“Not the boy she’s sitting with right now.” Jacks pivoted slowly in the direction of the stone garden.
The air was warmer, as if this corner of the palace grounds was untouched by anything ill. Yet the statues appeared more distressed than the last time Tella had seen them. They all flinched and recoiled more than before. It was as if they knew that Legend had just released the Fates back into the world—the same Fates who’d long ago turned this garden full of human servants into unmoving stone because they’d wanted more lifelike decorations.
Tella shivered in Jacks’s arms.
Scarlett appeared oblivious to it all. She and Julian sat huddled on a bench in the center of the statues, looking gloriously back in love. Tella swore there were night-blooming butterflies frolicking around their heads.
At least one sister had found happiness that night.
“Did you two finally make up?” Tella mumbled.
Scarlett and Julian straightened abruptly. Then Scarlett was off of the bench, flying toward Jacks and Tella’s limp figure.
“What did you do to my sister?” Scarlett’s lacy white gloves turned to formidable black leather as she pointed at the Fate.
She might have done more than point if Julian had not wrapped a restraining arm around her waist. He was costumed as Chaos, dressed in heavy armor and a pair of spiked gauntlets that made him look as if he were ready to jump into battle. But Tella saw genuine fear simmering beneath the surface of his rugged features. Unlike Scarlett, he must have known that Jacks was the Prince of Hearts. And if Julian was truly Legend’s brother, he must have wondered why the Fate was still alive.
Jacks merely sighed. “Does no one in this family say thank you?”
“Every time I see you, my sister is hurt,” Scarlett said.
“Not every time.” Jacks flashed his teeth as his eyes quickly cut from Julian back to Scarlett. Tella didn’t know what Jacks was silently saying, but whatever it was it made Scarlett’s mouth snap shut.
“And this really wasn’t my fault,” Jacks continued. “Your sister won the game. But it took a lot out of her. She collapsed in the Temple District and Legend, being the gentleman that he’s not, just left her there.”
“You met Legend?” Scarlett asked, her tone both curious and suspicious. It matched the fractured expression on Julian’s face, as if he, too, was both surprised and nervous. Whenever Scarlett was in a room his eyes were always on her, but now he watched Tella, as if he was afraid of what she might say next.
“I—” Tella’s tongue grew suddenly thick and Jacks’s arms became instantly tense. This must have been why’d he’d been playing at being so concerned; he still wanted Legend’s identity to get his full power back, so that he could do more than just kill with a kiss. But even if Tella had been willing to share Legend’s secret with him, the weight of her tongue and the press of magic against her throat made her feel as if she wouldn’t be able to reveal it no matter how hard she tried.
“I don’t remember much of it,” Tella hedged. Then she spared a glance for Julian. “As soon as I won the game, Legend walked away.”
A flash of relief lit Julian’s eyes.
Scarlett’s expression turned more wary.
Jacks took a heavy breath, his chest slowly moving up and down against Tella’s back. “I think it’s time I go. Your mother still needs finding.”
“No!” Tella said.
Scarlett went stiff.
Jacks’s brows danced up. “After all this, you don’t want to see her?”
“Of course I want to see her. I don’t want you touching her.”
“I’ll put some gloves on,” Jacks said. Then, more softly in Tella’s ear, “People know it’s never a good idea to make a bargain with a Fate, but they do it anyway, because we always keep our word. I told you that if you won the game I’d reunite you with your mother, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Jacks carefully placed Tella in the cold hold of a statue with outstretched arms.
For a moment she felt a perverted urge to thank him. But he was the last being she would ever thank. “I still hate you,” she said.
“It’s probably for the best.”
His footfalls made no sound as he exited the garden. As soon as he was gone, Scarlett helped Tella down from the statue’s stiff embrace.
Tella’s legs still felt watery but she could stand as long as Scarlett kept an arm around her. She leaned into her sister’s softness. The air in the garden remained warm, but cold was seeping in. Frost was forming on the forlorn statues and the night butterflies were gone.
“Can we go back to the palace?” Tella mumbled.
“Of course,” Scarlett said.
“Do you need any help?” Julian asked.
Scarlett gave a quick shake of her head and something unspoken passed between them. Julian pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, and then he turned back to Tella. Something like sympathy filled his amber eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He didn’t mention his name, but Tella knew he was talking about Legend. “He can make someone the center of his world when they’re a part of his game. But when the game ends, he always walks away and he never looks back.”
Tella sensed Julian was trying to be helpful, but somehow he made it a little worse.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’m just glad the game’s over.”
Julian pulled at the back of his neck. Tella feared he was going to say something else, something that would be harder to dismiss without a show of emotion. But she imagined he was more eager to find his brother than continue a conversation with her. Julian must have known things hadn’t gone as planned the moment she’d shown up in Jacks’s arms.
Without another word he left the garden and disappeared into the night.
The minute he was gone, Scarlett turned back to Tella with eyes full of her own questions. Tella didn’t know if her sister wanted to ask about her mother, or the game, or what Tella had done that had put her in such a weakened state.
All Tella knew was that she didn’t want to fight or argue or see any disappointment on her sister’s face. Scarlett deserved answers, but Tella wasn’t ready to get into the entirety of her story. She just wanted someone to comfort her and take care of her until the dawn.
Scarlett held her fiercely. “I’m ready to listen whenever you want to talk.”
“I’d rather forget.” Tella sagged against her sister. She didn’t mean to say anything, but once she started speaking the rest slipped out. “I made a mistake, Scar. I never wanted to fall for anyone, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Legend.”
ELANTINE’S
DAY
43
It was the quietest Elantine’s Day the Meridian Empire had ever witnessed. After a week of burning constellations and buildup, all of the empress’s birthday celebrations had been cancelled due to Elantine’s continued state of failing health. Her people had been informed of her illness that morning, and the entirety of Valenda was in a somber mood. Even the sun didn’t shine quite as bright; it seemed content to hide behind clouds. Only one corner of it peeked out, sending a ray of light into the room where Donatella Dragna sat with her sister, Scarlett.
For her part, the younger Dragna sister felt as if she’d entered a world where both her dreams and nightmares had collided.
She’d dreamed of her mother so many times. Usually it was nightmares where her mother had abandoned Tella all over again. But occasionally, Tella had dreams where her mother returned. It always happened the same way. Tella would be asleep in her dream, and then her mother would wake Tella with a tender kiss on the forehead. Tella’s eyes would flutter open, then her arms would fly around her mother’s neck, and indescribable joy would take over.