Page 92 of A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

She turned. And it was almost like the first time she’d seen him in this clearing.

He’d been so sharp that night, so cold that the fog had still clung to his boots as he walked.

She remembered telling herself that night not to turn around. Not to look. And when she had looked at him, she’d tried to glance for only a second.

But it had been impossible. Jacks had been the moon and she’d been the tide, controlled by his impossible force. That much had not changed.

Heart or no heart, she still wanted Jacks to be hers.

But this Jacks wasn’t hers.

There was something in his pale hands, a jar he was tossing as if it were one of his apples. Only it wasn’t an apple. It was his heart.

Evangeline’s own heart broke a little at the sight of him, tossing his heart so carelessly as if it were a bit of fruit that he’d dispose of, instead of something unspeakably precious and beautiful.

The heart looked like rays of sunlight before they melted into the horizon. The jar was full of so many colors, mostly gold, but there were sparks of iridescent light that burst against the jar, making the gold look as if it were pounding.

Meanwhile, Jacks looked completely unmoved. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should you!” Evangeline shouted.

She hadn’t meant to shout. Her plan hadn’t been to yell at him, her plan had been to finally tell him how much she loved him. But seeing him, treating his heart so recklessly and negligently, made her scream, “What are you doing?”

“I think you already know the answer, pet. You just don’t like it much.” Jacks tossed the jar higher up in the air.

Evangeline didn’t think—she just leaped forward with outstretched arms, reaching for the heart. Her fingers touched the jar, but Jacks caught her first.

He put his hand at the base of her throat. His grip was strong enough to hold her at bay, to keep her away from grabbing theheart in the jar. Yet he wasn’t hurting her. His fingers were not bruising in their grip.

Either he was trying to be careful because of the protection cuff on her wrist. Or… he didn’t want to hurt her because the nearness of his heart was giving him some feeling.

The light inside the jar pounded harder, as if it were fighting to break free. And Jacks no longer looked entirely unmoved. His blue eyes were almost feral in their brightness, as if he were trying to fight off the feelings that were creeping back in.

“You should go,” he ground out.

“Why? Because you’re going to burn your heart, and once you do that, you think you’ll hurt me? You’re already hurting me, Jacks.”

She reached out—not for the jar, but for him.

His jaw felt like a rock, hard and implacable beneath her fingers. He clenched it even tighter and shook her hand away.

“If I try to hurt you, the cuff will stop me,” he said roughly.

“I’m not talking about physically.”

My heart, it hurts.

And it did. Evangeline had never felt so close and so far away from someone all at once. His cold, hard hand was still on her throat, his eyes were locked on hers. But it was a look that said this was the last time he’d be touching her, the final time.

This was all there was for them.

He wasn’t giving up. He’d already given up.

“How can I make you understand,” he growled, “you and I together don’t end well. We justend.”

“How can you know that if you haven’t even tried?”

“Try?” Jacks laughed and the sound was awful. “This isn’t something you try at, Evangeline.”

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