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The air was warmer, as if this corner of the palace grounds was untouched by anything ill. Yet the statues appeared more distressed than the last time Tella had seen them. They all flinched and recoiled more than before. It was as if they knew that Legend had just released the Fates back into the world—the same Fates who’d long ago turned this garden full of human servants into unmoving stone because they’d wanted more lifelike decorations.
Tella shivered in Jacks’s arms.
Scarlett appeared oblivious to it all. She and Julian sat huddled on a bench in the center of the statues, looking gloriously back in love. Tella swore there were night-blooming butterflies frolicking around their heads.
At least one sister had found happiness that night.
“Did you two finally make up?” Tella mumbled.
Scarlett and Julian straightened abruptly. Then Scarlett was off of the bench, flying toward Jacks and Tella’s limp figure.
“What did you do to my sister?” Scarlett’s lacy white gloves turned to formidable black leather as she pointed at the Fate.
She might have done more than point if Julian had not wrapped a restraining arm around her waist. He was costumed as Chaos, dressed in heavy armor and a pair of spiked gauntlets that made him look as if he were ready to jump into battle. But Tella saw genuine fear simmering beneath the surface of his rugged features. Unlike Scarlett, he must have known that Jacks was the Prince of Hearts. And if Julian was truly Legend’s brother, he must have wondered why the Fate was still alive.
Jacks merely sighed. “Does no one in this family say thank you?”
“Every time I see you, my sister is hurt,” Scarlett said.
“Not every time.” Jacks flashed his teeth as his eyes quickly cut from Julian back to Scarlett. Tella didn’t know what Jacks was silently saying, but whatever it was it made Scarlett’s mouth snap shut.
“And this really wasn’t my fault,” Jacks continued. “Your sister won the game. But it took a lot out of her. She collapsed in the Temple District and Legend, being the gentleman that he’s not, just left her there.”
“You met Legend?” Scarlett asked, her tone both curious and suspicious. It matched the fractured expression on Julian’s face, as if he, too, was both surprised and nervous. Whenever Scarlett was in a room his eyes were always on her, but now he watched Tella, as if he was afraid of what she might say next.
“I—” Tella’s tongue grew suddenly thick and Jacks’s arms became instantly tense. This must have been why’d he’d been playing at being so concerned; he still wanted Legend’s identity to get his full power back, so that he could do more than just kill with a kiss. But even if Tella had been willing to share Legend’s secret with him, the weight of her tongue and the press of magic against her throat made her feel as if she wouldn’t be able to reveal it no matter how hard she tried.
“I don’t remember much of it,” Tella hedged. Then she spared a glance for Julian. “As soon as I won the game, Legend walked away.”
A flash of relief lit Julian’s eyes.
Scarlett’s expression turned more wary.
Jacks took a heavy breath, his chest slowly moving up and down against Tella’s back. “I think it’s time I go. Your mother still needs finding.”
“No!” Tella said.
Scarlett went stiff.
Jacks’s brows danced up. “After all this, you don’t want to see her?”
“Of course I want to see her. I don’t want you touching her.”
“I’ll put some gloves on,” Jacks said. Then, more softly in Tella’s ear, “People know it’s never a good idea to make a bargain with a Fate, but they do it anyway, because we always keep our word. I told you that if you won the game I’d reunite you with your mother, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Jacks carefully placed Tella in the cold hold of a statue with outstretched arms.
For a moment she felt a perverted urge to thank him. But he was the last being she would ever thank. “I still hate you,” she said.
“It’s probably for the best.”
His footfalls made no sound as he exited the garden. As soon as he was gone, Scarlett helped Tella down from the statue’s stiff embrace.
Tella’s legs still felt watery but she could stand as long as Scarlett kept an arm around her. She leaned into her sister’s softness. The air in the garden remained warm, but cold was seeping in. Frost was forming on the forlorn statues and the night butterflies were gone.
“Can we go back to the palace?” Tella mumbled.
“Of course,” Scarlett said.
