Finale (Caraval 3)

“That if you come across a human who makes you feel love, then you become mortal, and if the feeling lasts too long, then the change becomes permanent. Which makes me think that you don’t want to change me to keep me alive, you only want to change me to keep yourself alive.”

“No.” His answer was unyielding and immediate. “That’s not why I want to do this. I want you to be immortal so that you won’t die.”

“But I don’t want your immortality, Legend. I want your love.”

He took a step back. She didn’t even think he realized he was doing it. “I can’t give you that.”

“Yes, you can. You just refuse to choose love over immortality.”

The light in his eyes went out and the world became a little darker. “Even if that was true, could you blame me?”

“No,” Tella said honestly. “But I don’t want to be like you. That’s why I can’t let you make me immortal.”

His eyes met hers again. The light was still gone but they shimmered in a way that reminded her of all the magical things he could offer. “You’ll feel differently if you let me change you.”

“But I don’t want to feel differently. I want to feel love in its every form. I used to be so scared of it, but now I think love is another type of magic. It makes everything brighter, it makes people who have it stronger, it breaks rules that aren’t supposed to exist, it’s infinitely valuable. I can’t imagine my life without it. And if you felt any love in your heart, you would understand.”

Tella met his darkened eyes.

A flicker of pain fell over his face. But whether it was real or to convince her to go along with what he wanted, Tella couldn’t tell. “You’ll die, Donatella.”

“I already have.”

“But you won’t come back this time.”

“Most people don’t, but that’s not why you’re offering me this. This makes things easier for you. You don’t want to love me and lose your immortality.”

His mouth parted and closed and parted again, and for a brief moment before he spoke he looked entirely lost. “It’s not that I don’t want to love you, Tella. I can’t love you.” His voice was flat and empty and utterly sincere. It didn’t just sound as if he was saying this because he was an immortal, but because he truly believed that he was incapable of the feeling. If that was true, if he really thought himself heartless, then maybe he hadn’t actually been tempted to love her. Maybe he just wanted to possess her. I want to keep you.

“You’re not thinking this through.” Legend reached for her hand.

A week ago, her heart would have soared because he wanted to touch her. But she forced herself to take another step back. She wasn’t tempted by immortality, but she was tempted by him. She couldn’t touch him again if she was going to do this. “I don’t need to think about it. Sometimes you just know. And I know that I can’t imagine spending an eternity with someone who will never love me.”

She turned to leave.

“Tella, wait—”

She pressed forward. She didn’t even let herself look back. The archway she’d walked through to meet him was gone. A flowering wall had taken its place. The velvety petals felt real against her skin. But she knew it was just an illusion. Almost as soon as she touched them, Legend parted the flowers and hedgy branches to let her through.

The leafy passageway before her was dimmer than she remembered. The fireflies had gone, and a chill had crept into their place. Bumps crawled over the back of her neck. The chill should have felt good after her heated conversation, but the wind sweeping through was fetid and wrong, a dream gone awry.

When she strained to hear, there was no more distant party laughter; any footsteps she picked up were harsh, fleeting.

Something was wrong.

“Tella—” Legend grabbed her hand, appearing by her side.

“Please, just let me go.”

“This isn’t about us—” He cut off. His grip on her tightened. He winced, face paling as the glow around him faded.

“What’s wrong?” Tella asked.

More frantic footsteps echoed in the distance, followed by a series of muffled cries. Leaves poured off the walls of the maze, decaying as they fell to the ground.

“Get out of here,” Legend said. “Go to the tower and lock yourself in your room.”

“I’m not locking myself in a tower!”