Legendary (Caraval, #2)

by Stephanie Garber

“It’s said these were forged by the Fates. People used to call them ‘luckless coins.’” “No wonder it’s never worked well.” Tella managed a laugh, but something gnawed—foolishness, perhaps—at not having recognized the object. Tella had been obsessed with the Fates ever since finding her mother’s Deck of Destiny. There’d been thirty-two of them, comprising a court of sixteen immortals, eight places, and eight objects. Every Fate was known for one particular power, but that wasn’t the only reason they’d come to rule most of the world centuries ago. It was also said they couldn’t be killed by mortals, and that they were faster and stronger, too.

Centuries ago, before they’d vanished, the Fates pictured in Decks of Destiny had ruled over most of the earth like gods—cruel ones. Tella read everything she could about them, so she’d heard of luckless coins, but she felt ridiculous admitting it now.

I’ve never held one before today, but I’ve heard if you spin a luckless coin, you can see which Fate it belonged to.”

Jacks

A dashing young man with a bloody smile, and the sort of havoc-wreaking grin that made Tella picture teeth biting into hearts and lips pressed against punctured veins.

Though it was small, Tella could clearly see the image. The cruel young man held one hand near his pointed chin, clasping the hilt of a dagger, while red tears fell from his eyes, matching the blood staining the corner of his mouth. The Prince of Hearts.

I knew it

The myths claimed the Prince of Hearts’s kisses had been worth dying for,

For it was also said the Prince of Hearts was not capable of love because his heart had stopped beating long ago. Only one person could make it beat again: his one true love. They said his kiss had been fatal to all but her—his only weakness—and as he’d sought her, he’d left a trail of corpses.

I see the ouabh set up mrs garber

but in that moment Tella imagined Julian would cross any and every moral line to keep Scarlett’s heart. Oddly, it made her trust him more.

At first sight, Dante, who was almost too beautiful to be real, looked like the Legend she’d always imagined. Tella could picture Dante’s wide shoulders filling out a black tailcoat while a velvet top hat shadowed his head. But the more Tella thought about Legend, the more she wondered if he even ever wore a top hat. If maybe the symbol was another thing to throw people off. Perhaps Legend was more magic than man and Tella had never met him in the flesh at all.

And her world transformed into a garden, a paradise made of blossoming flowers and bewitching romance. The walls were formed of moonlight. The ceiling was made of roses that dripped down toward the table in the center of the room, covered with plates of cakes and candlelight and sparkling honey wine. But none of it was for Tella. It was all for Scarlett. Tella had stumbled into her sister’s love story and it was so romantic it was painful to watch.

“If that’s true you should have just come to me.” Dante was definitely laughing now.

Valenda had once been the ancient city of Alcara, home of the Fates pictured inside every Deck of Destiny.

Crunch. Sharp teeth took another bite of his white apple before

Jacks

“You shouldn’t believe every rumor you hear.” “What about the rumor that he killed his last fiancée?”

Cause its jaxx qnd his kiss is deadly

THE FATED

It looked like a fantasy a garden had cried.

but as Tella liked to tell her sister, there was more to life than staying safe.

Tella could feel it licking her skin, as if it wanted to drink in her frenzied emotions as well.

She liked the thrill that came with taking risks. She loved the feeling of doing something bold enough to make her future hold its breath while she closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation that she’d made a choice with the power to alter the course of her life. It was the closest she ever came to holding real power.

Dante looked up and gave her a fallen star’s smile. “You should always wear flowers.”

“I’m just not fond of cages,” she said, “and this place looks like one giant dungeon.”

“I’ve already heard it. You can skip it and hand us the first clue.” “Maybe you just think you’ve heard it.” Jovan jingled the bells on her shoes. “This greeting is a little different from last time.” She cleared her throat before reciting the rest from memory. “As fantastical as Caraval might feel, the next five nights are very real.

Elantine has invited us here to save the Empire from her greatest fear. For centuries the Fates were locked away, but now they wish to come out and play. If they regain their magic the world will never be the same, but you can help stop them by winning the game. To do this you must be clever and follow the clues to find the dark object that can destroy them forever. Once you have it, Legend will give you a prize so rare I’m not allowed to utter it here.”

“It’s you.” All the air escaped Tella’s lungs. The boy from the sky carriage—the same indolent young nobleman who’d threatened to toss her from a coach and dropped a half-eaten apple onto her slippers—flashed a delinquent smile. “You can call me Jacks.”

