Finale (Caraval #3)(76)
Legend laughed, but it sounded so far from humorous that it made Tella sad, not just for Legend but for all of them. “When did you become such an idealist?”
“When I met a girl who loved her sister so much she was able to wish her back to life. You might possess magic, but love like that is real power.”
“And yet all the love in the world wouldn’t have brought Tella back without my magic.”
“She never would have died without your magic, either.” Julian’s smile disappeared. “Tella would have found another way. She didn’t and doesn’t need you to save her. She needs to save you.”
42
Scarlett
Scarlett stared in the mirror that rested above her marble-pink vanity and tried not to cry at what she saw. Tella wouldn’t have cried. Tella would have willed her pain into power and used it to find a way to fix everything—no matter the cost.
Scarlett could do that, too. She could do it for her sister, for Julian, for everyone in the empire, and for herself. Even if it felt impossible at the moment.
At least her sister and Julian couldn’t see her right now.
Scarlett continued to stare at her new reflection in the mirror, as her thoughts took her back to the night before, after she’d delivered her last note to Tella and Julian, when everything had gone so awry.
Once a day, since Scarlett had first arrived in the Menagerie, the Lady Prisoner’s purple eyes turned milky-white, letting Scarlett know she was glimpsing a fragment of the future as she told Scarlett, The only way to defeat the Fallen Star is to become what he wants most. But all the Fallen Star wanted from Scarlett was for her to conquer her powers, and control the emotions of others. And her original plan had been to do just that—to cultivate her powers to change his feelings and make him love her, so that he would become mortal.
But over the last couple of days the Fallen Star had made it clear that if Scarlett mastered her abilities, it would be the catalyst that would turn her into an immortal Fate.
He’d told her this to encourage her to conquer her powers. But Scarlett knew that once she was an immortal, she would no longer be able to love. Love was such a fundamental part of what drove her, she didn’t even know who she’d be without love. What if it made her like her father, who only wanted power?
So, despite Anissa’s warning, Scarlett had planned to get the blood that Tella and Julian needed for their Fated book.
* * *
“Are you certain you want to go through with this?” asked the Lady Prisoner. “I can’t lie, so if I make a threat, I have to be willing to follow through. And if he catches you, your magical key won’t get you out of one of his cages.”
“I know,” Scarlett said. “But if this works, neither of us will have to worry about being caged at all.” Which was one of the reasons she’d chosen to trust the Fate. Scarlett didn’t believe Anissa’s concern for her was genuine, but she did believe that Anissa wanted out of her cage. “I think this will work, but if you’re having second thoughts—”
“Gavriel and I have had skirmishes like this for decades.” The Lady Prisoner hopped off her perch to move closer to Scarlett. “I can handle whatever he throws my way.”
“So can I,” Scarlett said, feigning confidence she didn’t feel as she dropped the wineglass from her hand, shattering it against the marble floor. Sharp shards of glass landed around her feet while garnet wine spread out, staining the hem of Scarlett’s pink dress as the Lady Prisoner reached through her bars and picked up the largest glass fragment.
A moment later Scarlett cried out, loud enough to alert the guard outside her door. He clattered in an instant later. One look at Scarlett, forced against Anissa’s cage, as Anissa reached through the bars to press a shard of glass against Scarlett’s neck, and a moldy green cloud of fear formed around the guard as he reached for his sword.
“I wouldn’t do that, unless you want me to kill her.” The Lady Prisoner tilted her spike of broken glass to the most defenseless part of Scarlett’s throat.
“Now,” she went on conversationally. “Fetch Gavriel. Tell him what you’ve seen and that if he doesn’t come here right now, I’ll slit his daughter’s throat.”
The guard immediately did as he was told. Like Scarlett, he knew the Lady Prisoner couldn’t lie.
“I hope this works,” the Fate whispered once he left. “I really wouldn’t enjoy killing you.”
“I don’t particularly want to die,” Scarlett said, hoping she hadn’t overestimated her value to the Fallen Star. Scarlett knew that he didn’t care for her, and he certainly didn’t love her. But based on the amount of time he spent each day working with her to conquer her powers, she knew that he very much cared about her abilities and what she could do for him. And yet her palms began to sweat as he stepped inside.
Scarlett didn’t know, and didn’t want to know, what the Fallen Star had been doing, but there was blood spatter on his bone-white shirt and fury in his eyes. The room grew hotter as it filled with the violent red sparks surrounding him.
“Use your fire on me and I’ll kill her,” the Lady Prisoner called from behind her bars. “If you want her, come get her yourself.”