Caraval (Caraval, #1)(80)

“Only if you promise me not to say strange things like that when Daniel arrives.”

“I’m being serious, Tella.”

“So am I. Please don’t spoil this—”

A knock at the door.

“That must be Daniel.” Tella slid into a pair of silver slippers before spinning around in her periwinkle dress. The color of sweet dreams and happy endings.

“You look beautiful,” Scarlett said. But even as she dared to hope her sister was the one who’d been right all along, Scarlett could not ignore the bitter yellow puddle of dread in her stomach as Tella swept out from behind the dressing curtain and toward the hidden door against the back wall.

The world swayed as Tella opened it, everything tilting as Scarlett watched the man on the other side reach around her sister’s waist and reel her in for a kiss.

Two spots of pink colored Tella’s cheeks as she pulled away. “Daniel, we have company.” Tella drew the man she called Daniel back toward the cushioned lounges where Scarlett stood, immobile.

“I’d like you to meet my sister, Scarlett.” Tella beamed again, so brightly, she didn’t notice the way Scarlett had involuntarily taken a step back, or how the young man at her side ran his tongue over his lips when Tella wasn’t looking.

“Donatella, step away from him,” Scarlett said. “His name is not Daniel.”





37

He no longer wore a top hat, and he’d traded his dark tailcoat for a crisp white frock coat, but his eyes still sparked with the same mad gleam, as if there was something unhinged behind them, and he didn’t care about hiding it.

“Scar,” Tella hissed. Acting weird again, she mouthed.

“No, I know him,” Scarlett insisted. “That’s Legend.”

“Scarlett, please stop acting crazy,” Tella said. “Daniel’s been with me, all night, every night of the game. It’s not possible for him to be Legend.”

“It’s true.” Legend hooked his arm around Tella’s shoulder; she looked childlike under his heavy grip as he possessively pulled her short frame closer.

“Get your hands off her!” Scarlett launched herself at Legend.

“Scar! Stop!” Tella grabbed Scarlett’s hair, yanking her away before she managed more than a scratch.

“Daniel, I’m so sorry,” Tella said. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. Scarlett, end this madness!”

“He lied to you!” Scarlett’s scalp burned as she struggled with Tella. “He’s a murderer.”

Though Legend didn’t look like a killer just then. Dressed in white, and without his mad smile, he looked as innocent as a saint. “Maybe we should tie her up before she hurts herself.”

“No!” Scarlett shouted.

A flash of unease crossed Tella’s face.

“Love, she’s wild, she’s going to hurt one of us.” Legend’s brows drew together as if he were truly worried. “Remember the warnings about people who get swept too far away? I’ll hold her while you fetch rope. There should be some in a dressing trunk for episodes like this.”

“Tella, please, don’t listen to him,” Scarlett pled.

“Love,” coaxed Legend, his voice dripping deceptive concern. “It’s for her own safety.”

Tella’s eyes darted from Legend, in all his pristine glory, to Scarlett, with her knotted hair and tear-stained cheeks. “I’m sorry,” Tella said. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“No!” Scarlett thrashed again, ripping the sleeve of her dress and spilling beads on the floor, as Legend took her from her sister. Hands as strong as iron manacles twisted her wrists behind her back, while Tella disappeared behind her dressing curtain.

“See how willing she is to do whatever I suggest?” Legend purred into her ear.

“Please,” Scarlett begged, “leave her alone. I’ll do whatever you say if you let her go. You want me to jump off the balcony, I will. Just don’t hurt her!”

In one sharp motion, Legend spun Scarlett around. Pale skin and harsh cheekbones, and eyes full of unveiled madness. “You would jump for her, to your death?” He released Scarlett with a shove. “Then do it. Now.”

“You want me to jump right now?”

“Not right now.” His lips twitched at the corners, the demented imitation of a smile. “I wouldn’t have invited you to her funeral if I planned on you dying tonight. Just walk to the edge of the balcony, as close as you can get without falling over.”

Scarlett couldn’t think clearly. She wondered if this was how Tella felt around Legend. Befuddled and bewildered. “If I do this, you promise you won’t hurt my sister?”

“You have my word.” Legend X-ed a pale finger over his heart. “If you walk to the rim of the balcony, I swear, on my amazing life, I will not touch your sister again.”

“And promise me you won’t let anyone else?”

Legend raked Scarlett over with his eyes, from the ripped sleeve of her dress to her naked feet. “You’re not really in a position to make deals.”

“Then why are you making a deal with me?”

“I want to see how far you’re willing to go.” His tone turned syrupy with curiosity, but the look he gave her was pure challenge. “If you’re not willing to do this, you’ll never be able to save her.”