Finale (Caraval #3)(94)

Blood from the throne gushed faster, coating the Fallen Star’s arms in red. “I could kill him for your disobedience.”

“But then you would never get my powers.” Scarlett continued to smile as more heads turned their way, probably curious as to why the show had suddenly stopped. “Do this now or I will never do anything for you again.”

“Very well. I will give you what you want.” The Fallen Star motioned for Jester Mad and the Priestess to undo Julian’s binds.

“See how generous I can be?” asked Gavriel. “Your precious love will soon be free, but when I see you again, I expect you to make good on your promise. You will accept your power, you will become a true immortal, and you will take away the weakness that makes me able to love. Fail at this and I will torture everyone you care about until you are begging me to save them from their misery and finally kill them.”





52





Scarlett


Scarlett had no idea how long it would be until the Fallen Star came for her that night, but she had no intention of being there when he did. As soon as she was allowed to leave his horrendous party she raced back through the tunnels until she reached her rooms in the Menagerie.

The Lady Prisoner leaped from her gilded perch in a flurry of violet fabric the moment Scarlett stepped inside. “What—”

“Do not talk to me, you duplicitous disappointment of a woman.”

Anissa’s face fell into a pretty frown. “I tried to warn you; I told you that I cannot lie.”

“I said not to talk to me!” Scarlett ripped off her bloody gown once she reached her bedroom and hurried to put on her own enchanted dress. It warmed against her skin, as if it had missed her. Then it grew thicker and stronger as the fabric shifted from soft satin to supple raging red leather, which hugged her chest and flared out at her waist.

“Scarlett, listen to me,” the Lady Prisoner said. “Whatever you’re planning—”

“Stop talking!” Scarlett took out her Reverie Key and headed toward the door. “If you’re not a traitor, then save your words to distract or misdirect Gavriel when he comes for me.”

“But the torture—”

Scarlett ignored whatever Anissa said next. She shoved the Reverie Key in the doorknob, thinking only of Julian, hoping he’d already gotten far away from the palace—as she turned the magical object and opened the door.

At first she thought the key hadn’t worked. She was in a dungeon hallway, far more foul than the one Legend’s guards had used to lock up Tella. The air smelled of damp water and things left to die. Behind the iron bars, Scarlett saw a variety of torture devices, racks and chains and ropes, and then Julian, dangling from a ceiling.

Her legs buckled. She’d seen him wounded, she’d seen him dead, and yet neither of those things made this sight easier.

Julian’s hands were chained over his head and linked to a hook in the ceiling that left him hanging over a bloodstained drain. His shirt was ripped off, his chest was red and sweating, and his beautiful face was half covered in a metal mask that Scarlett could only partially see because his head was bowed, as if he couldn’t lift it anymore.

Her father must have had his Fates grab him as soon as he’d escaped the party, or he’d foolishly come back for her.

“Crimson—” His voice was raw and muffled.

“It’s going to be all right.” She tried to sound confident but her words cracked as her heart tore in half. “I’m—I’m going to get you free.”

“No,” Julian groaned, “you … you … need to get out of here.”

“Not without you.” Scarlett rose up on her toes to get him down from the hook on the ceiling, but it was too high to reach. She needed a ladder or a stool.

Frantic, she ran back into the hall. A few other prisoners called after her, but she ignored them as she searched for and found a short stool that must have belonged to an absent guard. She dragged it back and wasted no time in stepping on top of it.

Julian’s emotions were weak, gray shadows. He swayed as she looked for the lock that held the cuffs on his wrists chained together. Only there was no lock, it was an infinity chain. She’d have to lift him to free his hands from the hook in the ceiling, but his wrists would remain shackled.

His eyes flickered open and shut. “I love you,” he moaned. “If I die … it was…” The colors around him flickered and disappeared completely.

“No!” Scarlett said. “You’re not going to die! We will get through this together or we won’t get through it. Do not give up on me, Julian. I’m saving you, I’m saving you, I’m saving you, I’m saving you.”

Scarlett repeated the mantra as she used all her strength to lift his limp body from the ceiling hook. His skin was clammy from sweat and cold. He slumped against her, nearly knocking them both to the floor with his weight.

“Julian.” She said his name like a demand as she wrapped an arm around his feverish back and helped him to stand. “We need to get to the cell door, and then I can use the Reverie Key to get us out of here.”

“I’m afraid your key won’t help you this time.” Every single bar inside the prison caught fire, filling the dungeon with violent tongues of red and orange, as the Fallen Star appeared on the other side of Julian’s cell. Poison, an ever-present goblet of toxins in his hand, stood at his side, with an enthusiastic grin twisted further by the firelight.