Page 84 of A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart)

“I can’t believe I used to think Jacks was the smart one.” Once again, LaLa glared at Castor. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

“I tried.”

“Pfft,” LaLa said. “Clearly you didn’t try hard enough.”

“This isn’t Castor’s fault,” Evangeline said, but neither of them was paying attention to her.

“Have you ever successfully stopped Jacks?” asked Castor.

LaLa raised her chin imperiously. “I once stabbed him with a butter knife.”

“I remember that butter knife fiasco,” Evangeline said. “It caused a great mess. Speaking of messes—what are we going to do about Jacks’s heart?”

“I say we kidnap Aurora and torture her until she tells us where it is,” said LaLa.

“I’m not letting you torture my sister,” Castor interrupted.

“Your sister is a monster!”

Castor’s nostrils flared. “We are all monsters.” With a growl, he shoved away from the tree he’d been leaning against.

For a second, Evangeline thought he might cross the spring as well and finally sink his teeth into LaLa. The tension had returned, tightening his jaw and his shoulders. Then slowly he took a step back.

“I’m not asking you to forgive her for what she caused to happen to your family,” Castor said quietly. “But you don’t need to hurt her. She was locked in the Valory for hundreds of years; she’s already suffered enough for her crime. If you want to hurt her for this, just find the heart and return it to Jacks. That will be torture enough for her.”

Castor turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” LaLa called.

“The sun is going to rise soon. I need to leave, but I’ve already told Evangeline where she has to go.”

And with that, Chaos vanished into the night.

37Apollo

The tent was empty.

Evangeline was gone.

At a glance, it looked as if there’d been a struggle. Everything was a mess—trunks of clothes were toppled. Pillows were slashed. The table lay tipped over in a riot of spilled wine and spattered food. Berries had been stomped into the ground next to meat now smeared with dirt.

“Guards!” Apollo bellowed, calling forth two soldiers who had been outside.

It was clear from the moment they looked into the tent that they hadn’t heard any commotion. There’d been no battle, no kidnapping—just as Apollo had feared.

Evangeline had left willingly—and left this scene to throw him off the trail.

Which could mean only one thing.

She remembered.

“I want my wife found,” Apollo said. “Bring her back to me, by whatever means necessary.”

38Evangeline

“I would still prefer to personally torture Aurora,” said LaLa as she walked beside Evangeline on the path that would take them to the Hollow. The sun was slowly starting to rise, casting warm morning light on all the droplets of dew clinging to the grass that lined their path.

“I think I’d like to torture her as well,” said Evangeline. But it was mostly because saying something—anything—took her mind off the fact that Jacks was without a heart, and when he got it back, it might not be the same heart.

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