“And yet you didn’t try to keep me out tonight?” His perfect lips toyed with the sharp tip of his blade. “What were you thinking before you slept?”

“Not about you.”

“Really?” he taunted. “You weren’t wishing I was there to make you feel better?” He continued toying with the knife, but the look in his unearthly eyes softened as his gaze trailed over her untamed curls and down to her ungloved hands, until it landed on the frayed hem of her wrecked ball gown. She almost thought he was concerned, until he said, “You look miserable.”

“It’s not polite to tell that to a girl,” she snapped.

“I didn’t come here to be polite, my love.” He dropped his knife to the floor with a clatter and stalked closer. “I’m here because you wanted me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“So, you don’t want me to take your pain away?” His eyes were the flawless blue of polished sea glass. “I can make you feel whatever you want when you wake up. All you have to do is ask.”

He cupped her cheek with his cool hand and leaned in closer.

She should have pulled away. The word obsession returned to her mind. But when Jacks touched her, she couldn’t bring herself to worry that this was a horrible idea, or hate the feel of him the way she was supposed to. His cool skin was soothing against her heated cheek, coaxing her to close her eyes, to lean into him, to take what he was offering.

“Doesn’t that feel better?” His cold lips were at her ear, brushing against the sensitive skin. “Just say yes and I’ll take away everything that hurts. I can make you forget it all. And I can give you things that your dead princeling couldn’t.”

A shiver shot down Tella’s spine and her eyes flashed open. This wasn’t what she wanted. Everything that hurt was everything she cared about—Legend, her mother, Scarlett, the Fates taking over the empire.

Tella shook her head and pulled away. She didn’t need Jacks to make her feel better. She needed to wake up, she needed to find her sister, and then she needed to go to the Vanished Market to purchase a secret that might tell her how to destroy the Fallen Star. She didn’t need to erase her pain; she needed it to propel her into action. Just because it was a negative emotion didn’t mean it wasn’t a valuable one. “We’re not doing this.”

Jacks rocked back on his heels and ran his tongue over the tips of his teeth. “You don’t want to feel better?”

“No, and I don’t want you!”

He laughed, tossing back his golden head and making the sound echo across the abandoned ballroom. “You say that, my love, but a part of you does, or I wouldn’t even be here.”

28

Scarlett

Scarlett pretended not to be terrified. She pretended she wasn’t trapped inside the Fated Menagerie. She pretended that instead of petrified shades of plum, her feelings were peaceful hues of pink that matched the gauzy crescent bed she forced herself to lie on.

She’d wanted to use the Reverie Key the moment the Fallen Star left. But the Lady Prisoner hadn’t taken her lavender eyes off of Scarlett. Because of her cage, the Fate couldn’t physically stop Scarlett from leaving, but Scarlett didn’t want the Lady Prisoner yelling to alert a guard before she could escape. It would be safer to sneak out after the Fate fell asleep.

“Whatever you’re planning, you can trust me with it.” The Lady Prisoner delicately hopped off her perch and walked to the edge of her cage, watching Scarlett between golden bars. Her smile was far more convincing than the Fallen Star’s, but she was a Fate, and although she was imprisoned, she’d seemed pretty loyal to the Fallen Star before he’d left.

Scarlett’s other father, Marcello, had guards like this, younger guards who he’d told to be friendly to his daughters for the purpose of keeping an extra close eye on them.

“I’m not planning anything,” Scarlett said.

“Of course you are,” said the Fate.

“Are you telling me this because of your power?” Scarlett still didn’t trust the imprisoned Fate, but she was curious about her. She could remember what her card represented, but she still couldn’t recall her ability. “When your eyes went white earlier, were you seeing the future?”

“I used to see the future, lovely. Before I was in this cage, I was beloved for my gifts. People feared the other Fates, but they adored me, and they knew they could trust me because I cannot lie. This cage has dimmed my gifts. I now only see small glimpses of things that will come to pass. Occasionally I receive inklings of which choices are best pursued, or left unmade. But the only unfettered gift I still have is my inability to lie.”

