Page 76 of A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

“That’s what I thought.” LaLa smiled, but Evangeline could tell it was one of those trying-to-be-happy-for-a-friend smiles.

Only since LaLa was a Fate, it looked just a little more dangerous. It was a smile that also said:If he hurts you, you let me know and I will happily hurt him even more.

It reminded Evangeline of the last conversation she’d had with LaLa. Before Evangeline had lost her memories, LaLahad come to warn her about Jacks.As long as you are with Jacks, you’re not safe,she’d said.

“Do you still think Jacks is going to hurt me?” asked Evangeline.

LaLa’s forced smile faded. “Jacks hurts everyone. He hasn’t been the same since the day my brother died, and Castor died, and everything in the North went to hell.”

For a flash of a second, LaLa didn’t look like a Fate. She didn’t look vicious or powerful, or like she might kill someone just for making her friend cry. LaLa simply looked like a girl who needed a friend just as much as Evangeline did.

In addition to being a Fate, LaLa was also one of the original Merrywoods. Her brother had been Lyric Merrywood, who had been one of Jacks’s closest friends, along with Prince Castor Valor. They’d died on the same day, and even though it hadn’t been Jacks’s fault, Evangeline knew Jacks blamed himself for being unable to save Castor.

“If anything could spark a change in Jacks, I think it could be his feelings for you,” said LaLa eventually. “But you still need to be careful. Because even his feelings are dangerous.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” LaLa looked at her seriously, her vivid eyes narrowed with concern.

There were three rules about Fates that Evangeline had been taught as a child. The most important of those rules was to never ever fall in love with a Fate.

Evangeline knew this rule, but she hadn’t thought about it for a while, and she wasn’t sure she’d properly understood it before.

But now it was making a new kind of sense. Earlier, when Evangeline had regained her memories but once again lost Jacks, she’d started to fear that maybe he was right and that they weren’t meant to be.

If they were truly meant for each other, shouldn’t it have been easier? Shouldn’t there have been less bloodshed and heartbreak and people trying to tear them apart? Shouldn’t love havewonalready?

But maybe the reason for the warning about falling in love with Fates wasn’t because loving a Fate could never work, but because it was so much harder. Nearly impossible.

All LaLa wanted was love, yet she was the one who kept leaving her grooms at the altar. Even now, after finally being reunited with her dragon shifter, LaLa didn’t seem to be sure that she wanted to be with him anymore.

Evangeline had once heard that Fates were not capable of love in the same way as humans. She’d taken it to mean they couldn’t feel the emotion. But she wondered if this also meant that Fates didn’t believe in love in the same way. Maybe they believed love with humans was doomed, and then acted in ways that brought that doom about.

“I’m not giving up on Jacks,” Evangeline said.

LaLa briefly pursed her lips. “That’s a very human thing to say.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

“I think it’s a bit of both.” LaLa gave her another half hearted smile. “I know you like to do the right thing, but the right thing doesn’t always win with our kind. I think that was part of the reason Jacks became a Fate. He’d always tried to do the right thing as a human, but it didn’t seem to matter, and the people he loved the most kept dying.”

LaLa paused to frown. “I want to be supportive. I really do love lost causes and terrible ideas. But I fear that if you try to save Jacks, you will die, too. I know you have your memories back, but just in case you need a reminder, Jacks is a supernatural being who will kill you if you ever kiss him.”

“Or,” Evangeline offered, “I could kiss Jacks, and he could finally see that he isnotgoing to kill me.”

“No, no, no!” LaLa said furiously. “This is the world’s worst plan.”

“But what if it’s not? I know what the stories say about Jacks’s kiss being fatal to all except for his one true love—and I know he’s supposedly already kissed that one girl. But I also know the stories here lie and twist the truth, so that could be a lie.Iam Jacks’s true love. I believe it with the same confidence that I believe that water fills the oceans and morning follows the night. I believe it with all my heart and soul. And there has to be some sort of magic in that.”

“I don’t think that’s how magic works.” LaLa looked at her sadly. “Believing something doesn’t make it true.”

“But what if the reason I believe this is because itistrue? Iknow the stories all say otherwise, but my heart keeps telling me that Jacks’s story isn’t finished.”

LaLa continued to frown as she toyed with one of the buttons of her coat. “His story might not be over yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to end happily. I’ve known Jacks forever. He is excellent at getting what he wants. But I don’t think Jacks wants a happily ever after. If he wanted that, he could have it. But there’s a reason he doesn’t.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing he has me.”

LaLa looked as if she wanted to argue.

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