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

The room was just as Evangeline remembered—crumbling floors, gray walls, fossilized air that scratched at her throat, and a giant arch guarded by a pair of warrior angels.

With a click, Chaos unlocked the small iron trunk holding the first three stones.

The air immediately changed, glitter swirling through the room like dust.

Evangeline stole a look back at Jacks. Once she opened the arch, the stones would be his to use as he pleased. She wished that he’d change his mind, that this night wouldn’t end with her forgetting him. But he was still refusing to look at her. As if one glance her way might change his mind, and then the whole world might come crashing down around them.

Reluctantly, she looked away, and one by one, Evangeline put the first three stones in the arch. They looked duller than she’d remembered. She hoped that maybe they’d already been used to change time. Then she instantly felt guilty. Evangeline hated the choice that Jacks was making, but she didn’t want it taken away from him. Instead, she hoped, one final time, that he would make a better choice. With that, she put the fourth stone inside the arch.

Welcome back, it whispered.

Chaos held out one of his daggers, and Evangeline carefully pricked her finger.

As soon as she touched her blood to the stones, the room exploded with light. The angels glowed like a slice of sun. Evangeline had to shield her eyes until the angels dimmed.

When she could see again, the stone angels lowered their swords, and behind them waited a great wooden door with an iron knocker shaped like a wolf’s head. Chaos pressed one gloved hand against the door as if to test if it was real. Then he took his dagger and sliced off a lock of her pink hair.

She jolted back. “Why did you do that?”

“The hair is to break the curses on you and Apollo—just wait here while I go inside.”

“I think Evangeline should just leave.” Jacks gave her a bloodshot glare.

Evangeline felt briefly stunned. Was this supposed to be his version of goodbye? And when had his eyes become so red? She told herself not to worry, but she suddenly felt as if something was very wrong. “Jacks, are you all right?”

“No.” In a flash, his red eyes narrowed. His mouth pulled tight, and his voice turned to venom. “I’m confused as to what you’re still doing here. Do you think you’re still needed?”

“Jacks—”

“I know my name. There’s no need for you to keep repeating it.”

Evangeline flinched at the malice in his tone.

Even Chaos looked surprised. Then, as if not wanting to be a part of their final argument, he slipped through the door to the Valory.

Evangeline and Jacks were alone.

A muscle throbbed in Jacks’s neck as he continued to hold her gaze. “What are you still doing here, Evangeline? Did you expect a teary goodbye?” He sneered. “I’ve told you before that you are nothing but a tool to me. Now your purpose has been fulfilled.”

Embarrassment burned her cheeks. But she couldn’t bring herself to move. Evangeline didn’t know what she’d expected. She’d hoped that Jacks would change his mind, but even if he didn’t, there was no reason for him to be like this after all that they’d been through. “Why are you being so cruel?”

“Because you won’t leave!” Jacks shouted. “And if you stay, you will die. Chaos hasn’t fed in hundreds of years. I know he thinks he can control his hunger, but he can’t. That’s why they put the helm on him.”

“You could have just said that. If you don’t want me to say goodbye or you want me to leave, you don’t have to hurt me to get me to do it.”

“I’m not—I—” Jacks broke off abruptly. His eyes were no longer just red, they were blazing with fear. She’d never seen him look so terrified before. She’d been poisoned, shot, lashed across the back, and Jacks had always kept his calm until now.

With a great deal of effort, he took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was soft but uneven. “I’m sorry, Little Fox. I didn’t want to hurt you. I just—”

He looked suddenly at a loss for words, as if whatever he said next might be the wrong thing. He’d never looked at her like this before.

“Jacks, please, don’t use the stones tonight. Come with me instead.”

He took a jagged breath. For a second, he looked torn. He raked a hand through his hair, his movements jagged.

Evangeline took a step closer.

He shuttered his expression and took a step back. “This doesn’t change anything. I still can’t have you in my life. You and I aren’t meant to be.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

Jacks worked his jaw and clenched his fists.

Evangeline had once heard a tale about a pair of doomed stars, drawn across skies toward each other’s brightness, even though they knew that if they drew too close, their desire would end in a fiery explosion. This was how Jacks looked at her now. As if neither of them would survive if they drew any closer.

“Evangeline, you need to go.”

A thunderous roar poured out from the Valory, so loud it shook the arch and the angels and the ground at Evangeline’s feet.

“Get out of here,” Jacks said.

She held his gaze, one final time, wishing she knew how to change his mind. “I wish our story could have had another ending.”

“I don’t want a different ending,” Jacks said flatly. “I just want you to leave.”