin against skin, and then the kiss deepened.

His tongue traced the line of my lips. Mine explored the taste of him.

Heat burned through me, warm and pulsing against my mouth and my chest and everywhere his hands and lips touched. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Jojo, standing and leaving the lunch hall, while all around us people were hooting and cheering us on. Seeing Jojo’s reaction had me smiling despite myself, and Kasem’s gaze followed mine to his brother’s retreating figure.

He pulled away first.

I expected him to be as breathless as I was, but the burn in his gaze didn’t mirror the heat radiating in my body. It was cool, distant.

Dayton returned with the feathered invitation from Honey.

“You guys dating or something?” he asked.

Instead of answering him, Kasem took the feather from Dayton and placed it in my palm. But as he did, he leaned close to my ear and whispered softly.

“A life for a life, blood for blood.”

The moment the feather touched my fingertips, a vision flashed in my mind. The answer to Theta and Sigma’s riddle appeared as the freshmen handed over their completed feathers and Kasem carefully placed them into the box.

The answer to the riddle was the riddle itself.

“May you live to regret this,” Kasem said, pulling away.

Next to him, Alaster chortled. “There you go again. What a terrible thing to say.”

But I understood what Kasem meant, even if others might not. Regrets were painful, but living to have them? That was a twisted sort of blessing in itself.

“May you live to regret this too,” I answered.

Kasem laughed. “Trust me, I already have,” he said, a hazy glint in his eyes.

And even as Vivian, Luke, and I left the dining hall, I could feel the faint trace of Kasem’s lips, how he tasted of salt and earth and regrets. His hands had been gentle yet firm as he’d cupped my face. Kissing him, my heart raced like a hummingbird, my spirit soaring as he’d drawn me closer. Still, it hadn’t been close enough.

“If I’d known it was that easy to get an invitation to rush,” Luke said, pulling me from my thoughts, “I wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble acting like a freakin’ peacock in front of Sigma House.”

I brushed the back of my hand against my lips, my body warm, all of me tingling.

“Does that mean you’ve figured the riddle out?” Vivian asked. “Isn’t that the only way you’re allowed to rush?”

“I—I mean—”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“I’m working on it…” Luke said sheepishly.

“Or I could tell you,” I said, handing Luke back his invitation and glancing down at my own one for Theta. It had the same riddle as Sigma’s, but this time the invitation was scrawled in the handwriting that I had no doubt belonged to Honey.

Luke scoped the hallway, a nervous fever to his movements. But no one was paying attention to us in the crowded corridors of Westfield. Everyone was too busy heading to their next class.

“Did Kasem tell you the answer?” Vivian asked. “And was it before or after that”—she gestured wildly—“whatever that was.”

Again, my heart raced. “No, I just saw it when Kasem was placing a feather in the box,” I hedged. “One of the responses that wasn’t torn apart said ‘wisdom.’ At first, I didn’t think that answer could be right. But then I remembered what you said, about how Sigma and Theta steal their riddles from proverbs. My dad had a book filled with them that my mom had gifted him, and there’s an Akan one that’s like that. I made the connection. The only way to untie a wisdom knot is to be wise. Their riddle literally tells you that’s the answer to pledge. It’s wisdom.”