secrets. In exchange for your secrets, they will give you one of the Fallen Star’s secrets.”
Tella studied Jacks, dubious. “I’ve only seen the Fallen Star from afar, but he doesn’t strike me as the sort to sell his secrets.”
“He’s not, but if anyone has one of his secrets, it would be the sisters. The market exists outside of time. If you visit them, you’ll learn that they have unique methods of collecting information.”
“Where can I find the market?”
“Several of the ruins throughout the city were once Fated places, but to access their magic, they need to be summoned.” Jacks pointed to a set of ruins to the west of the Temple District. “Look for an hourglass etched into the stones and feed it one drop of blood to summon the market. But be careful, there is always a cost to enter a Fated place that has been called forth. The market exacts a time tithe from everyone who steps inside. For every hour you spend in the market, a day will pass in our world.”
“Thank you for the warning.” Tella hadn’t known that bit, and she was more than a little surprised Jacks had told her, since a Fate’s primary source of entertainment was toying with humans. In fact, she was surprised by everything he’d told her. She’d come here half wanting to rebel against Legend and half hoping for answers. She hadn’t actually expected to get any. But she had. She now knew Legend’s immortal weakness, and she also knew where to search for the Fallen Star’s weakness. “I imagine you want something in exchange now.”
Jacks’s eyes slowly lowered to her mouth.
A chill caressed her lips like a kiss. “I already told you that’s not why I’m here.”
“So then why haven’t you left?”
His laughter followed Tella as she walked out the door.
21
Scarlett
Scarlett should have been tripping over her feet with exhaustion rather than dancing into her sparkling palace suite.
After using the Reverie Key with Julian to visit a baker he knew in the north, where Scarlett tasted the best cakes of her life, he’d then brought her to see an old friend of his in the Southern Empire, where the water was the most brilliant shade of turquoise she’d ever seen and people sent messages with sea turtles. She could have stayed there longer, but Julian had wanted to take her to his distant cousin, who lived in a house with a roof made for watching the world’s most spectacular sunsets. In one afternoon Julian and the Reverie Key had shifted Scarlett’s tiny view of the world, making it even larger than she’d realized.
She tried to tamp down her smile. She shouldn’t have been giddy as she fell back onto her bed. She should have been mourning the loss of her mother, worrying about where her sister was, or fearful of the Fates that were all waking up.
But it was difficult to be afraid of nightmares when Scarlett’s thoughts were still tangled up in the dream that was Julian. She’d lied about needing to sleep because she’d felt so caught up in him she’d wanted to wake and return back to the real.
She regretted it already.
The Reverie Key was still warm in her pocket. She thought about using it to find him, and asking him to visit one more magical place. And maybe Scarlett would have done just that, if a servant hadn’t knocked on the door with a delivery from Nicolas.
Scarlett didn’t even need to open the card that came with it to know the gift was from him. It was a crystal watering can, small enough to fit in her palm, as if it were for pixie-size plants.
Scarlett crashed back to reality. She’d been trying not to think about the competition between Julian and Nicolas. Given everything else that had happened in the last two days, it didn’t seem nearly as important as it had before. But she couldn’t just ignore it.
Scarlett opened the note reluctantly. When she had received letters from Nicolas in the past, she’d always reread them until the paper went thin. But she wished this one had never arrived.
* * *
Dearest Scarlett,
I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you visited. Now that I have met you, my imaginings are no longer adequate. I hope you like the first part of my gift. There’s a second part that goes with it, but I’d prefer to give it to you in person. If you’re available, I would like to see you again tomorrow.
Faithfully yours,
Nicolas
* *