The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart Book 2)

Chaos was gone when Evangeline returned to his underground castle. She feared that he was out searching for her, although there was no one around to confirm her suspicions.

She suspected that Chaos had warned his vampires there would be consequences if anything happened to her. After her first day or so there, she never saw any vampires aside from Chaos. Of course, Evangeline didn’t make it a habit to tromp about in search of any. She only searched for Chaos now because she would need to ask him for transportation to attend LaLa’s party. But she supposed this could wait until tomorrow.

After failing to find Chaos in his study, Evangeline went to bed.

Sometime later, when she was just on the edge of asleep and awake, she thought she heard him enter—she definitely heard someone. But when she opened her eyes, no one was there.

The suite was empty and cold, and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that seconds ago it had been different.

The following day, as soon as it was dusk, Evangeline started toward Chaos’s study. She had an extra bounce in her step at the thought that she’d be leaving this place soon, and if all went well, she’d find the stones she needed to break the curse on Apollo.

At the thought of Apollo, she rubbed her wrist where his carved words snuck out from her sleeve. The shallow wound didn’t hurt anymore, but there was an ache in her chest as she turned the corner into the gaming court and—

Jacks.

She fumbled to a halt, slippers skidding against the stone floor.

He was a few feet away, sitting in the gaming court at a polished wooden table with a checkered board half-covered in red and black pieces. Above him hung a cage full of dripping wax candles that tossed ocher light on both the checkers and the pretty girl that Jacks was playing with.

The girl tapped her nails against the table, biting her lip fetchingly as her eyes flickered from the simple game to Jacks.

He looked like the picture of a naughty prince as he lounged in his black velvet chair. His golden hair gleamed under the light, the locks artlessly askew as if the girl had just run her fingers through it.

Evangeline felt a flash of—she wasn’t quite sure what it was. It certainly wasn’t jealousy. Jacks looked rather bored as he moved a red checker. And yet, if Jacks was so bored, why hadn’t he come to find her? Was he planning on letting Evangeline know he’d returned?

Evangeline didn’t want to be bothered by this. It really was a good thing that Jacks hadn’t come back to find her. And yet, seeing him here now made her feel small, insignificant.

She’d thought he wanted the Valory Arch open more than anything, but first he’d run off and left her, and now he was sitting around playing checkers.

Jacks barely flicked his gaze in her direction. “I also play chess.”

Evangeline’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to project that thought about the checkers. “I was just surprised. I didn’t know you played games that didn’t involve hurting people.”

“Oh, there’s that other game,” the girl chimed in. “The one—”

“You can leave now,” Jacks interrupted.

The girl’s mouth was stuck mid-word. “You—I—you—” She struggled, briefly making little pouting huffs before her round face glazed over.

An instant later, she rose and quietly left the court.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Evangeline said.

“Why?” Jacks leaned back in his seat and looked lazily up at her. His clothes were as relaxed as his posture, a dark blue velvet doublet half-undone, low-slung belt, storm-gray trousers, and weathered leather boots with buckles on the side. “You want me to bring her back?”

“No,” Evangeline replied. But it was too quick.

A smile tugged at the corner of Jacks’s mouth. “Jealous, Little Fox?”

“Absolutely not—I don’t like it when you use your powers to control people.”

“You’ve asked me to do it in the past.”

“I had a good reason.”

“I actually believe you would have done the North a tremendous favor by ridding it of your stepsister, but we can always fix that mistake later.” Jacks rolled a black apple back and forth across the edge of the table with his palm. “Now, did you want something? Or just my attention?”

He flashed one of his dimples as his mouth formed a mocking smirk.

Evangeline hadn’t missed this at all. “You’re asking the wrong girl, Jacks. Unlike her, I know you’re not a god.”

“Yet you’re the one who prayed at my church.” He kicked his boots up on the table. “What was it you said? I know you understand my heartbreak.” His laugh was soft.

She felt her cheeks go splotchy, which of course only made him laugh harder.

“Clearly, I was mistaken,” she said.

She’d also been terribly naive to believe that Jacks could understand human feelings or care about ones that weren’t his. Evangeline didn’t say that bit aloud. She merely turned to go. Perhaps she’d missed him a little while he was gone, but clearly, those thoughts had been mad.

“Wait.” Jacks jumped up from his seat and grabbed her arm. “What’s this?”

She tried to pull away, but Jacks’s nimble fingers were quick. He shoved up the edge of her sleeve to reveal one arm of Apollo’s crudely carved words. I DON’T WANT TO KILL YOU.

Jacks’s nostrils flared. “Looks as if your husband has gotten worse at his love letters.”

“It’s nothing.” Evangeline yanked back her arm. But Jacks was far stronger.

He pulled her to him with one quick tug. So close, suddenly she could see details she hadn’t noticed before. The shirt under his doublet was incredibly wrinkled, and there were tired circles under his eyes that made her wonder what he’d been off doing over the last ten days.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“I was killing innocent maidens and kicking puppies.”

“Jacks, that’s not funny.”

“Neither is what’s carved into your arm.” He glared at the words. “When did this happen?”

Evangeline pursed her lips.

If Jacks was upset by the sight of the wound, she didn’t want to think about how he would react if she told him she’d received it during a visit with Tiberius. Jacks would probably shackle her to one of the walls to keep her from leaving again.

What she needed to do was distract him with something else.

Evangeline finally wrenched her hand away, took out the scandal sheet that mentioned LaLa’s engagement celebration, and thrust it into his hands.

Jacks took one look at the paper, and his expression turned hard. “No. You’re not attending a party at House Slaughterwood.”

“That’s not your decision to make.” Evangeline stabbed her finger at the page. “I know the first word is blurry, but it says mirth, as in the mirth stone!”

“That doesn’t mean the stones will be there.”

“But I think they will be. See the part where it mentions that members from all the Great Houses will be in attendance? I suspect that the arch stones have been hidden among the Great Houses and that they will have the remaining stones with them at the party.”

Jacks looked down on her imperiously. “Even if your theory is right about the Houses having the stones, why would they bring them?”

“While you were away, I learned that the stones call to one another—they long to be reunited. When Chaos showed me the luck stone, I felt its power, and I wanted it more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. So I think whoever has the stones will be wearing them at this party because they won’t let them out of their sight.”

Jacks worked his jaw. He no longer looked entirely opposed to the idea, but he didn’t seem very happy about it, either. “Chaos can’t know we’re going to House Slaughterwood.”

“Why?”

“Because if he knows, he won’t let us go.” Jacks crumpled the sheet of newsprint in his hand. And Evangeline couldn’t be sure, but it looked as if his fingers were shaking.

“What’s wrong with House Slaughterwood?”

“House Slaughterwood is the reason we’re all in this mess, Little Fox.”