Caraval (Caraval, #1)(83)

“Get out of my way.” The governor slapped Jovan across the face.

“Don’t touch her!” Scarlett and Legend both spoke at once, though it was Legend who moved forward in a flash. Sharp, pale lines and dark, dark eyes now focused on the governor. “You will not hurt any more of my players.”

“Or what are you going to do?” Governor Dragna snarled. “I know the rules. I know you can’t harm me as long as the game is in play.”

“Then you also know the game ends at sunrise, which is approaching fast. When that happens, I’m no longer bound by those rules.” Legend bared his teeth. “Since you have seen my true face, that’s even more incentive for me to rid the world of you.”

Legend flicked his wrist, and every candled lamp and fire pit throughout the balcony turned brighter, casting a hellish red-orange glow over the obsidian floor.

Governor Dragna paled.

“I may not have cared about your daughter,” Legend went on, “but I do care about my players, and I know what you have done.”

“What is he talking about?” Scarlett asked.

“Don’t listen to him,” said the governor.

“Your father thought he could kill me,” Legend said. “The governor mistakenly believed Dante was the master of Caraval, and took his life instead.”

Scarlett looked at her father aghast. “You murdered Dante?”

Even the count, who now stood at a distance, looked unsettled by this.

Governor Dragna’s breathing turned heavy. “I was just trying to protect you!”

“Maybe you should think about protecting yourself,” Legend went on. “If I were you, Governor, I’d leave now and never come back, to this place or anywhere else you might find me. Things will not end as favorably next time I see you.”

The count backed away first. “I had nothing to do with any murders. I was only here for her.” The count’s eye cut to Scarlett, holding her gaze far past that initial moment of being uncomfortable. He didn’t say another word. But his lips curved just enough to show a flash of white teeth. It was the same way he had looked at her the first time she’d run away from him; as if a game between the two of them had just begun and he was eager to play.

Scarlett got the impression that although Count Nicolas d’Arcy was leaving, their business was far from complete.

The count tilted his head in a mockery of a bow. Then he turned and strode out of the door, silver boots echoing as he disappeared.

“Come on.” The governor waved Scarlett forward with an unsteady hand. “We’re leaving.”

“No.” Scarlett was shaking again, but she stood her ground. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You stupid—” The governor swore. “If you stay, he’s defeated our family. This is what he wanted. But if you want to come with me, he loses. I’m sure the count will—”

“I’m not marrying him, and you cannot make me. You’re the one who destroyed our family. All you want is power and control,” Scarlett said, “but you will not have either over me any longer. You have nothing left to hold me now that Tella is gone.”

For a moment Scarlett was tempted to step up on the ledge and add, Now leave, before you lose both your daughters. But she would not let him destroy her as he had her sister. She would do what she should have done long ago.

“I know your secrets, Father. I was always too afraid before, but now that you can’t use Tella to control me, I have no reason to stay quiet. I know you think you can get away with murder, but I don’t imagine your guards will stay loyal much longer when I tell everyone you murdered one of their own sons. I will tell the entire isle how you killed Felipe, drowned him with your own hands, just to frighten me into obeying you. How well do you think you’ll sleep once Felipe’s father learns about that? And I know other secrets too, ones that will put an end to everything you’ve built.”

Scarlett had never been so bold in all her life. Her heart and her soul and even her memories managed to hurt. Everything ached. She felt hollow and heavy all at once. It pained her to breathe and it took effort to speak. But she was still alive. She was still breathing and speaking and feeling. Most of what she felt was agony, but she also didn’t feel afraid of anything.

And for the first time, her father looked afraid of her.

He looked more frightened of Legend. But, either way, he was leaving and she didn’t imagine he would come after her again. A governor did not live long without loyal guards. The Conquered Isles were not the most prestigious place to rule, but there was always someone looking to usurp power.

So it should have felt like a victory when he walked out the door. Scarlett was finally free. Free of her father. Free to go wherever she wanted—Julian had given her that with the coordinates in his pocket watch.

Julian. The grief she felt for him was different from the loss she felt for Tella: each tore apart a separate half of her, but they weighed her down equally. She could feel fresh sobs building in her chest, swelling like waves about to crash, but at the thought of Julian, she recalled something else. She remembered why she’d abandoned his body in those tunnels.

She’d won the game. She still had her wish and Legend was there to grant it.

For a moment she felt hope, lighter than the weight of her grief. Indescribable and iridescent—and utterly impossible to hold on to.