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

Jacks didn’t want to open the Valory Arch. It was all Evangeline could think about as he disappeared up the stairs.

The revelation was so unexpected and incomprehensible, Evangeline fell into the nearest chair. Her back was throbbing again, and now her mind was spinning with this news.

Usually, Jacks just twisted the truth rather than lying, but he’d told her very clearly before that he wanted to open the Valory Arch. Hadn’t he?

Evangeline swore he’d said it, but when she thought back to the last time she’d asked him about it, she just remembered him saying: I’m flattered you’ve taken such an interest in my wants.

She thought back further to when she’d first learned about the existence of the Valory Arch. She’d asked Jacks what it was, and he’d told her that she didn’t need to worry about it. But he never actually said that he didn’t want to open it. Which begged the question once again: What did Jacks actually want?

In the hall, the clock with all the meals chimed, and the hand that had pointed to Cider creaked its way to Mead. Before Evangeline’s eyes, the earthen mug in front of her shifted to a tall glass filled with sparkling golden liquid the same color as the truth stone Jacks had just taken from her. And it struck her like a bolt of lightning, sharp and electric and painful. Jacks didn’t want to open the Valory Arch—he just wanted the four stones.

Tiberius had said that together the Valory Arch stones possessed great power, and Petra had hinted that when all four stones were together, they were capable of impossible things. It must have been this power that Jacks wanted all along.

Was he even going to let her use the stones to open the arch and save Apollo?

Given how quickly he’d taken both stones after she’d found them, she suddenly doubted he’d ever planned to let her use them. Was this the real reason why he hadn’t wanted to tell Chaos where they were going? Because he’d planned to keep the stones for himself?

Evangeline looked toward the rounded door of the tavern—she wasn’t sure if Jacks would be returning soon, but she didn’t plan to sit there and wait for him.

His last revelation might have left her with more questions than before, but she had learned one thing: the Hollow was Jacks’s former home. If anywhere had more answers about Jacks and what he was truly after, this might be the place.

And it would be nice to find some more clothes.

Although no one was there, Evangeline still felt a little too exposed as she climbed up to the second floor, with all its fairytale-covered doors, in nothing but Jacks’s shirt. She was also starting to feel terribly achy and tired.

The first door she opened was carved with a picture of a pastry goblin tossing sweets. The room on the other side was even more delightful, decorated with apothecary jars full of colorful candies. The pillows on the bed all looked like sweets as well—wrapped taffy, gumdrops, and fluffy marshmallows. It felt tempting to lie down, just for a minute. She could almost hear the bed say, If you sleep here, your dreams will be sweet, too.

But Evangeline wanted answers—and clothing—more than she wanted sleep.

After opening an empty wardrobe and an empty desk, she dragged herself into the next room. This door possessed a picture of a knight with a star-shaped key, and even more stars lived inside the room, hanging from the ceiling and covering the quilt and the carpets.

She peeked inside the wardrobe—which had star-shaped handles—but it was sadly empty of both clothes and answers to mysteries.

“You don’t give up, do you?” Jacks asked.

She spun to find him in the doorway, arms crossed over each other as one shoulder leaned casually against the frame.

He had come back to find her—she hadn’t expected that. He’d seemed upset when he’d left. She’d thought he’d shut down again and disappear. But there he was, watching her from the doorway.

He’d put on a clean shirt—soft blue, with sleeves shoved up to the elbows, and most of the buttons done except for the ones up top, which allowed a clear view of the fading bite marks she’d left on his neck. Earlier, she’d felt so bad about them, but now she thought he deserved them.

“You lied to me.” She hated that she sounded more hurt than angry and that his cold expression didn’t shift.

“About what?” he drawled.

“You don’t want to open the Valory Arch.” She glared, hoping it hid just how much this betrayal stung. “You just want the stones.”

He shrugged one shoulder, unapologetic. “I would think that would make you happy, since you’ve been so afraid of opening the arch.”

“But I need to open it to find the cure for the Archer’s curse. Were you even going to let me do that?”

Jacks didn’t answer, which was practically the same as no.

