Legendary (Caraval, #2)

by Stephanie Garber

“That’s funny,” Scarlett said, her head turning sharply back toward Tella. “I was about to tell you the same thing.”

But she didn’t argue after that, making Tella wonder if perhaps her sister had a secret of her own after all.

And, oh glory, he was shirtless.

“You can’t take apart my dress on these stairs.” “Does that mean I can take it apart somewhere else?” His low voice oozed dark promises.

Tella didn’t really want his answer because no matter what he said, there was no good way for their story to end.

“Are you sure? For a moment you stopped breathing. Or do I just have that effect on you?”

Scarlett had been right. Her mother had been worse than her father. At least he’d waited until Scarlett was of age before selling her off like a goat.

“Where do you want me to take you?” “Somewhere to forget.”

“When I was a child, I read my fortune. It contained the Prince of Hearts. So for almost my entire life I’ve known I was destined for unrequited love.

everyone knows how boring it is to be good.”

Dante wasn’t trying to seduce her; he was convincing her just how little goodness mattered,

And for the first time in her life Tella wanted even more. She wanted the night to stretch into forever, and for Dante to tell her more stories about Fates, and his past, and anything else he wanted to say.

“I think I’d like you even if you were the villain.”

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.

all she saw was a curtain of thick dark hair. But from the back, the young woman looked exactly like Scarlett.

Then the door to the carriage before her opened again. Tella only saw the back of this person as well, but she instantly recognized his careless walk, his wrinkled clothes, and his head of golden hair. Jacks.

If Tella’s world flipped on its head one more time, she would crack.

“You have a heartbeat.” “No. My heart hasn’t beat in a very long time.

“I might be a lot of things, but I know what I felt,” Tella said. 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.…

She wanted to prove to Paloma that she wasn’t just a useless ornament to be given away, that she was fearless and clever and brave and worth loving.

she was done letting the Fates dictate her choices.

You don’t particularly look like her, but you have the same indomitable spirit and vibrancy as Paradise the Lost.

The Shattered Crown predicted an impossible choice between two equally difficult paths. Tella knew the circle in her hands wasn’t the same crown. That crown was trapped in a deck of cards, and this crown had yet to break.

And yet Tella found herself tucking Jacks’s luckless coin into the pocket of her costume, along with the Aracle and the card imprisoning her mother.

“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.”

No wonder the stars had blinked earlier that night. Tella imagined them doing it again as she reached into the wooden box, boldly picked up her mother’s cursed Deck of Destiny, and officially won Caraval.

His arms snaked around her, keeping her steady while the world she knew broke into pieces. Dante was Legend.

“It’s already finished,” Tella said. She tried to smile then. She was finally the hero. All it had cost her was everything.

Humans were not that selfless. But, of course, he wasn’t fully human.

The blood covering the deck turned black, and the world changed once more.

“I can’t believe you did this for me.” She looked up from Legend’s wounded palm to his beautiful face. “I think that means you’re the hero after all.” His expression darkened at the word hero, as if it was something he’d rather not be called. But she didn’t care. He was her hero.

The steps beneath Tella were cold, but not nearly as icy as the heartless boy who’d left her there.

“Stop judging me. It only looks that way because I can’t move. If I could, I wouldn’t be lying here. I’d be with my mother.”

“Why are you being so nice?” she asked. “If you think I’m nice, you really need to spend time with better people.” “No, you’re being kind. You’re holding me all close and saying personal things. Do you love me now?”

“I made a mistake, Scar. I never wanted to fall for anyone, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Legend.”

He hadn’t come to Valenda merely to destroy the Fates and take all their powers for himself. He’d chosen this city as his game board so he could claim the throne.