Finale (Caraval, 3)

Part 3 – THE ALMOST-ENDING

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.

Tella pounded on Julian’s door and swung it open at nearly the same time.

“Jul—” Tella faltered at the sight of his empty bed.

She left and marched down the stairs, but Julian wasn’t on the lower levels. He wasn’t anywhere at all.

All she found was a note pinned to the back of the front door.

I can’t wait here anymore. Crimson didn’t check in last night-or bring blood. I’m worried something has happened to her. I’m going to find her and bring her back.

-J