“That’s not what I meant,” she said in a huff. “I only gave you permission to enter my dreams for one night.”
“And yet you didn’t try to keep me out tonight?” His perfect lips toyed with the sharp tip of his blade. “What were you thinking before you slept?”
“Not about you.”
“Really?” he taunted. “You weren’t wishing I was there to make you feel better?” He continued toying with the knife, but the look in his unearthly eyes softened as his gaze trailed over her untamed curls and down to her ungloved hands, until it landed on the frayed hem of her wrecked ball gown. She almost thought he was concerned, until he said, “You look miserable.”
“It’s not polite to tell that to a girl,” she snapped.
“I didn’t come here to be polite, my love.” He dropped his knife to the floor with a clatter and stalked closer. “I’m here because you wanted me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“So, you don’t want me to take your pain away?” His eyes were the flawless blue of polished sea glass. “I can make you feel whatever you want when you wake up. All you have to do is ask.”
He cupped her cheek with his cool hand and leaned in closer.
She should have pulled away. The word obsession returned to her mind. But when Jacks touched her, she couldn’t bring herself to worry that this was a horrible idea, or hate the feel of him the way she was supposed to. His cool skin was soothing against her heated cheek, coaxing her to close her eyes, to lean into him, to take what he was offering.
“Doesn’t that feel better?” His cold lips were at her ear, brushing against the sensitive skin. “Just say yes and I’ll take away everything that hurts. I can make you forget it all. And I can give you things that your dead princeling couldn’t.”
A shiver shot down Tella’s spine and her eyes flashed open. This wasn’t what she wanted. Everything that hurt was everything she cared about—Legend, her mother, Scarlett, the Fates taking over the empire.
Tella shook her head and pulled away. She didn’t need Jacks to make her feel better. She needed to wake up, she needed to find her sister, and then she needed to go to the Vanished Market to purchase a secret that might tell her how to destroy the Fallen Star. She didn’t need to erase her pain; she needed it to propel her into action. Just because it was a negative emotion didn’t mean it wasn’t a valuable one. “We’re not doing this.”
Jacks rocked back on his heels and ran his tongue over the tips of his teeth. “You don’t want to feel better?”
“No, and I don’t want you!”
He laughed, tossing back his golden head and making the sound echo across the abandoned ballroom. “You say that, my love, but a part of you does, or I wouldn’t even be here.”
28
Scarlett
Scarlett pretended not to be terrified. She pretended she wasn’t trapped inside the Fated Menagerie. She pretended that instead of petrified shades of plum, her feelings were peaceful hues of pink that matched the gauzy crescent bed she forced herself to lie on.
She’d wanted to use the Reverie Key the moment the Fallen Star left. But the Lady Prisoner hadn’t taken her lavender eyes off of Scarlett. Because of her cage, the Fate couldn’t physically stop Scarlett from leaving, but Scarlett didn’t want the Lady Prisoner yelling to alert a guard before she could escape. It would be safer to sneak out after the Fate fell asleep.
“Whatever you’re planning, you can trust me with it.” The Lady Prisoner delicately hopped off her perch and walked to the edge of her cage, watching Scarlett between golden bars. Her smile was far more convincing than the Fallen Star’s, but she was a Fate, and although she was imprisoned, she’d seemed pretty loyal to the Fallen Star before he’d left.
Scarlett’s other father, Marcello, had guards like this, younger guards who he’d told to be friendly to his daughters for the purpose of keeping an extra close eye on them.
“I’m not planning anything,” Scarlett said.
“Of course you are,” said the Fate.
“Are you telling me this because of your power?” Scarlett still didn’t trust the imprisoned Fate, but she was curious about her. She could remember what her card represented, but she still couldn’t recall her ability. “When your eyes went white earlier, were you seeing the future?”
“I used to see the future, lovely. Before I was in this cage, I