Evangeline looked back up at the balcony where the prince still lounged across the rail. His pose was outlandish, but it was also interesting and a little like something Luc might have done if he were a prince. Not because Luc was vain. Luc merely enjoyed attention. He was always teasing and entertaining, and Evangeline wondered if Apollo was like that, too. What if Apollo really was her chance at a happily ever after, and she ran away because of a different what-if named Jacks?
Just thinking about him made the scars on her wrist pulse. But Jacks hadn’t even noticed her.
“What else have you heard about Lord Jacks?” Evangeline asked. “Do you know why he’s here? Is he some sort of ambassador?”
“Oh no.” The other girl laughed. “I’m fairly certain Jacks would be an abominable ambassador. I’ve actually heard he ended up exiled here after getting into some nasty business with a princess from the south.”
It was said the way most people relayed common gossip, light and dry like sparkling wine. But the words gave Evangeline a feeling that was far from bubbly. She recalled how the empress’s sister, Donatella, had said something about causing a war if she ran into someone in the North. Could she have been referring to Jacks? Was this why Jacks had left the south, because he’d done something terrible to Princess Donatella? “Do you know exactly what happened?”
“It’s hard to really know with the way that stories get twisted around here, but I think the southern princess was the person who broke his heart.”
Evangeline tried to hide her skepticism. Princess Donatella was lovely and lively—Evangeline had liked her a great deal. But it was difficult to imagine any human girl breaking any part of Jacks.
“LaLa! Evangeline!” a voice interrupted from behind. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you two.”
Evangeline shot a glance over her shoulder.
A man who looked almost exactly like Kutlass Knightlinger, dressed in the same black leather and lace-lined shirt, was striding toward them.
“Kristof Knightlinger,” provided the other girl—who must have been the same LaLa that had been mentioned in The Daily Rumor. And it seemed they were both about to be mentioned again.
Evangeline’s stomach turned. Though Kristof had been kind to her in his writings today, she didn’t want to do another interview where all her words were twisted until she sounded like a penniless orphan scheming for a prince, or worse. “Is it too late to run?” she whispered.
“Probably, but I could always say I scared you away by threatening to chop off all your pretty pink hair if you talked to Apollo tonight.”
At first, Evangeline thought the other girl was joking, but that fiendish smile was back.
“Don’t look so horrified. I merely like being in the papers.” LaLa lifted her glass as if toasting herself. “Despite what The Daily Rumor says, I already know I have no real chance of marrying the prince, but I enjoy being a part of the fun. Now scamper off before I can’t save you.”
“I’ll owe you,” Evangeline promised before hurrying away.
Her skirt was too fitted to go very fast, and she wasn’t really paying attention to where she was going. She was so caught up in the threat that was Kristof that she’d forgotten about her other threat until she nearly smacked into his solid chest.
Evangeline tried to infuse her spine with mettle as her heart raced with panic.
She’d seen Jacks from far away, but this close was different. He was a thousand cuts happening all at once. Devastation made of hair as blue as dark ocean waves, and lips sharp as cracked glass that would delightedly cut her.
How could no one else here know that he was a Fate?
Evangeline could feel his inhuman gaze gliding over her skin, making her blood rush as his eyes raked over every silver line wrapping tightly around her hips, her waist, her chest. He stopped—gaze drifting off before meeting her eyes as if she wasn’t worth the effort to continue.
“What are you doing here?” He tossed a burnished gold apple with one hand. “I thought you’d already be married to that boy you loved by now.” His voice was even more pitiless than the last time she’d heard it, when he’d left her in the garden as she’d turned to stone.
Evangeline tried to stop herself from lashing out. She needed to get away from Jacks, not fight with him. But something about his lack of care made her care even more.
“You ruined any chances I might have had with Luc when you had him mauled by a wolf!”
Jacks stopped tossing his apple. “I’ve never had anyone mauled by a wolf. That’s incredibly messy.” He studied her for a beat, eyes finally meeting hers.