Finale

Scarlett receives the message from Tella, tucked inside her breakfast napkin. Although eager to read it, Scarlett still doesn’t trust Anissa. She waits until the Lady falls asleep, then reads Tella’s request for a vial of Gavriel’s blood. Scarlett quickly writes back, promising to get the blood and to be careful, but she also adds a warning of her own: the fact that Gavriel plans to claim the throne in just three days. He intends to manipulate public perception by allowing the other Fates to wreak havoc on Valenda, at which point his self-coronation will seem like salvation. If Tella and the others cannot act quickly, the empire will fall into his hands before anyone realizes what has happened.

Tella and Legend search for the Immortal Library, only for one of the Fates to interrupt them: Priestess, Priestess. Her voice compels truth or death, and when she asks them what they’re looking for, Legend is compelled to tell her. In the end, he has to use an illusion of an earthquake to scare the Fate away, but this effort leaves him dangerously weak.

As they start to leave, Jacks appears and finally realizes that Legend and Dante are the same man. He threatens to kill Tella with a magically induced heart attack unless Legend transfers his own power to restore Jacks’s full abilities. Despite Tella’s protests, Legend agrees, but only if Jacks swears never to harm them again unless asked. Legend tells her to stay back and wait, but instead, she watches in secret as Jacks drinks Legend’s blood. Jacks then reveals his plan to use his regained powers to win Tella over, now that Legend can no longer enter her dreams. A furious Tella tries to confront him but collapses, still weak. Legend returns and carries her away. He tells her that he cannot let her go, and she again refuses to become immortal, even if doing so will protect her from Jacks.

Tella dreams that she is trapped in a frigid, twisted house of cards. Each card bears her face as a queen or Jacks’s face as a smirking king. She knows that this vision is his doing, and she storms through the dream to confront him. When he appears, she slaps him for his recent stunt of nearly killing her and forcing Legend to give up his power. Jacks claims that she was never truly in danger and insists that he knew Legend wouldn’t let her die, but Tella doesn’t accept his excuse. She tells him that she never wants to see him again and demands that he stay out of her dreams. He then reveals that he never needed permission to enter them because they share a connection. He asserts that she’ll eventually come back to him.

Only two days remain before Gavriel’s planned date to seize the throne. The Fates continue to wreak havoc in the city, including burning non-Fated temples, and their actions continue to drive the city toward desperation. While Tella and Legend keep searching for the Immortal Library, their efforts remain fruitless until Jacks appears with a gift: the Map of All, a Fated object that can guide them to any place the holder desires. Though Tella refuses to take it, Legend accepts Jacks’s offer. As soon as he touches it, the map leads them to what appears to be an old carriage house infested with deadly spiders. Tella breaks through the illusion with blood magic, revealing the entrance to the actual library. In the courtyard, the statue guardians welcome them. However, entry comes with a cost: Both Tella and Legend lose their ability to speak as they step inside.

Tella and Legend navigate the Immortal Library, passing through a “zoo” of animated book animals, a reading chamber with a forbidden throne, and finally, a staircase made of books. At the top, they finally locate the Ruscica.

After securing the book, they retreat to another of Legend’s many lavish homes along Valenda’s rocky coast. As they arrive at the house, they banter and are about to kiss but are interrupted by Julian. He insists on talking to his brother alone, and Tella secretly listens in. She overhears Julian confronting Legend about her, accusing him of trying to change her without truly loving her. He reminds Legend of what Caraval once was and pleads with him to become someone who is once again worthy of others’ belief in him. Legend dismisses the idea of changing and argues that Tella only came back to life because of his magic. Julian counters that love, not magic, is what truly matters. He believes that Tella doesn’t need saving and that she is the one meant to save Legend.

After enlisting Anissa to stage a hostage situation, Scarlett lures Gavriel into a trap, and the Fate slits his throat. Scarlett collects his blood, believing that he is dead, only to discover moments later that he has survived. He destroys the vial and chokes her unconscious. When she wakes, she finds that he has encased her head in a magical ruby cage, similar to the one that the Maiden Death wears. Overcome with grief, shame, and fear, Scarlett is unable to send a message to Tella and Julian and admits that she has failed.

Gavriel tells Scarlett that he is enacting his plan the next day rather than waiting until the day after. He tells her that if she succeeds in mastering her powers, he will remove the cage. However, he reveals that the person he wants her to control is Esmeralda.

Tella wrestles with insomnia and spiraling thoughts about Legend, who has been distant since speaking with Julian. Since she can’t sleep, she decides to look at the Ruscica instead. The pages are blank until she pricks her finger and writes in the book with her blood. It responds by writing out her own life. In the table of contents, she sees important moments and peculiar events in her life. However, she is shocked to see an entry titled “Donatella marries the Prince of Hearts” (330). She finds the chapter and realizes that in her grief after her mother’s death, she unknowingly formed an immortal soul bond with Jacks.

Tella storms through the streets of Valenda to confront Jacks, furious at the knowledge that he has tricked her into an immortal marriage. She bursts into his club and finds him gambling among half-dressed patrons, and he greets her smugly as his “wife.” Tella attacks him and accuses him of manipulating her grief to get what he wants. She demands that he undo their marriage. Jacks explains that while the bond cannot be undone, it can be severed, but only if she wounds him and recites specific words. He hands her the same jeweled dagger used during their binding and bares his chest, daring her to cut him. She hesitates, thinking that such an action would be all too easy, and he confesses that he wanted her to be his true love and that everything he did was selfish. He insists that despite what he has done, he would never hurt her. Tella responds that he has already hurt her, and she slashes him.

Tella severs her immortal marriage bond with Jacks, although the act of cutting him causes her to double over in agony, too. Feeling empty, Tella leaves.

As she walks back through Valenda, Tella finally understands that love involves far more than just passion or being chosen; it requires sacrifice, and the person in question must want someone else’s happiness more than their own. She races back to Legend’s house on the coast, ready to embrace immortality if it means being with him forever. She finds him asleep in his room, and the mural behind his bed tells the story of his life. The final painting depicts them both in the moments after Caraval, when he saved her from the cards. When he wakes, Tella tells him that she wants to be immortal and spend forever with him. They fall back into his bed together and start kissing. However, when Tella confesses that she loves him, Legend stops and insists that she deserves someone who can love her in return.

Despite hours of trying to change Esmeralda’s emotions, Scarlett fails; she can only read them. The woman radiates rage and refuses to cooperate. Scarlett resolves to escape using the Reverie Key. The Lady Prisoner warns her not to leave, as doing so would be the beginning of the wrong ending, so Scarlett stays.

When a servant delivers breakfast, Esmeralda dumps tea over the food. Scarlett appeals to the woman’s hatred, proposing that they work together to take down Gavriel. Before she knows whether Esmeralda will agree or not, Gavriel returns and demands a demonstration of Scarlett’s progress. Specifically, he demands that she make Esmeralda worship him. Though Scarlett still can’t control her powers, Esmeralda does play along. She kneels at his feet, cries, and acts like a broken devotee. Gavriel is pleased at first but then cruelly mocks her and commands Scarlett to strip her of all emotion. Scarlett tries, but nothing changes. Esmeralda continues crying, which only enrages Gavriel. Despite Scarlett’s pleas to be given more time, he grabs Esmeralda and snaps her neck.