Page 69 of A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

“Evangeline, darling,” said Apollo. “Vampires look different when they feed. I know you think the vampire who did this was an old monster, but vampires are quite rare. I’m sure if you truly saw a vampire, then it was the impostor heir. Unless you’re not certain it was a vampire?”

Bastard. Murderer. Monster.

I hate you,Evangeline wanted to say. But telling Apollo how she felt right now wouldn’t help either Luc or Jacks. Instead she said the only thing she could bring herself to say: “I’m certain it was a vampire.” And she desperately hoped that Luc was somewhere safe and far away.

31Evangeline

Evangeline just had to survive the carriage ride.

It was only one carriage ride.

The last carriage ride.

Once she arrived at Wolf Hall, she would escape using the secret passages that Apollo had told her about before they’d married. With her memories returned, she remembered the passages now. She just had to wait until dark, when the castle was asleep. Then Evangeline would leave to try to find Jacks.

No, she corrected herself, not try. Shewouldfind Jacks. It didn’t matter that she had no idea where he’d gone, why he’d left her, or why he’d put the glass cuff on her wrist.

Evangeline wanted to study the cuff once more. Jacks had taken pains to put it on her, so it must have been important.Likely magical. But thus far, the cuff hadn’t done anything spectacular—or indeed, anything at all.

She kept the cuff concealed under her cloak as the carriage rumbled toward Wolf Hall. Except now it seemed to be going in the wrong direction.

Evangeline didn’t know much about Northern geography. But she did know that Wolf Hall was to the south, and she could tell from the direction of the sun shining over all the greenery of the North that their carriage was now rolling toward the west, toward somewhere she didn’t know.

All she saw was fields of green and trees budding with new leaves.

She found herself gripping the red velvet cushions beneath her as she waited for the road to curve back toward the south, but the path remained straight as a stalk of wheat.

Until then, Evangeline had been trying to look out the window instead of at Apollo. She didn’t know if she could look at him for long without giving her true feelings away. She also didn’t want to see him. It was painful enough just sitting so close to the man who’d ripped away her memories and rewritten her history. She didn’t want to look at his face. But finally she turned.

He was sitting directly across from her. His hands were steepled, resting under his chin as he stared at her with the same intensity that she’d employed in avoiding him.

A chill tripped down her spine as she wondered if he’d been watching her like this the entire time. As if he knew she had a secret.

“Is everything all right, darling? You look a little nervous.”

“I was merely wondering where we’re going. I thought Wolf Hall was to the south?”

“It is. We’ll be staying elsewhere for a while.”

A whilecould have beenan eternityfrom the way hearing it made her feel. Evangeline knew how to escape from Wolf Hall, but it could be much more difficult to flee from somewhere else.

“Where is this elsewhere?” she asked.

“Right here.” Apollo waved a regal hand toward the window as the carriage rolled by an overly friendly sign, wrapped in a jolly green ribbon, which read:

WELCOME TOMERRYWOODVILLAGE!WHEREEVERYONEISWELCOME

As soon as she saw it, Evangeline’s memories collided with her reality. She remembered riding through this town and its neighboring forest with Jacks. It had been the definition of desolate, hopeless and lifeless and colorless. But now it was teeming with life.

Evangeline could see the main square from the carriage. It was full of glassblowers and metalsmiths, men with axes, and women with hammers all working under colorful strings of bunting and lanterns and streamers that hung from the shops in the midst of repair.

Even with the carriage door closed, she could hear a melody of chirping birds, laughing children, and people hard at work.

“Now that the Hunt is over,” said Apollo, “the Vales are having their festival to encourage people to help them rebuild Merrywood Manor and the neighboring village. This was the event they were talking about the other night at dinner. They’ve promised land and homes and jobs to anyone who helps. It’s an old tradition that the other Great Houses support by putting up booths and sponsoring dinners and dances every night.”

As Apollo spoke, the carriage veered away from the square, and they quickly came upon a circle of royal tents the color of deep red wine. The atmosphere here was not quite so cheerful as the village. There was a lot less bunting and a lot more soldiers.

Evangeline tensed at the sight of them all. There were too many to count; it was like ants crawling all over a picnic. As she’d feared, it would be much harder to sneak out unnoticed. But she would find a way to manage it.

---