her real feelings. But”—a wrinkle marred his perfect brow—“I don’t sense that you’ve tapped in to your full magic yet. Let’s see what happens when you take them away. I want every hint of love and adoration gone. I want her to feel nothing. Turn her into an emotionless husk.” His voice dripped with cruelty.
Scarlett fought against betraying her disgust, once again focusing her full attention on the woman, as if Scarlett were the one in control of her.
But nothing happened.
If anything, the young woman sobbed harder. She wailed thick, sloppy tears, as if her emotions had gone out of control.
Scarlett didn’t know what the woman was doing. Her true emotions hadn’t ever changed. Her tears weren’t real, but they were effectively infuriating the Fallen Star.
The air in the room grew thick with heat; the walls began to sweat.
He glared at Scarlett. “Make her cease.”
“I can’t,” Scarlett admitted. “I—”
“Stop this or I’ll put a stop to it,” he threatened.
The woman fell face-first onto the floor, hysterical as a child. It echoed off every surface.
The Lady Prisoner covered her ears.
Scarlett furiously tried to project calming thoughts and images. She didn’t have to read the Fallen Star’s emotions to know how destructive he was feeling. He rose from the chair. Flames licked his boots.
“Just give me a minute,” Scarlett pleaded. “I can fix this. I’m learning.”
“That won’t be necessary.” The Fallen Star pulled the woman up from the ground by her neck. And then he snapped it.
THE ALMOST-ENDING
47
Donatella
Tella’s dreams tasted of ink, blood, and unrequited love.
She was inside Legend’s mural. The night smelled of paint, and the spying stars looked like smudges of white gold rather than sparkling orbs. When she looked down, the paint from the moonstone steps stuck to her toes, turning them a glowing white.
She was in the mural’s last scene, standing on the steps outside the Temple of the Stars. But unlike in the painting, Legend was not with her.
There was only Tella and the steps and the godlike statues, which glared down on her as the Maiden Death glided near.
“Go away!” Tella didn’t need another prediction of a lost loved one right now.
“Does that ever work?” asked the Maiden.
“Not usually, but it always feels good to say.”
“You need more in your life that feels good.”
“Thus telling you, the bringer of all doom, to go away.”
The Maiden Death sighed. “You refuse to understand me. I try to prevent the doom, not herald it. But, after tonight I will not come to you again unbidden. For if you do not summon the Assassin and me when you wake, then it will be too late to save your sister or the empire.”
The Maiden Death lunged forward, grabbing Tella’s hands and—
* * *
Tella shot up in bed, drenched in sweat from her head all the way down to the backs of her knees. Her hands were dry, but as soon as she opened them they turned damp.
Two luckless coins rested in her palm, one for the Assassin and the other for the Maiden Death.
Tella jumped out of bed and threw on a robe. She didn’t want to believe the Maiden Death, and she really didn’t want to call for her help. But even if the Maiden Death had not come to her in a dream, Tella would have known something was wrong—she should have been woken up much sooner.
The night before, she’d crawled into bed with the windows open, hoping the sound of the ocean waves would drown out the echoes of Legend’s rejection.
You deserve someone who can love you … rather than an immortal who only wants to possess you.
She didn’t know if he’d just said it to push her away—if he’d taken his brother’s advice to let her go—or if that was how he truly felt. But halfway through the night, she’d realized it didn’t matter. Legend was right. Tella did deserve more than someone who just wanted to possess her. The problem was, she wanted that more from Legend.
She could lie to herself and say she didn’t want Legend to lose his immortality for her. But she knew that if he ever offered her his love, she’d take it and hold on to it forever.
Tormented by all these thoughts, she hadn’t expected to find sleep. And, if she had fallen asleep, Julian was supposed to wake Tella up as soon as Scarlett dropped off the Fallen Star’s blood. But either Julian hadn’t woken her, or Scarlett had never appeared last night.