Page 8 of Divine Oaths

“Sianna,” he warned.

I swallowed against the heavy beating of my heart.

If I didn’t tell him how I felt now, then in a few months, I’d either be in Rhode Island or somewhere in Virginia miles away while he’d be working his amazing new research job at a fancy college whose name he refused to share. A few years from now, Jojo would be like everyone else. He’d think, What ever happened to that child star who played piano all those years ago? Then he’d shrug and move on with his life.

“So, what? Are you staying at the pawnshop? Or are you going to start your own booth here in the mall?”

“You’re being condescending,” I said, annoyed now.

“I’m being realistic,” he answered, his voice gentle, sensing my rising temper like a fisherman at sea when stormy waters brewed. “There’s nothing for you here, Sianna. And you can’t keep letting your powers hold you back from your true potential.”

“You sound like Louisa,” I said.

“Well, she’s right.”

“You know what else she told me?” I asked. “She said if I didn’t want to move with her, that I should go to Westfield. I have the scholarship until the semester starts this year. It’s in-state, so we wouldn’t be that far from each other. There’d be food and free housing. And I’d be able to play again. You know I haven’t really played since the fire?” I swallowed. “So, no, I’m not moving to Rhode Island with her. But if you tell me to go to Westfield, then I’ll go.”

Jojo stiffened.

Westfield was a sore subject for both of us. He didn’t speak of the institution any more than I did the fire, but at some point, he’d studied there for his undergraduate degree and something had happened during that period. I knew there was pain there, including a relationship with his parents that had soured. We even reached an agreement: He’d sworn to never read the articles that cropped up every few years about me and my washed-up, child-star status if I promised to never use my powers on him and channel into his past.

I was crossing a line by asking this of him. But I didn’t care. He and Louisa were abandoning me, and he had the audacity to pretend like it was for my benefit.

“I take your silence as a yes,” I said, baiting him.

He looked away.

“That’s your decision to make.”

I hid my smile, leaning my head against his shoulder and relaxing against his solid frame. Our fingers brushed. We played a game of chicken to see who would pull away first.

He always did.

“I have something to tell you,” I admitted. I couldn’t keep what had happened in the pawnshop from him, not when it kept teeming at the edge of my thoughts.

“Do you know anything about the Saint James family?” I asked. “You know, the ones who apparently own Westfield?”

Jojo grew quiet. Finally, he spoke. “What about them?”

“So you’ve heard of them?” I said.

“Hasn’t everyone?”

I laughed. “I mean, yeah. But not, like, the minute details.”

Jojo’s time at Westfield had put him in the same circles as future CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and the lavish estates they came from. It’s why he always claimed that the only thing worse than rich people were the ones who came from Westfield. If anyone would know about the heirs of Virginia’s rich families, it would be him.

“Why are you so curious about them all of a sudden?” Jojo asked, and I recounted the events from earlier, from meeting the Westfield heir to the Faustian bargain he’d offered. But I didn’t mention the accidents at Westfield that he’d spoken of, or how he’d wanted me to go with him to the university as a medium.

“The Saint Jameses are just like any other old money family with buildings named after them.” He busied himself smoothing out the crevices in the tablecloth covering the booth instead of meeting my gaze. “The only difference is they operated Westfield while they were alive instead of just through endowments. And most of their wealth came from investments in steel and during the Gilded Age. But, yeah, the surviving members of the family have legal ownership of the university.”

I groaned.

“So I fumbled, then. He was, like, super drunk and flirty,” I said. “I should have at least given him my number.” Jojo gave me a look and I bit my lip, embarrassed. “I mean for the money, not the asking me out part. Jojo, he was offering nearly two grand.”

Something flashed in Jojo’s gaze. It was there and gone, too quickly for me to fully register. He fidgeted in his seat.

“How was the rest of your shift?” he said, changing the subject. “Did Gus let you out early or something?”