Page 104 of Divine Oaths

“He’s right,” Angelica said. “An incantation is a bit faster. But it’s temporary and won’t beat the infection unless you get to the root of it.”

I shrugged the sweater off, moving away from Jojo.

“I’m assuming you being here means you’re going to help us break the curse?”

“You sounded sick on the phone. Of course I was going to come.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said.

I wanted to tell him about the binding ritual and how we needed him for it. But I couldn’t beg for his help again. Not with Kasem nearby.

He sat away from our group. The chair he’d grabbed was turned backward, and he slouched with his legs spread apart, his arms crossed over the top of the chair. Dark shadows lined his eyes, and his hands had a faint tremor as he reached for a glass on the table and took a drink.

I withdrew the switchblade from the satchel.

“This was the attempted murder weapon,” I said, holding it up.

Honey looked surprised. She glanced at Kasem, who nodded. It seemed that he’d already told her my suspicions, but hearing it from me made it sink in.

“Are you sure?” Angelica asked, taking it from my hand and examining it. “I’ve seen this before.” She glanced between Jojo and Kasem. “Doesn’t this belong to your family’s collection?”

“It’s from Alaster’s side,” Jojo corrected. “It’s a knife that belonged to Confederate General Winhall.”

Jojo took the knife from Angelica, turning it in his hand. He recounted how when Winhall had occupied campus, Kent and Duncan had defeated him in a battle. “The story goes that after they killed the general and his troops, they had to burn all of their items, but Duncan asked to keep a souvenir of their victory.”

I stared at him, not surprised that he knew so much about its history but in awe that, finally, after all this time, he was helping. Even if only a little.

“I said I would try,” he whispered, meeting my gaze. “I’m trying.”

“I know,” I said. “Thank you.”

But Kasem was watching us. All of them were.

“There’s a collection of artifacts from the school in each of the university buildings,” Jojo added, handing the blade back to Angelica and addressing the room again. “There was a traveling exhibit too, and the blade was in the library before it was displayed in the School of Fine Art building.”

“Do you think it’s a relic?” I asked Vivian.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, letting my words sink in. In the time since encountering wraiths here at Westfield, somehow it had never occurred to us that a wraith of General Winhall could be loose on campus and connected to everything.

Vivian frowned. “We’d have to perform a summoning or ask a spirit who may have recently crossed from the realm of the living into the dead to see if they can contact its former owner. Even when a wraith moves on, they have a connection to their relic. It’s why the relic must be destroyed—so they have nothing tethering them to the realm of the living. I did that with Danny’s journal when I possessed Sarah, and we’d have to do that with the general.”

Kasem raised his hand. “I vote not to summon ghosts of Confederates.”

“Duncan was an abolitionist and loyal to the Union,” Honey corrected.

“But the blade belonged to Winhall,” Kasem said. “So wouldn’t it be his relic, not Duncan’s?”

Honey looked uncertain. “If Duncan kept it as a ‘souvenir’ of the Union’s victory at Westfield, maybe it belonged to him after.”

“It’s hard to tell. But an incredibly powerful relic, one that might belong to a wraith as old and bloodthirsty as Winhall, might be most closely tied to its original owner,” Vivian said. “So even if Duncan saw it as a war trophy, if Winhall became a wraith and was tethered to it, unless a banishment ritual was performed, it could still be Winhall’s relic. That said, it’s entirely possible that Duncan may have become a wraith too, and made it his relic.”

Jojo was noticeably silent throughout the latter part of the exchange. I turned to him, waiting for the historical fact-checking that he was undoubtedly brimming to share. But he crossed his arms, glancing at his watch.

“I have a meeting right now. The board of trustees are visiting campus.”

Honey sighed. “Are my parents coming? They said they weren’t, but they’re always changing their plans last minute.”

“I doubt it. I didn’t see them among the Board’s attendees. Just a few names of the bigger donors.”