Scarlett watched the Fate skeptically as she began to strum the bars of her cage. The bit about being unable to lie did sound familiar, but it didn’t make Scarlett trust her.

“You’re still looking at me as if I’m your enemy, but I’m far more trapped than you. Do you know how horrible it is to be kept like a pet?”

No. But Scarlett had a feeling that if she didn’t leave soon she’d find out. “Why did he put you in the cage?”

“It wasn’t only him; it was another Fate, the Apothic—he can move metals and stones with his mind. The Apothic formed the cage and Gavriel sealed it with his fire to make it impenetrable to anyone except for him. He did the same thing to the Maiden Death, when he had the Apothic place a cage of pearls around her head. Like her, I won’t be free until he’s truly dead.”

Her violet eyes filled with sorrow, but Scarlett could see strands of violent purple swirling around her. She wasn’t loyal to the Fallen Star, but that didn’t mean she would be loyal to Scarlett. All that mattered to the Lady Prisoner was getting out of her cage.

“Gavriel takes pleasure in passing out punishments. If you’re smart, you’ll listen to me. Once he takes the Meridian Empire’s crown, it will be a dynasty of terror. The only reason he’s not sitting on the throne right now is because he loves toying with humans and he wants his subjects to adore him before they come to hate him.”

“He won’t get away with it,” Scarlett said. Legend was not her favorite, but he’d do everything in his power to keep his throne.

“Oh, sweetheart,” sighed the Fate. “He’s already started to get away with it. While you were sleeping like a distressed damsel, Gavriel sent a few of his loyal Fates to slay the next emperor.”

“What?” Scarlett felt all the blood drain from her face. Legend couldn’t be dead. Legend was immortal. Immortals weren’t supposed to die. But Scarlett knew better than most that Legend could be killed—she’d seen his dead body during the first Caraval. He would come back to life, eventually. But if he was really dead now, then what had happened to Julian and Tella?

When Scarlett had left to find Nicolas, both Tella and Julian had been in the palace. Tella knew when to run. But Julian liked to fight—he was Legend’s brother; he was a part of his games and now his court. And unlike Legend, Julian was mortal. If he died outside of Caraval, he wouldn’t come back to life.

Scarlett’s mouth went suddenly dry. She really had to get out of there and find Julian and her sister.

“I’m glad to see you’re finally believing something I said. The Murdered King and the Undead Queen are currently in charge. Your history books say they were our rulers, but they answer to Gavriel. He’s given them orders to make everyone as miserable as possible until the entire city is terrified. That’s when Gavriel will come in like a savior and make his claim for the throne. By then people will be eager to believe whatever lies he tells. Unless you decide to stop him.”

The Lady Prisoner gripped the bars of her cage as she peered across the room at Scarlett.

“You must become what he wants most. Only you have the power to defeat him.” The Fate’s eyes flickered from lavender to milky white. Then her shoulders slumped. She released the bars, returned to her perch, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep, as if she’d not just told Scarlett the world was ending and it was her job to save it.

But the only people Scarlett could think about saving just then were Tella and Julian. She needed to escape and make sure they were safe.

She sat on the low bed, legs bouncing up and down, no longer able to pretend she wasn’t terrified. Anissa appeared to be asleep, but Scarlett waited until her breathing sounded more like a series of gentle snores.

Scarlett cautiously rose and took a step.

The Fate continued with her snores.

Scarlett took another step.

And another.

And another. And then, without meaning to, she was running toward the main doors and shoving the Reverie Key inside the lock.

Julian. Julian. Julian.

Thinking Julian’s name as she turned the key was the fastest decision she’d ever made. If he was alive she needed—

Her thought was cut short as she stepped through the door and found herself standing beneath a rickety wooden loft, staring at a sea of straw and hay, with one tired and beautiful boy in the center of it all.