Chapter Fifty-Two To seek the light of truth
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
To seek the light of truth
MY DREAMS WERE OF HIM. Even with him gone, my heart stayed with him. I wanted him to hold me, to kiss away my tears. I wanted to lie in his arms, the two of us piecing together our broken truths.
Whether I was capable of admitting it or not, it had been the curse and its ripple effects that had caused Kasem and Jojo to complete the disinheritance ritual, and the curse had been the reason for the deaths that night.
Because just as much as my family and I were victims of the tragedy, so too were Jojo and Kasem.
But he was gone when I awoke, and morning brought the new weight of everything I’d come to learn, one that made my heart feel like it was being split into a thousand pieces.
So I pushed my feelings down, buried my heart with him, and prepared for the vigil.
It was scheduled for December 6, the final day before Kasem’s birthday when the curse could be fulfilled.
Theta and Sigma were handling the preparations. Provost Henning and the faculty gathered Theta in the conservatory, while Sigma helped the waitstaff prepare drinks and light appetizers in the dining halls.
The building itself was a massive greenhouse built to hold hundreds of visitors and was made entirely of glass.
Wild foliage and immaculate plant life filled every inch of it.
There were benches for visitors to sit on and a path weaving throughout the greenhouse for exploring.
At the center of the conservatory, someone had set an upright piano.
Thetas decorated it with intricate vines, twisting the leaves around each of the piano legs and placing lilies on its lid.
And just a ways off, framed portraits of the students who’d died during the hazing were propped up and shrouded in mourning wreaths.
“It will be a procession,” Provost Henning explained as we completed the final preparations for the service.
“The vigil itself will be held in our auditorium, and when it’s finished, we will lead visitors to the conservatory to say our goodbyes and donate to the families.
Our pianist will be here, playing throughout the event.
” She turned to me. “Any questions?” she asked.
No one spoke.
Like everyone else, she was dressed entirely in black, and the sharp contrast of the moth veil and robes she wore against her silver hair and aged figure made her look like one of the ghosts haunting Westfield.
In the glass panes of the window, I caught my own reflection. One of the Thetas had lent me a long, flowing dress with a corset bust for the occasion, and I wore it with the lace gloves Kasem had given me. Over my shoulder, I carried the satchel with the switchblade hidden inside.
The tight, curly ringlets of my hair splayed all around me like a halo of clouds, the front of which I’d braided into cornrows and woven with flowers.
Since Greek life was on probation, bids were postponed.
But Honey, my Big, draped Theta’s veil over me and the other pledges in a makeshift ceremony.
Professor Enlex handed me a folder of sheet music that I’d be playing throughout the night. “You can practice now, if you’d like. Though I’m sure you’ll be perfect when the time comes.”
I took the folder from her and sat in front of the piano, but I didn’t play.
Instead, I spent the last few hours until the vigil reading the music and taking the notes to memory, my fingers hovering above the keys, practicing as if I were really playing.
At one point, my fingers accidentally struck the keys, and I recoiled as the soft notes of Chopin echoed through the conservatory.
“I heard a rumor,” a voice said behind me.
I barely turned before Honey was there, scooting me over on the piano bench.
“They’re saying Kasem snuck out from your room this morning. I don’t know why they’re telling me,” she said with a nervous little laugh. “I guess some folks still believe the rumors about us from the maze.”
I stiffened, brushing my hair behind my ear and turning the page of the sheet music.
“People have always thought that,” she said.
“When Kasem and I were younger, when we were in the same private school before he transferred and skipped grades to start university early, he made me a ring of daisies and I made him one in return. I told him that even if he couldn’t inherit Westfield because of his brother, that I’d marry him so he could be part of the board of trustees like my parents.
” She laughed. “Not like that’s actually how those things worked.
But we promised to take care of each other, and be there for each other. Always.”
“Why are you telling me this? You’re with Alaster.”
“I know,” she said. She looked pained, like there was something weighing on her chest. “Mother always said to bet on the winning horse.”
And there it was. The answer.
Her parents, members of the Westfield Board of Trustees and its conservatorship, wanted their daughter with the person whom they believed would eventually inherit the Westfield estate. Not the cursed son of one of its original founders.
“We’re best friends,” Honey continued, the same way I used to talk about Jojo when anyone asked what we were. I knew what it was like being on the other side of an unrequited love that had bloomed from friendship. But it was different for me now.
In the distance, one of the staff announced that the vigil would be starting. Waiters carrying bottles of glittering white apple cider entered, standing in formation across every entrance to the greenhouse.
Honey waved for a waiter to bring her one of the ciders. When the man did, she slipped a small flask from her purse and poured its contents into her drink.
“You want some?” she asked.
When I shook my head, she took a swig and put it away before sipping on her spiked cider. The diamond ring on her finger flashed brilliantly.
“Do you know it’s an heirloom from Alaster’s side of the family,” Honey said, admiring the ring coolly.
“Since my parents are supposed to be attending the vigil today, Alaster decided that we should surprise them with the good news and be public about us—I mean, more public than I was at Theta House.”
“It’ll be good publicity for Westfield too, I’m sure.” An engagement between its elite families on the heels of a heartbreaking vigil. What better way to get ahead of the negative public press than nuptials?
Honey smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her lips.
“Look at you, thinking like a Saint James already.”
She stood then, taking her flute of cider, and glanced at the piano.
“Have you gotten Jojo to agree to the binding ritual?”
“Not yet,” I said. “But I will.”
She seemed skeptical but didn’t comment on how time was running out. Instead, she nodded in Alaster’s direction, her gesture discreet.
“I’ll be staying close to him, in case he tries anything. This engagement, as orchestrated as it is by our families, has some benefits. That should give Angelica and Vivian time to do the binding ritual.”
It was really happening. Everything we’d been working toward would finally be put to the test.
“Be careful,” I said.
Honey gave me a rueful smile.
“You too. And good luck tonight. I’m sure it won’t be easy playing in front of an audience again.”
She didn’t mean it as a slight. Or maybe she had.
I didn’t know. But when Provost Henning gave the last call and then the doors opened for the guests of the vigil, I stood, my heart beating in my chest, the sounds pounding against my ears, making me faint and nauseous.
Inside the greenhouse, there was nowhere to go or hide.
The doors opened.
The vigil had begun.