Her breathing quickened. Yes was clearly the right answer, but she had a feeling Tiberius already knew that was a lie. He looked at her like a puzzle he wanted to take apart instead of put together. Clearly, Tiberius and Apollo fought, but Evangeline got the impression that Tiberius really did care for his older brother and was unsure of her because of it.
“I loved someone before,” she admitted. “When I lost him, I thought I’d never love anyone else the way that I loved him. But I have hope that I’ll love Apollo even more.” As long as they could just get through whatever happened when Jacks lifted the spell. “I’d like to be friends with you as well. I’ve never had a brother.”
She gave Tiberius a timid smile. If she and Marisol could mend things, there was hope for Apollo and Tiberius, as well. Perhaps in time they could all be a family, to make up for the people they’d lost—or in Marisol’s case, the family member she was better off without.
Tiberius’s expression was inscrutable, making it unclear if Evangeline had passed his test. But she noticed he no longer crushed her wings as took her on a final turn about the icy floor.
“Thank you for the dance, Evangeline. The next time I see you, I’ll tell you why I disappeared. I don’t want to spoil anything else for you tonight.” Tiberius released her with a formal bow as the music stopped.
Then he was striding away, twirling a feather that he’d stolen from her wings.
34
Northern wedding receptions were supposed to last until dawn. People were meant to eat and drink until every cask was dry and every crumb of cake was gobbled up. But shortly after twilight, when there were still towers of cakes and an empire of more goblets waiting to be passed out for yet another toast, Prince Apollo leaned close to Evangeline and whispered in her ear, “I love my kingdom, but I’d rather not spend my entire wedding night with them.” He pressed a lingering kiss to her lobe. “Sneak away with me, my heart. Let’s go to the wedding suite.”
Evangeline’s insides coiled up in anxious spirals. This had gone too far. She needed to find Jacks. Enjoying part of a reception wasn’t bad, but things weren’t supposed to reach this point, not while Apollo was still under a spell.
It was time to end this curse and find out how the prince she’d married really felt.
It took her multiple promises of meeting Apollo in the wedding suite shortly before he finally let her go. Even then, she felt his eyes on her, watching as she wove through the guests, the clockwork musicians, and the towers of cakes, on a mission to track down Jacks.
After dancing with Apollo, Evangeline had finally glimpsed the Prince of Hearts heading out of the main hall and into one of the icy corridors. At the time, she and Apollo had been introducing Marisol to the group of noble bachelors who’d be participating in the kissing chess game that Evangeline had set up for her stepsister. Evangeline hadn’t wanted to sneak after Jacks then. But she’d seen others scurry off in that direction. Most returned later, with pale or alarmed faces, making Evangeline suspect that Jacks was holding some sort of terror-inducing clandestine court.
And it seemed she was right. She was shivering, ready to be done with the cold of this glacial castle by the time she finally found him in a commandeered throne room. The ceiling was all thick, vaulted beams of ice. The walls were shimmering frost etched with images of stars and trees and one smirking crescent moon.
Jacks reclined in a throne of ice as he glared down at a fox that looked more corporeal than ghost—all fluffy white fur, save for a circle of tawny surrounding one of its coal-dark eyes.
He appeared horrified by the animal, as if its adorableness might somehow soften some of his nasty edges. Evangeline wished it would as she stood back a little to watch, enjoying that, for once, Jacks was the one in the uncomfortable position.
He flinched when the creature nuzzled his scuffed boots.
She laughed, finally drawing his attention. “I think it likes you.”
“I don’t know why.” Jacks scowled at the beast.
It responded by affectionately licking the buckle at his ankle.
Evangeline continued to smile. “You should name it.”
“If I do that, it will think it’s a pet.” Jacks’s words dripped with disgust, which only further convinced Evangeline this fox might be the best thing that had ever happened to this Fate.
“How about I name her for you? What do you think of Princess of the Fluffikins?”
“Don’t ever say that again.”
She smiled softly. “Next time I make a deal with a Fate, it will be with one who has a sense of humor, like Poison.”