“The Fallen Star killed my mother,” Tella said. “I watched as he murdered her. I don’t expect you to care about that, but I know you felt my pain last night. I saw you cry tears of blood.”

“Everyone who owns a Deck of Destiny has seen me cry tears of blood. Don’t turn this into a tragedy and think that means I care.”

Jacks picked up his Deck of Destiny and began to shuffle the cards with elegant fingers. “And don’t think that this means I’m on your side.” His voice was so acerbic she almost didn’t realize this was his way of saying he would help her.

“There’s a book in the Immortal Library, the Ruscica,” Jacks went on. “It can tell a person or a Fate’s entire history. If Gavriel has a fatal weakness that no one is aware of, this book might reveal it. But using the Ruscica is not a good idea. You’d need Gavriel’s blood to access his history, and retrieving that could get you killed. If you’re determined to go after him, you’ll have the best chance of finding what you need inside the Vanished Market.”

Jacks cut the cards and flipped one half of the deck over. On top lay the card for the Vanished Market, which depicted a rainbow of colorful tent stalls, all selling exotic animals, wares, and foods from times past.

We might not have what you want, but we have what you need.

The Vanished Market was one of the eight Fated places. In Decks of Destiny, the Vanished Market was an auspicious, albeit tricky, card. It promised a person that they would be given what they needed. But most people agreed that what a person needed and wanted were two different things. And Tella imagined that trading inside the market was a bit like making a deal with one of Legend’s performers during Caraval. She doubted she could purchase what she needed with coins.

“If there’s another way to kill him, you might find your answer inside of the market,” Jacks said. “There’s a stall there run by two sisters who buy and sell secrets. In exchange for your secrets, they will give you one of the Fallen Star’s secrets.”

Tella studied Jacks, dubious. “I’ve only seen the Fallen Star from afar, but he doesn’t strike me as the sort to sell his secrets.”

“He’s not, but if anyone has one of his secrets, it would be the sisters. The market exists outside of time. If you visit them, you’ll learn that they have unique methods of collecting information.”

“Where can I find the market?”

“Several of the ruins throughout the city were once Fated places, but to access their magic, they need to be summoned.” Jacks pointed to a set of ruins to the west of the Temple District. “Look for an hourglass etched into the stones and feed it one drop of blood to summon the market. But be careful, there is always a cost to enter a Fated place that has been called forth. The market exacts a time tithe from everyone who steps inside. For every hour you spend in the market, a day will pass in our world.”

“Thank you for the warning.” Tella hadn’t known that bit, and she was more than a little surprised Jacks had told her, since a Fate’s primary source of entertainment was toying with humans. In fact, she was surprised by everything he’d told her. She’d come here half wanting to rebel against Legend and half hoping for answers. She hadn’t actually expected to get any. But she had. She now knew Legend’s immortal weakness, and she also knew where to search for the Fallen Star’s weakness. “I imagine you want something in exchange now.”

Jacks’s eyes slowly lowered to her mouth.

A chill caressed her lips like a kiss. “I already told you that’s not why I’m here.”

“So then why haven’t you left?”

His laughter followed Tella as she walked out the door.

21

Scarlett

Scarlett should have been tripping over her feet with exhaustion rather than dancing into her sparkling palace suite.

After using the Reverie Key with Julian to visit a baker he knew in the north, where Scarlett tasted the best cakes of her life, he’d then brought her to see an old friend of his in the Southern Empire, where the water was the most brilliant shade of turquoise she’d ever seen and people sent messages with sea turtles. She could have stayed there longer, but Julian had wanted to take her to his distant cousin, who lived in a house with a roof made for watching the world’s most spectacular sunsets. In one afternoon Julian and the Reverie Key had shifted Scarlett’s tiny view of the world, making it even larger than she’d realized.

She tried to tamp down her smile. She shouldn’t have been giddy as she fell back onto her bed. She should have been mourning the loss of her mother, worrying about where her sister was, or fearful of the Fates that were all waking up.

But it was difficult to be afraid of nightmares when Scarlett’s thoughts were still tangled up in the dream that was Julian. She’d lied about needing to sleep because she’d felt so caught up in him she’d wanted to wake and return back to the real.

She regretted it already.

The Reverie Key was still warm in her pocket. She thought about using it to find him, and asking him to visit one more magical place. And maybe Scarlett would have done just that, if a servant hadn’t knocked on the door with a delivery from Nicolas.

Scarlett didn’t even need to open the card that came with it to know the gift was from him. It was a crystal watering can, small enough to fit in her palm, as if it were for pixie-size plants.

Scarlett crashed back to reality. She’d been trying not to think about the competition between Julian and Nicolas. Given everything else that had happened in the last two days, it didn’t seem nearly as important as it had before. But she couldn’t just ignore it.

Scarlett opened the note reluctantly. When she had received letters from Nicolas in the past, she’d always reread them until the paper went thin. But she wished this one had never arrived.

* * *

Dearest Scarlett,

I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you visited. Now that I have met you, my imaginings are no longer adequate. I hope you like the first part of my gift. There’s a second part that goes with it, but I’d prefer to give it to you in person. If you’re available, I would like to see you again tomorrow.

Faithfully yours,

Nicolas

* * *

If Julian had written the words, Scarlett was certain her heart would have raced, or her cheeks would have hurt from the way her smile stretched. She’d have felt something. But not even the dress managed a response.

Closing her eyes, Scarlett lay her head against her pillows.

She used to think Nicolas was her best option for marriage. And maybe he was safer than Julian. Nicolas was attractive, attentive, everything he’d made himself out to be in his previous letters. But Scarlett felt nothing for him. No, that wasn’t true. She felt relieved that they weren’t married.

Nicolas might have been the safer choice, but Julian was whom Scarlett wanted to choose. There was no competition between Julian and Nicolas. Julian had won Scarlett’s heart a long time ago.

She went to her desk to write Nicolas one last letter.

* * *

Dear Nicolas,

Thank you for the watering can—

* * *

Scarlett tried, but she couldn’t write another word. After all of their lost chances, it seemed terribly callous to inform Nicolas in a letter that she’d already made her choice. She wouldn’t want to be dismissed this way.

Balling up her note and tossing it in the trash, Scarlett looked at his letter once again. She couldn’t give him her hand in marriage, but she could give him this final meeting. She owed that much to him.

22

Donatella

Valenda was a city that had been made for the night.

As Tella took a sky carriage back to the palace, the world below her glittered with light. The churches and sanctuaries of the Temple District glowed like bits of moon that had lost their way, while the dimmer lights in the Spice Quarter smoldered like ashes from a fire that refused to die. Then there were the sleeping houses in between the districts, illuminated by guardian lampposts, giving an illusion of safety as people slumbered in their beds.

No one knew how fragile their security was, and Tella wondered if more Fates were waking up now. She probably should have asked Jacks about it before she’d left him. But the Prince of Hearts had looked as if he’d wanted to collect a higher fee for more information.

Tella’s coach came to a gentle halt as it reached the palace carriage house. Mindful of her gown’s ripped hem, she exited carefully.