Finale (Caraval #3)(73)
Was it possible that Legend was actually falling in love with her?
Not that she wanted him to. Not anymore. No matter how much just the thought of the possibility of his love made her heart start to race. She didn’t want him to become human and thus susceptible to death for her. And he’d made it clear, over and over, that he didn’t want to, either.
Tella looked down at the map as it began to shift again. She didn’t want to trust the map—it felt too much like trusting Jacks—and she imagined Legend had to feel the same way. But she was grateful he’d taken the Fated object.
The uncontrollable feeling that time was moving too fast and they were moving too slow was back. Whenever Tella thought about Scarlett, Tella’s heart clenched with fear. She reminded herself that her older sister was cautious, and the letter she’d sent yesterday promised she would bring them the Fallen Star’s blood tonight. But Tella couldn’t help but fear that something was about to go wrong, and even if Scarlett managed to get the blood, it wouldn’t do them any good if they didn’t find the Ruscica. Tella and Legend didn’t have the luxury of wasting time—and the map was too incredible to ignore.
As Tella and Legend followed the Map of All, it didn’t just outline a route for them, it revealed a strange sense of humor as it affixed odd labels to several of the places, plants, and animals that Tella and Legend passed—and some that they didn’t pass.
HIGHLY INTELLIGENT DOG
BEWARE OF LICE
ACTUAL SKELETONS INSIDE THE CLOSETS
VALENDA’S FINEST FISH FUDGE
UNDERGROUND TUNNELS THAT LEAD OUT OF TOWN
UNDERGROUND TUNNELS THAT LEAD TO DEATH AND DISMEMBERMENT
Tella had almost stopped thinking about where they were actually heading, when the path on the map finally ended just south of the Satine District. The words Entrance to the Immortal Library appeared. But all Tella could see was an out-of-use sky carriage house with a set of rotted boards nailed crosswise in front of the main door.
The words Danger and Do Not Enter were painted crudely over the boards, with symbols of skulls and kissing spiders painted beneath them.
Tella had never encountered the deadly arachnids, but she’d heard the stories. Kissing spiders attacked at night, while people were sleeping, laying eggs inside of a person’s mouth and then sealing their victim’s lips shut with their webs. There was no way to destroy the webs. They remained in place until the spiders hatched, and by then the victims were always dead.
“This is all a glamour,” Legend said.
Tella looked down at the map. The words He’s right hovered over the image of the infested carriage house, and yet she still felt reticent to enter. “If it’s a glamour, why are you ripping the boards off the door?”
“There’s a mental magic attached, like the illusions I use. We have to treat this as if it’s real to get through.”
Tella clamped her mouth shut as they stepped inside. She told herself that none of it was real. The rotting scent snaking up her nose was in her mind. Whatever squished beneath her slippers was not fungus; the yellow spiders crawling over her arms were not really there.
“This is the oldest magic I’ve ever felt…” Legend trailed off, and for a moment she thought she saw something like admiration in his eyes as the walls around them begin to crumble and a waterfall of spiders poured down from the ceiling.
Tella fought the urge to scream lest one, or more, landed in her mouth.
Legend captured her hand and propelled her forward through an avalanche of spiders. She felt their tiny legs crawling everywhere as the murderous spiders multiplied, covering every inch of her skin.
Tella didn’t know if death by illusion was possible. Then she remembered what Jacks had said about needing to summon Fated places with blood. The wound on her palm from when she’d exchanged blood with Jacks was nearly healed, but Tella imagined she could reopen it with her nails.
She pulled her hand free from Legend’s and scratched her healing wound, drawing a fresh surge of blood.
Drop it there, instructed the map, pointing to an eruption of spiders in the corner of the room. There were too many for Tella to make out a symbol, but she obeyed the map and instantly the spiders, the fetid ground, and the decaying walls all vanished.
One blink and the world was falling apart, and then she and Legend were in a courtyard made of sandstone walls covered in star jasmine that smelled as sweet as it looked. Tella took a timid breath. She wasn’t sure if this was another illusion or the Fated library, but it was extremely preferable to that cascade of killer spiders.
Above them half the sky was intense with sunlight, while the other half shimmered with stars. At one end of it was a decorative sandstone arch with two massive statues on either side, formed of sparkling peach sand. The statues’ lower halves were feline, while their torsos were human, one male, one female. Their heads would have appeared human as well if not for the curving horns poking out from the tops of them.
The male statue opened his mouth. “Welcome, fellow immortal and young mortal.”
“We hope you find what you seek,” added the female. “But be warned, there is a small tithe to step inside and read our books.” Both statues’ mouths slammed shut with an audible snap.
Tella’s jaw crashed to a close as well. She fought to part her lips, to open her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t.
She turned to Legend. He shook his head, his mouth as closed as hers.