“Do you see a key hanging from the wall?” she asked.
“No.” Jacks’s voice was tight. Then, barely audibly, “Try your hands. Stab one of your fingers to draw blood, and ask the door to open.”
Evangeline spun around.
Jacks was pressed against the farthest wall, skin a painful shade of pale white.
She didn’t make the mistake of meeting his eyes again, but one glance at his face and it was clear he was barely holding himself back.
She’d been planning to ask if he was just trying to get her to spill blood, but she thought better of wasting more time. Pricking her finger on one of the iron gate’s sharper designs, she drew a drop of blood and quickly pressed it to the lock. “Open, please.”
It worked magic-fast. The lock split, the door swung wide, and Evangeline’s jaw dropped. “How did you know that would work?” she asked.
Jacks moved too quickly for Evangeline to see. “This isn’t the time or place to talk about it,” he said from the other side of the gate, and then he slammed it shut.
The lock she’d just opened closed with a tiny click, making her painfully aware of how little stood between her and Jacks. He seemed mindful of it as well. He’d willingly entered the cage, but now he regarded the lock like a thief, contemplating all the ways he could break it.
44
If Jacks decided he wanted to break free of his prison, Evangeline doubted it would take much effort.
She needed to find a way to distract him.
She could question him about something he found interesting. She wanted to ask him more about the lock and why her blood had opened it. But he’d already shot that subject down. She also wondered if she already knew the answer—if her ability to magically open the lock had something to do with the Valory Arch. When Apollo had told her about the prophecy that had locked the arch, he’d said that once every line of it was fulfilled, it would create a key that would open the arch. What if she was that key?
Could it be possible? Or was it just that all the wild events of tonight were finally getting to Evangeline and giving her delusions of magical wonder? Only it didn’t feel like a delusion as she thought back to every time she’d stepped through an arch. All of them had whispered to her—words that made much more sense if she was this prophesized key.
We’re so pleased you found us.
We’ve been waiting for you.
You could have unlocked me as well.
An uncomfortable thrill kicked through her. She didn’t want anything to do with the Valory Arch. She definitely didn’t want to be its key, even if this ability had helped save her life just now. Although, if she wanted to stay alive, she had to keep Jacks occupied.
Fortunately, Evangeline was not at a loss for questions. There was one in particular that had been gnawing at her for a while.
“Tell me what happened between you and the princess from the Meridian Empire, the one Chaos and LaLa mentioned earlier. Donatella.”
“No.” Jacks’s voice was pure vitriol. “I don’t want to talk about her. Ever.”
This subject would be perfect.
Earlier, Jacks had merely flinched and then quickly masked his expression whenever the princess was mentioned. But either he was having issues with control or the vampire venom was making his emotions even stronger. Evangeline could once again feel the pressure of Jacks’s glare, but it was no longer on her neck or her pulse. It was dancing heat all over her.
“Tough luck, Jacks.” Evangeline folded her arms across her chest as he prowled back and forth inside his cage. “You need something to distract you, so you’re going to talk about Princess Donatella. I don’t care if you tell me how much you hate her or how much you love her. You can sing verses about how pretty she is or the color of her hair.”
Jacks made a strangled sound that might have been some estranged cousin of a laugh. “She’s not the kind of girl you sing about.” And yet something in his voice shifted, softened, and Evangeline had an oddly uncomfortable sensation that he actually would have sung songs about this girl.
“The first time I met her, she threatened to throw me from a sky carriage.”
“And you liked her for that?” Evangeline asked.
“I’d just threatened to kill her.” He said it as if they’d been flirting.
“This is a terrible love story, Jacks.”
“Who said it was a love story?” His tone turned back to acid. Evangeline thought he might even stop talking. To her surprise, he continued. “When we met again, I kissed her.”