“This is partly my fault,” she whispered to Jacks.
“No, it’s not. I already told you, I had nothing to do with the wolf.” Jacks spoke quietly yet firmly.
But even if Jacks was telling the truth, that didn’t change what she needed to do.
She pulled free of his hand.
What happened next was a strange blur. Evangeline still wanted to think she wasn’t under a spell, but maybe she was a little entranced, and not by vampire allure. She was feeling the return of her hope.
Evangeline knew that Luc could never go back to being the boy he was, and she’d stopped being the girl she was. That girl would have believed that seeing Luc again meant that something wonderful would happen, that they’d receive a happy ending after all. But all this meeting guaranteed was that they would have a different ending. What sort of ending still had to be determined, but it would certainly be better than this. Even if Luc wasn’t her happily ever after, she couldn’t let their story finish here, with him in this cage and her running away.
Evangeline found a blue shortsword on the wall with a heavy hilt and a polished blade; it looked strong enough to break a lock, but it wasn’t too heavy for her to lift.
Other changelings cried out, asking for weapons and promising all sorts of things in exchange. They’d started battling with their cages again, filling the dining room with a cacophony of violent sounds as Evangeline climbed up onto a chair and used both hands to lift the sword above her head.
Luc grabbed the blade, not caring that it sliced into his hands. “Thank you, Eva.” He smiled, but it wasn’t the crooked boyish grin that she’d fallen in love with. It was lips pulling back over sharp white fangs that were growing longer.
“We’re leaving now.” Jacks took her hand, urging her down from the chair and propelling her into motion.
A crash sounded, making her trip over her feet as she started to run.
Luc had already broken the lock with the hilt of the weapon. The door to his cage dangled open. He was loose and feral and the worst mistake she had ever made.
“Sorry, Eva.” Luc leaped to the ground in a graceful arch, bared his fangs, and lunged for her.
Jacks shoved her out of the way before she could move. Lightning fast, he darted in front of her like a shield.
Luc didn’t have time to switch course, and his teeth clamped onto Jacks’s neck with a sickening tear.
“No!” Evangeline screamed and scrambled for the dropped sword she’d given Luc. The weapon felt heavier than it had been moments ago. But it didn’t seem necessary.
In the time it took her to grab the sword, Jacks had taken Luc’s head between his hands—and with one sharp twist he broke Luc’s neck.
The captives above all booed and hissed as Evangeline’s first love fell to the ground.
“You—you—you killed him,” she stammered.
“He bit me—” Jacks snarled, gold-flecked blood dripping from the wound at his throat. “I wish I’d killed him. But I didn’t. He’s a full-fledged vampire now. The only way to permanently kill one of them is to cut off its head or shove a wooden stake through its heart.”
Jacks reached for the sword in Evangeline’s hands.
She clutched the weapon tighter. A part of her knew she should have let it go. Luc was not her Luc anymore. He’d bitten Jacks, and he would have bitten her. But Luc hadn’t killed Jacks.
“I won’t let you end his life,” Evangeline said. “Luc is the first boy I loved, and I’m not responsible for his choices, but this wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me. Let him live, and I’ll leave without any more stops or arguments.”
She dropped the sword and reached for Jacks’s hand.
He recoiled, not letting her touch him, but he didn’t argue. He didn’t say anything at all.
* * *
Evangeline and Jacks silently left the way they came. She struggled to keep up with Jacks’s long strides as the rattle of chains and cages continued to chase them, yet it was his silence that was starting to make her uncomfortable.
Jacks wasn’t the sort who’d talk simply to fill the quiet, but Evangeline couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more than quiet between them. Minutes ago, he’d saved her life. He had jumped in between her and Luc without even thinking. She knew Jacks needed her alive because of the Valory Arch prophecy, but he’d acted out of pure instinct. He’d been scared for her when she’d been threatened.
But now he wouldn’t even look at her. His teeth ground together as he took the stairs, jaw tight, eyes focused, knuckles starkly white.