Evangeline didn’t believe that would happen. But she also didn’t imagine that LaLa—or any other Fate—would dismiss the Valory Arch as a mere fairytale the same way that Apollo had.
A tremor cut through Evangeline at that particular memory of him. He’d been so playful and sweet and so very much alive as he’d told her about the arch. And he should have still been alive. Evangeline had to find out who’d killed him, and as reluctant as she was to admit it, Jacks was probably the best—and possibly the only—one who could help her.
“If I stay with you, I have a few rules.” She finally pulled away from Jacks and stood up to face him. Even though he sat, he was so tall that she did not manage to tower over him. The two of them would never be equal—he would always have more power than she did. But that didn’t mean she was powerless. “From now on, this will be a true partnership. You will not leave me behind or keep things that you learn secret. We work together to find Apollo’s killer and clear our names. And that is our only goal. If I suspect you have another goal or that you’re lying to me, I will walk away and tell Prince Tiberius exactly where to find you.”
“Excellent speech!” LaLa cheered with her teacup. “You’re making a terrible choice to work with Jacks, but it’s a very noble one.”
“LaLa,” Jacks growled, “I think your services are no longer necessary.”
“You’re in my flat!”
“Not for much longer. The sun has almost set, and—”
His voice was cut off by a heavy knock. It wasn’t on LaLa’s door, but it was close enough to rattle the bones of the bright room.
Until that moment, Evangeline hadn’t given much thought as to exactly where they all were, but one glance out the window revealed they were at the top of a spire, packed close to other residences. She could see several soldiers in copper tunics and white fur-trimmed cloaks pounding on neighboring doors.
“Are they searching for—”
“Shh—” Jacks put a finger to his mouth. He didn’t say another word, and Evangeline didn’t see him so much as wrinkle his brow, but a heartbeat later, the soldiers started clearing out of the spire.
Evangeline only counted three of them, and their controlled movements were jerkier than the two soldiers who’d been guarding her yesterday, making her wonder again what the limits of Jacks’s powers were. She may have been right when she’d suspected controlling three people at a time was his maximum, at least in the North. But it was still unsettling that he had the power to manipulate her emotions at all.
Evangeline turned her gaze back to Jacks. “I think I need to amend the speech I just gave.”
“Don’t worry, Little Fox, you’d be far too much trouble for me to want to control. And we’re partners,” he said pleasantly. “So I know you won’t argue with me when I say we need to get out of here now.”
“Since it seems you’re embracing our new partnership, you’ll have no problem telling me where you want to go and why.”
To Evangeline’s surprise, Jacks answered without hesitation, “We’re going to pay a visit to Chaos.”
LaLa choked on her tea. “Chaos is a monster!”
“I thought Chaos was another Fate?” Evangeline hazarded. “Chaos isn’t like the rest of us.” LaLa set her teacup down with so much force the porcelain cracked and tea spilled through.
Jacks slid her a taunting look. “Still not over things, after all this time?”
“I’ll never be over what he did.”
“What did he do?” Evangeline asked.
“Chaos is a murderer,” LaLa spat.
“He’s also extremely useful,” Jacks said, kicking his boots up onto the low table. “Chaos is as old as the North, and unlike the rest of us, he was never trapped in a deck of cards. He’s been here all this time, collecting favors and people and information. If anyone knows who wanted you and Apollo dead, it will be Chaos. He’s the Lord of Spies and Assassins.”
“He’s also a vampire,” LaLa supplied dryly.
38
Evangeline should not have been curious. LaLa clearly thought Chaos was a devil. Jacks didn’t appear to feel the same way, but his expression had instantly soured when she’d said the word vampire.
Evangeline still wanted to know more. She wanted to know if vampires really slept in coffins, if they could turn into bats—or maybe dragons! But Jacks refused to answer any more questions about Chaos and vampires in general.