among them, Scarlett didn’t see her. All she found was a broken lamppost and a dropped knife.
Her mother had left again. Scarlett couldn’t be surprised, and she didn’t let herself feel hurt, not this time. Paradise might have been her mother, but she was also just a pregnant girl who’d been told she’d have to make a terrible choice. Scarlett couldn’t blame her for running, and maybe Scarlett shouldn’t have blamed her so much before. Scarlett loved Tella and Julian despite their imperfections; it was time to start loving her mother the same way.
And when the Assassin appeared an instant later, Scarlett imagined that this was how it was meant to be all along, and that her mother really had done the best she could. She might have run away from Scarlett just now, but Scarlett believed that when she went back to the future, she’d find things unchanged.
“Did you do what you needed to do?” he asked.
“Almost.” Scarlett picked up the knife her mother had dropped. It was a white dagger with a star-shaped stone in the hilt. Scarlett wondered if it had been a gift from Gavriel as she used the knife to cut off her silver streak of hair. Months ago, that little streak had felt like such a great cost to Scarlett, but it was nothing compared to what her mother had sacrificed. “I’m ready now.”
As soon as she said it, the Assassin took her hand and then they both were standing in the candlelit court of the Fallen Star.
56
Scarlett
Tella had always been more dramatic than Scarlett. As a young girl, she’d played at being a mermaid, a pirate, and an assassin while Scarlett had just tried to make sure Tella was safe. Scarlett was not an actress. But it was time for her to put on the performance of her life. She needed to become Paradise the Lost, or she might not survive the night.
Scarlett schooled her features into the edged expression her mother had worn when she’d pulled the knife on Scarlett. Then she struggled against the Assassin’s grip as he roughly dragged her past Jester Mad’s forsaken stage, tables of half-eaten food, and goblets left abandoned on the floor. The party was over, but perhaps Poison had turned all the maids to stone, because the mess remained.
The Fallen Star leaned back in his bloody throne, playing with the flames at the tips of his fingers while drops of red trickled over his shoulders, as if he’d already grown bored with his kingdom.
The humans were gone, but a few Fates remained.
Scarlett saw Jacks, lingering near the foot of the throne and chatting with Poison as if they were old friends. But she forced herself to not pay close attention to Jacks or her sister. Scarlett was pretending to be Paradise, and young Paradise wouldn’t have known who Tella was or been concerned about the adoring way she gazed at Jacks. At a glance her emotions appeared to be a blissful shade of pink, but every few seconds they flickered with rotted hints of brownish-yellow, as if they were infected; she’d sacrificed too much. Tella didn’t even appear to notice Scarlett’s entrance, or Legend—who was trapped in an iron cage to the left of the throne.
Legend’s grim cage was so much smaller and harsher than Anissa’s, with a mockery of a swing that was covered in spikes. He looked miserable and weak and he couldn’t tear his eyes from Tella’s dreamy face. He appeared to be shouting to her, but there must have been an enchantment on his prison, like the one on Anissa’s cage that dimmed her powers, because Scarlett didn’t see any illusions, and his voice did not break through.
“You might want to fight even more,” the Assassin whispered.
They were almost at the throne.
Scarlett ripped herself free from the Assassin’s grip. “Let me go!” She brandished the white dagger that Paloma had dropped.
The Fallen Star finally saw her. His gaze went from the hooded Assassin to Scarlett, golden eyes widening as they caught on her dress—the dress he’d bought for Paradise—with its splashes of cream and black and rose and pink and flowers and lace and stray gold leaf. The flames at his fingertips died. The blood from the throne stopped flowing and for a moment the chamber was entirely silent.
“What have you done,” he breathed. His eyes left Scarlett’s to narrow on the Assassin. But Scarlett couldn’t tell for certain if he was upset because he believed that she was actually Paradise,