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This was an immortal bond that would tie her soul to Jacks’s forever.
44
Donatella
Tella didn’t care that it was the middle of the night, that she’d forgotten her cloak, or that the streets of Valenda were far more dangerous than they’d ever been now that the Fates had taken over. She marched to Jacks’s as if she were deadlier than anything she might encounter.
Once at the door, she pounded her fist and then stormed inside the moment it opened. A riot of clacking and clicking and clapping assaulted her immediately.
It seemed that rather than hiding from the Fates, half the city had just come here. Tella wondered if Jacks had altered their feelings to get them there, or if all of them were as foolish as she was.
Heavily perfumed bodies brushed against her as she moved through the crush. The last time she’d been at Jacks’s it had been mostly men, but tonight the gentlemen were outnumbered by the ladies. All of them were coiffed and clean. None of them were covered in sweat like Tella.
A horrid spike of jealousy shot through her at the thought that she might find Jacks with his arms around another girl. But was she really jealous or did she have that sudden feeling just because they were immortally married?
Married!
Tella still couldn’t believe it. She’d flirted with trusting him again after he’d given her the map. But she never should have trusted him enough to let him trick her like this in the first place.
“Aren’t you full of fire tonight?” The lively crowd parted as Mistress Luck strode closer to Tella, all green-velvet-clad curves and cryptic eyes. “Seems you really can’t stay away from him.”
“Where is he?” Tella spat.
The Fate pointed toward a wall covered in black-and-white hearts. “There’s a door hidden there; it will take you to the gaming room where Jacks likes to play. But—”
Tella strode off without hearing the woman’s warning. It wouldn’t have mattered what she’d said.
Tella tore through the door and down a set of stairs, which landed her inside a room that looked as if it had been attacked by a deck of playing cards. Everything was black and white with violent hints of red. The white walls were striped with crooked lines of glittering red spades, while the floor looked as if someone had plucked handfuls of clubs, diamonds, and hearts and tossed them everywhere. In the center of the room, the heavy round table was equally wild, piled high with chips, cards, bits of jewelry, a few fancy shirts, and half-empty bottles of liquor. The chairs encircling it were full of gamblers, all in various states of undress, explaining the clothes mixed with the chips.
The only one who remained mostly dressed was Jacks. He’d lost his jacket from earlier, discarded his gold cravat, and his shirt was open, missing all of its diamond-sharp buttons.
“Everyone out!” Tella shouted.
A dozen heads turned her way, intoxicated faces all wearing various shades of surprise. Save for Jacks. His silver-blue eyes met hers expectantly and then he grinned like the devil he was. He’d known this moment was coming. “Hello, wife.”
Still looking at her, Jacks gave a lazy wave of his hand toward the table. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d introduce you to my bride, but I think I’d rather kick you out so we can chat in private.”
Tella expected a few murmurs of protest, but Jacks must have been using his newly restored powers to control everyone’s emotions. There were no objections from the group, and within a minute, his court of half-naked gamblers was on the stairs.
“That was quite an appearance.” Jacks leaned into his winged chair and kicked one scuffed brown boot onto the table. “Have you come to consummate the—”
Tella launched herself at him before he could finish. His chair fell back, bringing both of them with it.
“You foul, heartless, wretched, cheating, manipulating, apple-sucking demon!” The curses were inelegant, not nearly as dirty as they should have been, and her blows were ineffective. He’d easily caged her wrists in his cool hands, so she didn’t even hit him, but it felt good to fight him. It felt good to wrestle against his grip.
“You tricked me into marrying you!”
“You begged me to help you.”
“I wanted you to take my emotions away, not make me your wife.”
“But I’ve been a good husband. I told you how to find the Vanished Market, I gave you that Fated map.”
“You also threatened to kill me! And you nearly did!” Tella panted as she finally ripped her wrists free from his icy hands. She would have tried to hit him again, but she needed to stop touching him.
She pulled herself from him, then she shoved up from the ground until she towered over him. He wasn’t even breathing heavily. He just looked up at her as if he were a misbehaving angel with gold hair hanging across his pale forehead.
“I want you to undo it,” she demanded. “I want the marriage revoked, and then I never want to see you again.”
