Page 51 of Divine Oaths

I couldn’t describe it to him, the constant visions, the weight of them tearing at my mind, making me lose touch with reality.

“I don’t want to end up like her, Jojo,” I said, tears burning against my lashes. “She spent the last few days of her life paranoid and tormented by her powers. I don’t want that to be me.”

A soft light gleamed in Jojo’s eyes, like he could feel my pain as his own. He took my wrist, where the scar glimmered, tracing his hand along the length of it. My pulse was a thousand drums, beating to the tune of his heartbeat.

But then something snapped in him.

“I’m going to kill him,” he said, standing. “He shouldn’t have put you in danger like that. He knew better. He’s always so careless.”

Around us, heads turned in our direction.

I grabbed Jojo by the shoulder, yanking him back down and pulling away quickly before I could be thrust into a vision.

“It’s not his fault—”

“If you say that again, I will actually lose it, Sianna. I genuinely will. He put your life at risk. What happened in the alleyway? You didn’t just find him and call the paramedics, did you? You saved his life. Which means you were marked by the curse, marked to die.”

“But I survived. I’m protected,” I said, repeating Kasem’s words.

“Only from the curse directly targeting you. But Kasem is in danger, and you are too, as long as you’re near him. What if another accident happens? You could still die.”

“So then help us,” I said, frustrated. “Help us break the connection my powers have with his lifeline.”

“The only way I know of removing such a bond is if he dies or if you break the curse.” Jojo seethed. “And he’s going to, Sianna. You’re going to spend these next four months in torture because of your powers, risking your life and maybe getting hurt, just for him to die.”

He pulled off the bracelet. When he did, the scar on my wrist shimmered, more opaque than it had been before. All around us, the lights in the seating area began to flicker, dimming and flashing as a fog thickened in the air—as if some force beneath our waking world had been stirred from its sleep.

“That’s why he let you keep his beads of protection. The bracelet is meant to be a ward against all evil. But it can only do so much, and he’s putting the both of you at even more risk by not wearing the beads himself. He has absolutely no protection from the curse and none of the wards the beads would have at least granted him.”

“Does Kasem know that?” I whispered.

Jojo laughed. “Do you think he cares?”

Gently, he strung the bracelet back on my wrist. Beneath its touch, the mark turned translucent again, as if taking it off had weakened its ability to keep the mark at bay.

“Our ancestor Kent,” Jojo said, “the one who first helped found Westfield a long time ago, was given the beads of protection by his wife, Yara, a woman gifted with an affinity for charming objects. He was going to fight in the Civil War for the Union, in one of the Black regiments at the time. She wanted to keep him safe, so she made the bracelet, and over the years, she added little charms like the cowrie shells, and then the ring, after he inherited Westfield at the end of the Civil War, at the dawn of Reconstruction. It’s a family heirloom. It can’t stop the curse from killing the heir or those marked by the curse, but wearing it does a good job protecting them. As much as it can.

“Kasem probably thinks having the bracelet won’t make a difference at this point,” Jojo continued, “but maybe he’s right to let you keep it. You’re the first person we know who survived your fated death by the curse. At the very least, while you wear it, you have the bracelet’s wards.” His expression softened, reluctantly allowing himself to be pleased by something Kasem had done, if just for a moment.

But worry tore at me. This meant Kasem was in more danger than he might have been with the bracelet. Because of me.

“So, Yara was a witch?”

“Not a witch. One gifted with an affinity. We would describe it no differently than your affinity to see into timelines.”

“My powers aren’t a gift,” I said.

“I’m not trying to tell you how you should feel about it. But that’s how we would consider it.”

“So if she added protection charms to the bracelet, wouldn’t that mean she knew about the curse? Is there a way to find out more about her?”

“I don’t know much more than that. Our mother would, but she’s—she wouldn’t be able to speak of it. And me telling you all this doesn’t change my position about you being at Westfield or getting involved with our family.”

“Then why are you back at Westfield?” I asked. “Are you really working with Alaster, even though he obviously wants the inheritance?”

“The research I’m doing is about Westfield’s origins. I’m studying the important artifacts in the school’s collection, dating them, and tracing them back to the alumni who may be connected to them.”

“Which means that we can use what you find to help us break the curse. Instead of cozying up to the board of trustees or Alaster, help Kasem. Help me.”