Page 64 of A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

In case you forget what the Prince of Hearts has done, and you’re tempted to trust him again.

She quickly reread the words, hoping she might have a memory of writing them. But there was nothing. She opened the note, careful not to tear it, as the paper was so worn and thin.

It must have been important if it was something Jacks carried with him and reread again and again.

The page was covered in more of her handwriting—but itwasn’t a letter to Jacks, it was a letter toher.A note she’d written to herself.

Why would Jacks be carrying this around?

Like the outside of the note, the writing was so faded, she almost couldn’t make it all out.

Dear Evangeline,

Eventually you will see him again, and when you do, do not be fooled by him. Do not be tricked by his charming dimples, his unearthly blue eyes, or the way your stomach might tumble when he calls you Little Fox—it’s not a term of endearment, it’s another form of manipulation.

Jacks’s heart might beat, but it does not feel. If you are tempted to trust him again, remember all that he’s done.

Remember that he was the one to poison Apollo so that he could frame you for murder in order to make a long-lost prophecy come true—one that would turn you into a key capable of openingthe Valory Arch. That is all that he wants, to open the Valory Arch. He will probably be kind to you at some point in the future, to try and influence you into unlocking the arch. Do not do it.

Remember what he told you that day in the carriage—that he is a Fate and you are nothing but a tool to him. Do not let yourself forget what Jacks is or feel sympathy for him again.

If you need someone to trust, trust Apollo when he wakes. Because he will awake. You will find a way to cure him, andwhen you do, trust that the two of you will find your happily ever after and that Jacks will get what he deserves.

Good luck,

Evangeline

It might have been the magic of the letter, of past Evangeline telling herself torememberover and over, as if she’d known that someday she’d forget.

Or it might have been another type of magic that arose inside Evangeline as she wondered why Jacks would have carried around this letter. It wasn’t a letter of love. In fact, it was quite the opposite. And yet he’d read it again and again. He’d carried it with him, close to his heart. Her words—or rather, the words of the girl she’d been. And she wanted to be that girl again. She wanted to remember!

And at long last… she did.

She remembered.

30Evangeline

The memories started out like rainfall, slowly falling over Evangeline and blurring everything else as she remembered writing the letter to herself in the first place. She’d been sitting in her royal suite on the verge of angry tears, but she’d also been heartbroken. She hadn’t recognized the emotion at the time, but present-day Evangeline immediately knew the feeling.

It was the same ache she’d felt in her heart ever since she’d lost her memories. She’d thought it would go away when they eventually resurfaced, but the hurt seemed to grow as her recollections turned from a misty trickle into a steady downpour.

She remembered Jacks again. She remembered visiting his church and meeting him for the first time, thinking he washorrible. Then realizing who he was—that he was actually the Fated Prince of Hearts, and then still thinking he was awful.

Every time she met Jacks, Evangeline thought he was a little worse. He was always eating apples and taunting her, and even when he was rescuing her, he was wretched. She remembered the night she’d been poisoned by LaLa’s tears. He’d held her like a grudge. His body had been rigid and tense, as if he really didn’t want her there, and yet his arms were tight around her waist as though he had no intention of ever letting her go.

She’d still thought he was awful then, but as Evangeline relived that night, something inside her shifted. It happened again when she relived spending the following night with him in the crypt.

Suddenly she understood why thinking of Jacks made her think of biting.

There were other memories of biting as well—of wanting to sink her teeth into him when she’d been infected with vampire venom, and then actually biting down on his shoulder when she’d been in excruciating pain—the night that she’d killed Petra.

Evangeline remembered it all in a backward rush. How she and Petra were both prophesized keys capable of opening the Valory Arch. Evangeline had been trying to find all four of the arch stones to do so, and Petra had tried to murder her in order to stop her.

Evangeline had killed Petra in self-defense. Jacks had found her afterward, covered in blood. Then he’d taken Evangeline tothe Hollow, and she’d finally admitted to herself that she was hopelessly in love with him.

She’d been in love with him for quite some time. Evangeline wasn’t sure if that part was a memory or just a thought she was presently having.

Her memories didn’t feel so much like her past as they felt like their story. The story of Evangeline and Jacks. And it was a beautiful story, her new favorite story. She hated that she’d forgotten it. That it had been lost and Apollo had tried to rewrite it, to tell her that Jacks was the villain.

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