Finale (Caraval 3)

“You forced me back inside that cursed Deck of Destiny once you learned I was a Fate. That’s a very intentional error, Paradise.”

God’s blood and teeth.

This man—this Fate—had been trapped in the cards too. Her mother had just kissed him. What was she doing? She’d pushed away her own daughter so she could cling to one of the monstrous immortals who only saw humans as pawns and fragile sources of entertainment. Tella didn’t know which Fate he was. He could have been the Assassin, the Fallen Star, the Poisoner, the Apothic, or Chaos. It didn’t matter—all of them were demons.

Tella wanted to scream at her mother to leave. But Tella’s tongue was still thick. Her lips were numb. All she could feel were a few rebel tingles, and even if her mouth had moved, even if she’d warned her mother, Tella doubted Paloma would have responded. Her mother already knew the man before her was a Fate, she probably knew which one he was and what terrible powers he had, and she didn’t appear to care.

Another spin of the wheel showed Paloma leaning into the Fate again. “I was warned that you’d kill me to keep yourself from falling in love with me,” Paloma said, her voice much more tender than the way she’d spoken to Tella earlier. “I panicked, Gavriel. I did what I thought I had to, to defend myself. We both do what it takes to survive; that’s one of the things we’ve always had in common. But I’ve regretted that choice ever since. Why do you think I’m here right now?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” he said.

Tella had met Fates before, the Prince of Hearts and the Undead Queen. This Fate’s voice was even colder, his presence more commanding and powerful, the little flames around him sparking with his every word. But Paloma didn’t pull away.

“There’s nothing to figure out. I’m here because I want to be with you.” She rose up on her toes.

The wheel whirled, blocking out what happened next, but the stretch of silence told Tella they were kissing again.

“Do you still want revenge?” Paloma gasped finally. “Or do you want to be with me, too?”

“Maybe revenge can wait.” His mouth returned to her mother’s.

Tella started to close her eyes; she couldn’t watch any more of this. But just as she was about to stop looking, she caught a glimpse of silver in her mother’s hands as Paloma pulled out a knife and quickly dug it into the Fate’s heart.

A roar echoed across the cavern.

Tella could have cheered. But she wasn’t sure what her mother was doing. Fates were immortals; if they died, they just came back to life. But maybe her mother knew something Tella did not. She held her breath as the wheel came around yet again.

But the Fate wasn’t lying on the ground or falling to a temporary death. He was standing, staring at Paloma as if she’d truly surprised him. Then, in a flash, too quick for Tella to see, his massive hand pulled out the dagger and thrust it into Paloma’s chest and twisted.

She let out a sound that Tella knew she’d hear in her nightmares forever. It rocked the cavern walls as Tella tried to scream too. But she couldn’t even manage to whisper. Her lips were still tingling with numbness. There was a similar prickling sensation in her limbs, but it wasn’t enough to move them.

She tried to crawl on her belly, out from behind the wheel and somehow save her mother, but all Tella could do was watch.

The wheel of death slowed to a crawl.

Click …

Click …

Clack …

Everything had been moving too fast, and now it was all going too slow.

When the wheel finished its turn, Paloma was totally still on the ground, while the bleeding Fate looked down on her.

Get up! Get up! Get up!

Tella finally got her fingers to move. Her toes were gaining feeling too.

But her mother wasn’t moving at all.

Tella dug her fingers into the ground until they started to bleed. But it wasn’t enough to propel her forward.

Even the wheel had ceased spinning. The Fate fell to his knees, but her mother remained on the ground.

Tella managed to crawl forward an inch. She wasn’t ready to give up yet. Her mother couldn’t be dead. Her mother was too strong to die. Tella had fought too hard to lose her. The story wasn’t supposed to end this way.

I will rip your arms from your chest! “You sonofa—”