Then he took her by the hips. Cool, sinuous, and solid, his arm snaked around her, reeling her scandalously close to his side. She swore Dante actually growled this time, as Jacks drew her away and into the sweaty crowd of revelers.

“I’m disappointed, Donatella. I thought I was your friend. But not only were you late, now you’re trying to escape me.” His idle tone turned sharp and something terrible twisted inside of Tella’s gut. “Is this because you don’t have my payment?” Jacks looked down on her with a smile so disturbing it could have made an angel weep.

Called it

Jacks might have been heir to the throne, destined to inherit more wealth and power than Tella was capable of imagining. But for all the privilege and connections that brought, it seemed as if certain things—like Legend’s true name—weren’t within his grasp, or he would have never helped Tella in the first place. All she needed to do was convince him that she was still useful.

Legend is the true heir

He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels and bottles of fresh moonlight.

It was the sort of kiss she could have lived in. The sort of kiss worth dying for.

A kiss worth dying for. Only one person in the history of the Empire had ever kissed like— Jacks bit her, sharp teeth digging into her lip hard enough to draw warm blood.

His eyes stayed locked with hers, as if there was something unspoken he was trying to say. If another boy had looked at her that way she might have felt momentarily special. People rarely looked each other in the eye for prolonged periods of time. There was almost something more intimate about it than touching. When Dante looked in Tella’s eyes he wasn’t watching the rest of the world. He wasn’t looking out for himself. He was risking part of his person to focus solely on her.

he was pulling her toward him, attempting to reel her into his intoxicating sphere

“Even if I wasn’t Legend I would want you to win.”

And yet, she couldn’t completely dismiss the idea, because as much as it might hurt later on, and as foolish as it could make her in the end, a part of her wanted it to be true, wanted to believe that something inside of her burned bright enough to capture Legend’s uncapturable attention.

“Gloves are a symbolic gift … connected with asking for a girl’s hand in marriage … a young man’s way of saying he’ll take care of a girl, by giving her gloves to protect her hands.” Tella’s skin burned even hotter as the razors glinted in the torchlight.

So then why did Tella sense that Aiko had stolen something even more valuable?

“It’s a cursed Deck of Destiny,” Aiko spat out.

Tella had always known her mother’s Deck of Destiny was unlike other ordinary decks. But Aiko made it sound as if there was nothing else in the world like it, and she’d called it cursed. Cursed. Cursed. Cursed.

The Fates had also been cursed by a witch, and according to Jacks, this curse had imprisoned them inside a deck of cards.

Everyone gave up on her, except for Scarlett—who couldn’t seem to stop caring about Tella.

He looked fierce enough to wrestle the rising sun,

Then his fingers returned, gently tracing the curve of her mouth as he said, “I’ve never wanted to be someone else until that moment I saw him kiss you on the dance floor.” “You should have asked me to dance first.” “I will, next time.” His lips swept a kiss across her forehead.

“Don’t give up on me, Donatella. If you stay with me long enough to get you somewhere safe and warm, then I promise I won’t let go of you like I did that night. Together we’ll fix all of this.”

His dark eyes were more open than usual, rimmed in bits of starlight that made her want to stare into them forever. His hair fell like strands of lost ink in every direction, while his dangerous mouth remained parted, looking vulnerably close to spilling a wicked secret.

The first time I kissed you I did it because I’d just died and come back to life, but I wasn’t feeling alive. I needed something real. But tonight I kissed you because I wanted you. I haven’t stopped wanting you since the night of the Fated Ball when you were willing to risk your life because you wanted to make me angry. After that, I couldn’t stay away.”

“I kept coming back to you, not because of Legend, or the game. But because you’re so real and alive and fearless and daring and beautiful and if what’s between us isn’t real, then I don’t know what is.”

“I could kill him.” Dante’s

Tella stopped mid-kick. His heart was beating. She stumbled back and he let her go. “You have a heartbeat.” “No. My heart hasn’t beat in a very long time. You’re the one who’s delusional now.”

“I made your heart beat,” Tella crowed. It was wild and absurd, a truly feral idea. But Tella felt the truth in her heartbeat as well, which now sped up rather than slowed. Beat. Beat. Beat. Beat. Beat. Beat. Beat. It had never felt so strong. So free. “I’m your one true love. Your kiss can’t kill me.” Jacks’s scowl deepened. “You shouldn’t believe every story you hear. Do I look as if I’m in love with you?”

“I’m not sure I understand what that even means,” Tella said. “Not everyone gets a true ending. There are two types of endings because most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, where the situation feels hopeless. But that’s when hope is needed most. Only those who persevere can find their true ending.”