The prince’s mouth tightened and his eyes might have flashed back to Tella.

“Fine. You have a deal. I won’t, unless one of you asks me to.” Jacks took a dagger from his boot and sliced his hand, creating a spill of blood to seal the promise.

Tella started gasping, panting for air. “You’re a demon!” She might have cursed Jacks more thoroughly, but all she wanted to do was breathe. She’d trusted him. She’d thought that he actually cared about her, and he’d tried to kill her.

Legend’s arms went around her, holding her up as she continued to fight for oxygen. “You scared me,” he murmured.

“What will this cost you?” she asked against his chest.

Instead of answering, Legend carefully walked her to the edge of the fountain, seeming to have mostly recovered from his earlier use of magic, as he helped her sit on the rim. “Stay. I’ll be right back.”

He turned back to the Prince of Hearts. “We’re not doing this here.” Legend stalked into the ruins of the decrepit mansion without waiting for Jacks to follow.

As soon as Jacks and Legend were out of sight, Tella shoved up from the fountain with shaky arms and shuffled in the direction they’d gone. Jacks was only supposed to take a fraction of Legend’s power. But she didn’t trust him, and she’d seen the power exchange between Legend and the witch—she had watched as Legend drained Esmeralda of all her magic. She couldn’t let that happen to Legend.

Jacks might have left her too weak to do much, and even at her best, she wouldn’t be able to tear two powerful immortals apart. But it wouldn’t prevent her from trying if necessary.

She crept closer to the ruined mansion that Jacks and Legend had entered. The entire structure was skeletal, a corpse made of bricks and stones instead of bones. Tella pressed her hands against the dirty walls to keep herself from collapsing as she peered through a jagged hole.

She knew from her own experience with Jacks that blood exchanges could be intensely emotional. Jacks’s mouth was latched on to Legend’s wrist. Blood stained the corners of his lips, while his face twisted into something sadistic and hungry as he drank.

Unlike Jacks, Legend appeared to feel nothing. He looked like a study in apathy—until suddenly Legend ripped his wrist away from Jacks’s mouth with enough force to knock the Fate several steps back. “Tella isn’t yours.” The words were razor-sharp.

Jacks responded with a bloody smile. “She will be.”

Tella gripped the wall to stay standing as she again remembered the way he’d flashed his dimples and said, I suppose I’ll just have to try harder.

Was this his way of trying?

She continued to watch as Jacks wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “She forgave me before. She’ll forgive me again. And now that this transaction has taken your ability to visit her dreams, it shouldn’t be difficult to win her.”

Tella shoved away from the wall, ready to march inside and tell Jacks just how difficult and unforgiving she could be. But her legs had other ideas. They crumpled beneath her and brought her crashing to the hard ground. “Bastard!”

“I hope you’re not talking about me.”

She looked up.

Legend towered above her. But his coloring was off again—he looked pale instead of glowing bronze—and his dark hair had fallen out of place. “I asked you to stay by the fountain.”

No. He’d told her to stay. But she didn’t want to fight with him about it, not after what she’d just seen him do. “I’m sorry about the dreams.”

“I don’t care about the dreams.” His voice turned rough in a flash. “I care that you almost died.”

“I don’t think he really would have killed me.”

“Yes, he would have, Tella. He’s a Fate; you’re a human and the object of his obsession. There’s only one way your story with him ends—unless you let me make you an immortal.”

She didn’t even see him move, but suddenly Legend was on his knees in front of her. His eyes met hers in a way that was both fierce and tender all at once, while his warm hands cupped her cheeks.

“What—what are you doing?” she stammered.

“I gave up too easily.” His thumb stroked her jaw. “You asked me to let you go, but I can’t.”

“I already told you. It was just the idea—”

“You lied.” Another quick move and his hands left her face so that one of his arms could slide under her legs while another went behind her back.

“Legend—” Tella protested. “I don’t need you to carry me.”

He continued picking her up, and cradled her to his chest, so close she could feel his steady heartbeat. “He tried to kill you. I need to carry you.”

All the air left her lungs as he marched across the ruins and started down the steps. “I’m still not letting you make me an immortal.”

“We’ll see.” His voice had softened, and she might have called it sweet, but there was nothing sweet about the way he smiled. It was a smile that promised she’d enjoy this new game, even as she lost it.

39

Donatella

Tella had never been so cold inside one of her dreams. Her breath came out in thick white puffs that lingered like fog, as she wandered through a house of cards, which was actually more nightmare than dream. All of the cards were either queens with her smiling likeness, or kings with Jacks’s cruel face, winking at her whenever she dared look at them.

“I know you’re here somewhere!” Tella called. She didn’t know how he’d gotten into her dream. She’d taken precautions to keep him out after he’d tried to kill her. But clearly those measures had failed.

Jacks sauntered out from between a pair of red queens with her face that both had the audacity to blow him kisses.

She stormed forward and slapped him across the cheek, hard enough to leave a red mark against his pale skin. “I will never forgive you for what you did today.”

Every king and queen on the cards scowled or covered their mouths in shock. Some looked as if they might even march out of their cards and attack, but Jacks waved them off with a lazy hand as something that was probably supposed to be sadness flickered in his silver-blue eyes.

“You were never in danger, Donatella.” His voice was far more serious than usual. “I knew he wouldn’t let me kill you.”

“That doesn’t justify what you did!” She tried not to shout, tried not to show how much he’d hurt her, how much she cared. She’d never meant to trust him, but he’d been there when her mother had died, he’d cared for her when Legend hadn’t. She knew he was a Fate, she knew he had little to no conscience, but she’d started to believe he was trying to fight against his nature for her. “What would you have done if he refused to give you his power? Would you have let me die?”

“I knew he wouldn’t refuse.”

“That’s not an answer.” Tella clamped her hands into fists. She wanted to slap him again—she wanted to tackle him to the ground and take the entire house of cards down with him and hurt him the way that he’d hurt her. But Legend was right, Jacks was an immortal and she was clearly his obsession. There was no good ending to their story. He wasn’t even capable of the same emotions as she was. If he felt any guilt, or if he had any real feelings for her, he’d have never tried to kill her.

“Why do you care?” Jacks said. “You just said you’d never forgive me.”

“You’re still ignoring the question.”

Jacks rubbed the cheek where she’d slapped him as he leaned back against one of his paper kings. “Would you even believe me if I said no, that I wouldn’t let you die—that I would never let you die?”

“No,” Tella said. “I won’t ever believe you again. And I want you to stay out of my dreams.” She knew he’d made a blood vow not to use his powers on her, but if he wanted to she knew he’d find a way around the vow, like he did with everything else. “How did you even get in here tonight?”

The paper king that Jacks leaned against gave Tella a crooked smile. “You and I have a connection. I’ve never needed permission to enter your dreams.”

Tella’s blood ran cold. “No, we do not have a connection. And after this, I never want to see you again.”

The paper king’s smile faded, but Jacks looked undisturbed. “You say that now, but you’ll come back to me.”

40

Donatella

Time was rushing faster than blood could pour out of a sliced artery. In two days, the Fallen Star would make his claim for the throne—unless they managed to stop him.