Page 59 of A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

She could still see Jacks and feel his wrist pressed against hers, now tied with simple rope, but the world around them was growing dark. The sky was a swirl of gray and charcoal and hovering clouds about to break.

The first drop felt like a surprise. Then more rain began to fall in relentless silver-gray lines that muddled the stars and the dark of the night.

Evangeline quickly lifted the hood of her green velvet cloak, but the rain had already soaked her hair through. “Does this mean we’re officially out of the Cursed Forest?”

“Yes.”

“But where are all the tents for the Hunt?”

“We’re on the other side of the forest now,” Jacks said without pausing as it continued to pour.

Evangeline once again lost track of time as they trudged through the rain. It was dark when they’d escaped the forest and it was dark still. Jacks had grown very quiet, and she had become rather hungry.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten or had anything to drink. It hadn’t seemed to matter inside the Cursed Forest. But now her stomach was growling and her legs were tired, and every rock and acorn looked like something worth taking a bite of.

She was starting to feel the effect of going an entire day without eating or drinking. At least… she thought it had been a day. She wasn’t entirely sure how much time had passed since she’d gone to the forest.

All she knew was that it was night again, her mouth was dry, and her legs felt as if they would collapse underneath her. Jacks kept pace beside her, but she imagined she was slowing him down.

Her cloak was drenched and starting to leak through to her chilled skin.

“We’re almost there,” he said. Rain dripped from the tips of his golden hair to his cheeks before running down his neck to his doublet. Unlike Evangeline, he wore no hood or cloak, just the rain—and like everything else, it looked good on him.

He glanced at her sideways. “You shouldn’t stare at me like that.”

“Then how should I stare?”

“You shouldn’t stare at me at all.” He abruptly looked away.

Evangeline felt a stab of something close to hurt. Jacks had tied her to him, he’d saved her life, and now he was saying not to look at him.

“What is it we’re doing, Jacks?”

“We need to get out of the rain,” he said.

As soon as he spoke, the inn appeared in the distance, like a picture in a pop-up book. A rainy pop-up picture book. But Evangeline didn’t care as long as it was warm and she could get something to eat. Her shoes were soaked; her cloak was drenched and clinging to her person; even the rope tying her to Jacks was sopping wet. But as they drew closer, she could see that even in the pouring rain, the inn looked warm and cozy.

The building was all glistening redbrick with overflowing flower boxes full of fluffy fox-leaf flowers covered in fat drops of rain. The chimney on the moss-covered roof, with puffs of gray piping from it, filled the wet air with a woodsy sort of smoke, as the sign in front of the inn swayed with the wind.

Ye Olde Brick Inn at the End of the Forest: for Wayward Travelers and Adventurers.

Beneath this sign was another swaying sign that contained the word:Vacancy.

And then hooked beneath that was an even smaller sign that read:One Bed.

28Apollo

Apollo had never participated in the Hunt.

It’s an excellent way to get killed,his father had always said.Be there at the start, give a rallying battle cry, and then get the hell out.

Apollo had always done just that. He never even ventured beyond the perimeter of the royal camp to enter the Cursed Forest.

The one thing that could have drawn him into the Cursed Forest was Evangeline. As soon as the child had appeared in his tent and told him that someone had tried to kill her, Apollo had wanted to go into the forest to save her.

Then he’d realized this was the opportunity he’d been waitingfor. The moment that would ensure he’d always be able to take care of her.

“Your Highness,” called a guard. The front flap of his tent cracked open and the guard quickly slipped inside. “Lord and Lady Vale are here to see you.”

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