Finale (Caraval 3)

“I’m not planning on hurting him, and

I’d rather not hurt you again, but I will if you don’t behave.” The Fallen Star’s hand lost its heat, but his grip on Scarlett’s blistering arm remained. He guided her back to the bloody throne as the Priestess brought Julian to Jester Mad’s revolting stage.

“I don’t want him hearing us and putting on a performance like the one you incited with my gift.”

“What are you talking about?” Scarlett said.

“I think we’re past pretending.” The Fallen Star dropped his lips to Scarlett’s ear. “Nothing you’ve done this last week has been a secret. Did you really think Anissa wouldn’t tell me everything you were up to?”

Yes, Scarlett had.

“I’ll have to punish you again for that later, unless you prove yourself right now.” Gavriel sat upon his bloody throne, and forced Scarlett to perch on the arm of it like a decoration. He’d called her a princess earlier, but she was just a pawn. Blood stained the back of her beautiful gown as she wondered how else Anissa had betrayed her. But now wasn’t the time to worry.

The entire party watched as Julian was brought to the stage across the room. Scarlett willed him to run, but he must have been afraid for her, because he didn’t fight as Jester Mad and the Priestess tied strings around his arms and legs.

“Now,” Gavriel whispered. “I want you to use your powers on him to take away his love for you and replace it with hatred. Once I see true loathing for you in his eyes, I will let him leave here alive.”

“I can’t do that.” Scarlett’s voice shook with every word. And it wasn’t just because every part of her being was repelled by the idea of making Julian despise her. “I can’t control emotions.”

“Then he will die,” Gavriel said reasonably. “And if I feel you attempt to shift my feelings in any way, I will set this entire room on fire and kill every human inside.”

Scarlett took a fragile breath as her eyes darted around all the helpless people in the room. Half were watching her now. The rest were turned toward Julian, tied up like a puppet on the stage. And still the colors around him were fierce and bright and full of the deep, unending crimson love. She’d never felt so much love in her life. It was pure and unselfish, without fear or regret. All he wanted in that moment was for her to be safe.

And she had to take all those feelings away for him to live.

Scarlett could have cried. She looked at him and mouthed the words I love you, knowing she might never say and truly mean those words again. If she succeeded in conquering her powers, she wouldn’t just be taking away Julian’s ability to love her. She’d finally become one of her father’s Fates and lose her own capacity to love.

So, before she tried to erase Julian’s love, she let herself feel it one final time. She let her love out to touch his, the way two separate instruments might play together to create a more beautiful song, and suddenly Scarlett knew how to change what Julian was feeling—how to shift his song so that it no longer matched hers.

Before, she’d always tried to project a feeling or an image onto another person. But what she needed to do was to push against his feelings. She needed to reach with her magic and twist them until their colors began to shift and shift and shift and—

“No!” Julian thrashed against the strings holding him to the stage. He might not have heard the Fallen Star’s instructions, but he knew the Fate’s ultimate goal for Scarlett. Julian knew this assault against his emotions was because of her magic—magic he’d warned her against. “Don’t do this, Crimson!”

The Fallen Star clapped and sparks shot out from the tips of his fingers.

On the stage, tears tracked down Julian’s cheeks. He was fighting her, battling her powers with everything he had. But even his fighting was helping her magic win. She could see his love shifting to anger.

Scarlett started to shake.

The Fallen Star grabbed hold of her again to keep her from falling off the arm of the throne. She didn’t know if it was from battling Julian, or if it was because she’d finally accessed her full powers, but her body no longer felt under her control.

She could feel the magic she was using, filling her and surrounding her the way her love for Julian had moments ago. It was heady and powerful. Without even trying, she could see more than just Julian’s emotions. Scarlett saw colors across the room. The eager green of several Fates danced around a rainbow of terrified and morbidly curious human colors, and she knew that if she wanted to, she could twist them all with a thought. It was wondrous in all the wrong ways. Every inch of her skin prickled. When she briefly glanced down, her skin was glowing and shining with gold dust—and Fated magic.

“Finally.” The Fallen Star tightened his grip on her arm. “You’re almost there, auhtara.”

Julian screamed again. “Don’t do this, Scarlett!”

The name sounded wrong. He never called her Scarlett. But the name didn’t hurt as much as it should have.

“You’re close,” the Fallen Star said. “Let go of your feelings for him and take hold of the rest of your power!”

Scarlett pushed harder and Julian’s face turned into a snarl. She could see the edges of his emotions turning brown, the way something does after it’s been burned.

Julian bucked against his bindings. “You lied, Scarlett! You said you would always choose me.” His feverish eyes met hers, but for once there was no warmth in them.

She wasn’t saving him. She was destroying him.

Her magic faltered.