Caraval (Caraval, #1)(22)

It seemed the tricks on Scarlett’s eyes had already begun.

“Come on.” Julian strode from the balcony, a purpose to his step that said he expected her to follow. “If you’d been listening, you’d have heard him say that everything locks at dawn. This game has a reverse curfew. Doors close at sunrise and don’t unlock until after sunset. We don’t have much time to find our rooms.”

Julian stopped walking. At his feet, a trapdoor was open. Most likely it was how the boy had entered unseen. It led to a winding black marble staircase, spiraling down like the inside of a dark seashell, lit by waxy sconces dripping crystal candles.

“Crimson—” Julian stopped her at the threshold. For a moment his expression looked torn, the way it had during the tense seconds before he’d left her in the clock shop.

“What is it?” Scarlett asked.

“We need to hurry.” Julian let Scarlett go first, though after a few flights she wished that the sailor had gone before her, or that he’d just left her to her own devices as she imagined he’d been about to at the top of the stairs. According to Julian, every step she took was too slow.

“We don’t have all night,” he repeated. “If we don’t get to the Serpent before dawn—”

“We’ll be out in the cold until tomorrow night. I know. I’m going as fast as I can.” Scarlett had thought the balcony was ten stories high, but now it seemed more like one hundred. She was never going to get to Tella.

It might have been different if her dress weren’t so clingy. Once more Scarlett tried to will it into another shape, but the gown remained determinedly unchanged. Her legs were shaking and a fine layer of sweat coated her thighs as she finally exited with Julian.

Outside, the air was crisper and a little bit damp, though thankfully there was no snow on any of the streets. The dampness came from the canals. Scarlett hadn’t realized it while above, but every other street was made of water. Striped boats swam about, as bright as tropical fish and shaped like half-moons, all helmed by young men or women around her age.

But there were no signs of Donatella.

Julian flagged down a boat right away, aquamarine with red stripes, steered by a young sailor girl dressed to match. Her lips were painted red as well, and Scarlett couldn’t help but notice how wide they parted as Julian strode closer.

“What can I do for you, lovelies?” she asked.

“Oh, I think you’re the lovely one.” Julian ran his fingers through his hair, flashing her a look made of lies and other sinful things. “Can you reach La Serpiente de Cristal before sunup?”

“I’ll take you wherever you need to go, as long as you’re willing to pay.” The red-lipped girl emphasized the word pay, reinforcing what Scarlett assumed back in the clock shop—coins were not the primary currency used in this game.

Julian was unfazed. “We were told our first ride of the night would be free. My fiancée here is a special guest of Master Legend.”

“Is that so?” The girl narrowed one eye as if she didn’t believe him, but then to Scarlett’s surprise, she beckoned them on board. “I’m not one to disappoint special guests of Legend.”

Julian hopped on nimbly and motioned for Scarlett. The boat appeared sturdier than their last ride, with tufted cushions on the benches, yet Scarlett couldn’t bring herself to leave the cobbled street.

“This one isn’t going to sink,” Julian said.

“That’s not what I’m worried about. My sister, what if she’s out here looking for us?”

“Then I hope someone tells her the sun’s about to come up.”

“You really don’t care about her at all, do you?”

“If I didn’t care, then I wouldn’t hope someone has told her it’s almost sunup.” Julian motioned impatiently for Scarlett to enter the boat. “You don’t need to worry, love. They’ve probably placed her at the same inn as us.”

“But what if they haven’t?” Scarlett said.

“Then you’re still more likely to find her by boat. We’ll cover distance faster this way.”

“He’s right,” said the girl. “Daylight is approaching fast. Even if you did find your sister, you wouldn’t be able to walk to La Serpiente before it arrives. Tell me what she looks like, and I can keep an eye out for her as we go.”

Scarlett wanted to argue. Even if she couldn’t find her sister before sunup, she wanted to do everything in her power to try. Scarlett imagined this to be the sort of place where a person could be lost and never found.

But Julian and the sailor girl were right; they’d move faster in the crescent boat. Scarlett didn’t know how much time had passed since the isle’s curious sun had disappeared, but she was certain time moved differently in this place.

“My sister is shorter than me, and very pretty, with a bit of a rounder face and long spirals of blond hair.”

Scarlett had their mother’s darker coloring while Tella had received their father’s fair curls.

“The lighter hair should make her easier to find,” said the sailor girl, but as far as Scarlett could tell, she spent more time with her eyes on Julian’s handsome face.

Julian was just as unhelpful. As they glided over midnight-blue waters she sensed he was searching for something, but it wasn’t her younger sister.