It shouldn’t have hurt. Even if he’d said yes, she wouldn’t have believed him.

It all brought a new swell of fatigue as she started toward the door.

Jacks shot an arm across the frame, trapping her in before she could cross.

“Let me go, Jacks.”

“You should get some rest, Little Fox. You look exhausted.”

“I feel fantastic,” she said. At least she could lie now that the stone was gone. And if she tottered on her feet as she said it, it was only because she was angry, not because her legs were starting to feel as weak as string.

She took another step and swayed.

Jacks groaned and scooped her up, one powerful arm swooping under her legs and the other behind her neck.

And suddenly, she was boneless. She knew she needed to fight him, but her body refused, mistaking his arms for somewhere safe. She hated that he could be both so gentle and so maddening. She knew that he needed her alive to find the last stone, but he didn’t need to carry her; he could have left her in a guest room bed or simply let her crumble to the ground. He’d let her turn to stone before. Why couldn’t he be more unfeeling now? He didn’t need to hold her close to his chest as they stepped outside, protecting her from the chill.

“I’m still mad at you,” she grumbled.

He sighed as they crossed the bridge. “I thought you were always mad at me.”

“I almost forgave you last night.”

“That would have clearly been a lapse of judgment.”

“I was dying, and—” Evangeline stopped herself as he carried her into the tree loft.

She didn’t know why she was arguing with him. He was right: what he’d told her earlier about the stones confirmed that she couldn’t trust him. But despite being mad at him for lying, for tricking her again, she still felt impossibly drawn toward him; it didn’t matter that nothing could ever come from it. The wanting from last night still hadn’t gone away. If anything, it was even stronger. And she couldn’t believe the inexorable pull she felt was entirely one-sided.

She looked up at his unreadable eyes as he lowered her into the bed. “Do you still think of me as just a tool?”

Jacks frowned. “I try not to think of you at all.”

In Evangeline’s dream, Jacks was sitting in the shadows at the end of an old wooden dock, overlooking the same lake she’d seen from the tavern. The one that had been full of stars. Only now there were no stars, just a gem-bright sky, trapped in the final moments of a sunset. All pink clouds and brilliant strands of glowing yellow and orange.

She watched as Jacks skipped a rock across the mirror-smooth surface of the water. Plink. Plink. Plink. Plink. Plink. When it disappeared, he tossed another.

He didn’t look up as she approached. His back was to a post, hair tousled and dark brown.

Evangeline’s steps faltered.

From a distance, she’d thought Jacks had been cast in shadow, but now it was clear the young man at the end of the dock was not Jacks.

“You’re a difficult one to track down.” The young man turned from the lake, and when she saw his face, her breath caught in her chest.

She thought at first that he looked familiar, but it might just have been that he was incredibly handsome, clean-cut jaw, dark eyebrows over hypnotic eyes, and a charming smile that made her heart take an excited little tumble.

“Who are you?”

Ignoring her question, the handsome stranger leaped to his feet with one agile move. His clothes were rough and rugged, the kind meant for forest adventures, but his movements were graceful and slightly predatory.

Evangeline felt a flicker of caution. She told herself this was just a dream, but this was the Magnificent North, and she feared that dreams were like fairytales, a little bit true and not entirely trustworthy.

He dropped his brilliant eyes to her very naked legs. Evangeline was still only dressed in Jacks’s shirt, and she flushed from her toes to her cheeks. But she tried not to let it show in her voice as she asked the handsome stranger once again, “Who are you?”

His eyes glittered with his smile. “Why don’t we just stick with the Handsome Stranger.”

Her heart did an embarrassed flip. “You can read my thoughts.”

“No, but it’s the truth. I am incredibly handsome.” He sauntered forward a step, cocking his head as he took in her face instead of her bare legs. “I can see why Jacks likes you. You’re a bit like her, you know?”

“Like who?” Evangeline asked.

The Handsome Stranger rubbed his jaw. “He wouldn’t be happy if he knew I said this, but if you’re not careful, you’ll end up like her as well.”

“Like who?” Evangeline repeated.

“His first fox.”