“Of course she’d say that,” Tella spat. “The Lady Prisoner is a Fate.”

“He has her locked in a cage; she

can’t get out unless he dies. And even if she is trying to manipulate me, it doesn’t mean she’s wrong. What she told me makes sense. Tella, you said that if an immortal loves, they become human. If I conquer my powers, I could make him love. I could turn him human and then we could defeat him.”

“Or you could conquer your powers and turn into a Fate,” Tella said.

“And love doesn’t work that way,” Julian added. “Magic can do a lot of things, but I don’t think you can make someone love with it. This is too dangerous.”

“I’m not asking either of you to let me do this. It’s my choice, not yours. So I’m only asking you not to stop me. Unless we find another way to destroy him, I’m the only one who can do this, and I want to do this. Tella, you once told me there’s more to life than staying safe—”

“I was talking about having fun, not moving in with murderers!”

“Well, I don’t think any one of us will be having fun if the Fallen Star takes over the empire. And we both know you’d do the same thing.”

Scarlett enclosed her sister in another hug. She gave incredible hugs. She knew exactly how tight to hold, when to stay silent, and when to let go. But no matter when she let go of this hug, it would be too soon.

Tella held on tighter. She wanted to keep arguing. If she kept fighting, if she told Scarlett how terrified she was, if she went into details about Nicolas’s gruesome death and reminded her of the way the Fallen Star had killed their mother, Tella knew she could convince her to stay. Tella wanted to do that so much. But she’d just vowed to do whatever it took to defeat the Fallen Star, and she meant it. She just hadn’t thought it would take her sister.

She sagged against Scarlett as the sky finished darkening into a rippling black night. “Are you sure you don’t want to be selfish right now and just think about saving yourself?”

“Of course I want to do that. But I need to do this—for me, for you, for Julian, and for all the servants we just helped, who don’t have a chance at doing what I can. I can’t do nothing when I have the ability to do something. And I have the Reverie Key; if it gets too dangerous, I’ll escape.”

“Keys can be stolen,” Tella murmured.

“I’ll be cautious.” Scarlett hugged her sister tighter, until Tella finally pulled away. She hadn’t wanted to. But if Scarlett was going to go back to the Fallen Star she needed to do it soon, before anyone noticed her absence. Scarlett probably wanted a proper good-bye with Julian as well.

And by proper, Tella imagined it would be the sort of good-bye that the prying eyes of a sister weren’t meant to witness.

31

Scarlett

As Tella went into the guest quarters and tried to wash off all the dirt and sorrow and lingering traces of guilt from her person, Scarlett stood under a wedge of moonlight, preparing for another good-bye that she didn’t want to have.

Julian appeared to feel the same way. His brow furrowed, his lips were pressed tightly together, and when he wrapped his arms around Scarlett, there was nothing soft or tender in his touch. “I know you said this isn’t my choice, but you can’t tell me that you’ve chosen me and then give me absolutely no say in your life.”

“Is this your way of asking me again not to go?”

“No.” He held her closer, tucking her head to his chest. “In the future—because there will be a future for us—I just hope you can talk to me about things like this rather than telling me you’ve already made up your mind.”

“All right,” Scarlett conceded. “But I hope you do the same?”

“I wouldn’t ask it of you if I wasn’t planning on that.” Julian’s fingers clutched her waist, as if he could still find a way that didn’t involve letting her go.

Scarlett wished he could. She really didn’t want to go back to the Fallen Star. But in that moment, she was more worried about Julian. Like Tella, he was impulsive and ruled by his emotions, which Scarlett could see were gray as storm clouds and full of worry.

“What if I try to slip you letters every few days? I don’t think it will be safe to visit again.” And she didn’t think it would be safe to send him messages either, but she worried that if she couldn’t find a way to assure him she was all right, he would come after her eventually and put himself in danger. “I can open a door with the Reverie Key to send you notes to let you know I’m all right.”

“I still don’t like it,” Julian said.

“If you did, my feelings would probably be injured.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and for a moment his lips stayed there. “Be careful, Crimson.”

“I’m always careful.”

“I don’t know…” He pulled away just enough for her to see his mouth twitch at the corner. “A careful girl wouldn’t say she loved me.”

Tags: Stephanie Garber Caraval Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net