“It’s not the game I’m worried about,” Scarlett said. “I’m thinking about your heart, Tella. I don’t know what’s really going on with you and these engagement rumors, but I know that Caraval has a way of making people fall in love, and sometimes it’s with people who might not be entirely real.”

Tella wasn’t fool enough to say out loud that it would never happen to her. She also believed that when girls voiced sentiments like that aloud they were usually wishing for the opposite to occur, daring the Fates to bring the one thing they claimed not to want.

But Tella wanted love about as much as she wished to contract a disease. There were no kisses worth dying for. No souls worth merging with. There were many beautiful young men in the world, but Tella believed that none of them could be trusted with something as fragile, or valuable, as a heart—especially when her heart had been doomed by the Prince of Hearts to be broken long ago. And even if that wasn’t her destiny, she wasn’t about to fall in love with someone who was only playing a role.

Of course she couldn’t say any of this to Scarlett right now, not when Tella could see her sister’s heart crumbling because of Julian.

The very thing he’d done to keep her was the very thing that had broken them apart. Tella should have tried harder to convince him to tell the truth. She knew it wasn’t all her fault, but she could have helped prevent some of this.

“I don’t believe it’s as hopeless as it seems,” Tella said. “I think Julian is so used to lying it’s all he knows how to do. Before now I don’t imagine he’s ever had a reason to change. But I believe he loves you; it’s clear to anyone who sees the way he looks at you. You’re the starlight to his darkness, and if you feel the same about him, you should give him another chance.”

“I want to think you’re right,” Scarlett said. “But Julian promised not to lie to me at the end of Caraval, and he couldn’t even keep that vow for one day.”

Tella had broken promises just as fast, but now was probably not a good time to bring that up. And she didn’t want to make Scarlett’s choices for her. She did believe that Julian loved her sister, but maybe his life was so entrenched in lies that he was incapable of change, and Scarlett deserved more than that. Tella just hoped whatever she did, Scarlett wouldn’t start thinking about the count again.

She perched on the edge of the stony white fireplace, next to her sister. “So do you just plan on hiding in the palace all week?”

“I don’t know.” Scarlett’s gaze grew distant as she peered out the window toward the rest of the palace and the city beyond. Her mouth twisted with a thought. Then she tilted her head, her eyes taking in all the elegant blue furniture before they lifted toward the ceiling, where a host of carved cherubs watched from above.

“Maybe I’ll stay in here,” Scarlett said. “This suite is large enough to build another suite in.”

“Which reminds me,” Tella asked, “How did you get in here?”

A piece of Scarlett’s smile returned. “I might have thrown a vase in my room last night and accidently opened an entry to a hidden tunnel.” She crossed over to the second fireplace and ran a hand along the edge of the mantel until something clicked. The scent of cobwebs and sooty secrets moved through the air and several bricks shifted all at once.

“That’s brilliant!” Tella clapped.

Scarlett’s face brightened. “If you want, I’ll show them to you.”

Tella was certainly curious. But from the closest window she could see the colors outside had changed. All the browns had shifted into promising shades of bronze. A final good-bye before the sun went down. Soon night would make her appearance; a new one of Legend’s constellations would materialize in the sky. Caraval would start once more, and Tella didn’t want to be late.

According to what Jacks had said the night before, and to what Tella suspected as well, the first clue she’d received, which spoke of a region that provided promises of both faith and magic, made her think the second clue would be found in the Temple District. Tella hadn’t seen that part of the city yet, but she knew it was larger than the Spice Quarter and the Satine District put together. It could take all night to search.

“Maybe you can show me later,” Tella said. “It’s almost sunset, I should be leaving.”

Tella hadn’t even said the word Caraval, but just like that, Scarlett’s grin faded.

Tella reached for Scarlett’s hand. It was hard enough to leave her when Tella knew her sister was hurting; the last thing she wanted was for Scarlett to worry about Tella on top of it. “I know you don’t trust my judgment right now. But, I know which parts are just a game—”

Scarlett cut in with a sigh. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I don’t trust Legend, or anyone who works for him, and I think you’d be wise to do the same. At least remember the stories Nana Anna told us—Legend likes to be the villain.”

Tella grinned. “How could I forget? That was always my favorite part.”

But it couldn’t be true for this game. If Legend was really the villain, then there was only one possible person he could be—Jacks.

Tella didn’t even want to consider it, though she could picture Jacks in a top hat and tailcoat, holding out a red rose while his lips curved into a wicked smile. And maybe if Tella’s fingertips hadn’t started bleeding in front of Dante that morning, she might have been tempted to think Jacks was really Legend, and all of this was just a cruel trick.

But Tella knew Jacks was the real Prince of Hearts. She knew it as deeply as she’d known that her sister would be able to wish her back to life if she died. Tella had felt Jacks’s power since the moment they’d kissed. It was different from the magic of Caraval. Legend’s power glittered like dreams come to life, while Jacks’s magic was nightmarish. Even now she felt it, incrementally slowing her heartbeat.

Beat … beat.

Nothing.

Beat … beat.

Nothing.

Beat … beat …

Nothing.

A ticking clock inside her chest.

Tella didn’t want to be cursed, and face the possibility of death. But she wanted to save her mother, she wanted to see her again in the flesh, to find out who she really was and why she’d left. And if Jacks was Legend or one of his actors, that would never happen.

Jacks could not be Legend. But if he was, then Legend was a greater villain than Tella had ever imagined.

NIGHT TWO

OF CARAVAL

18

A crimson constellation of stars glittered above the Temple District.

From Tella’s sky carriage it had looked like an enchanted cluster of roses in full bloom. Now that she was in the district, standing beneath the stars, the entire image was harder to take in. Instead of seeing a constellation of roses, the ruby lights looked like drops of spilled star-blood, shimmering unnatural light on the world below.

Even without the eerie rose-gold glow from above, the Temple District would have been an odd place. Wailing cries of worshippers, whispered prayers of sinners, ancient chants, and a number of strangely dressed people surrounded Tella as she trod a mosaic of timeworn streets lit by torches as tall as people.

Tella didn’t know if this part of the city was always so popular or if the crowds were only because of everyone participating in Caraval and searching for the second clue.