She listened closer. LaLa’s voice was barely a whisper. “I’m sorry. Nothing has changed since you came here last week. There’s still nothing I can do.”
“You can try.”
“You know there’s no cure.”
“You can try to find one,” Jacks ground out. “She could die.”
“You won’t let her.”
“I—” He growled. An angry sound that shook the wall.
For a second, there was nothing else but the heavy beat of Evangeline’s heart. Either Jacks spoke too low, or she didn’t hear what he said over all her swirling thoughts. He’d told her not to look for a cure to the Archer’s curse. He’d repeatedly said it was pointless. But it seemed as if he was doing just that. Based on what LaLa had said about last week, it seemed as if this was what Jacks had been doing while he was away.
Evangeline reminded herself that she still couldn’t trust him. She knew she was just a tool to him, and as LaLa had said, humans that became too close to Jacks always died. Even if Jacks was trying to break the Archer’s curse, he undoubtedly still had another horrible plan to make sure that she opened the arch.
Evangeline couldn’t let herself think that Jacks’s search for a cure meant he cared for her. She knew this was true, yet it was getting just a little harder to fully believe it. Because she was starting to care for him.
“How close are you to finding the stones?” LaLa asked.
“We need three.”
For a beat … nothing.
Then, very softly, from LaLa: “I hope you brought enough apples.”
24
Evangeline may have been unsure about a number of things, but she knew for certain that LaLa had given her the most magnificent dress for dinner.
The gown made Evangeline feel as if she were wearing a happily ever after. She’d curled her pink hair and piled it loosely atop her head, pinning it in place with jeweled flower-shaped clips, so as to better show off the gown’s daring neckline. The cut left her shoulders mostly bare, save for the delicate straps that plunged down into a flattering V-cut neckline formed of ethereal fabric that looked as if it had been wept by the stars. Chips of broken gems, shimmering in shades of pink and blue and violet, covered the bodice and then gently dispersed over the hips of a flowing skirt with a slit that went up to her thigh. It was bold, and it made her feel adventurous as she spun in front of the wardrobe mirror, twirling until the broken gems glittered to life.
“What exactly are you doing?” Jacks drawled.
The breath left her lungs, and the broken heart scar on her wrist caught fire. She hadn’t even heard him enter. Evangeline stopped mid-twirl, her skirts still swishing as she caught his dashing reflection in the mirror.
Her heart gave a silly jolt. She tried to stop it. But while Jacks was many terrible things, there was no denying that he was also painfully handsome. It was the golden hair. In certain lights, it looked like real gold, shining over eyes that glittered more than human eyes ever could. So maybe it was the eyes as well. And perhaps she could blame a little on his lips. They were perfect, of course, and right now they were smiling with amusement.
“So, this is what you do when I’m not around?”
Evangeline felt the sudden urge to hide inside her wardrobe, but she tamped it down as she turned and met his gaze with a smile of her own. “You think about what I do when you’re not around?”
“Careful, Little Fox.” He took a step forward. “You sound rather excited by the idea.”
“I’m not, I assure you,” she said, wishing she didn’t sound so breathless. “I merely like the thought that I torment you as much as you torment me.”
Jacks flashed one of his dimples, making him look deceptively charming. “So you’re the one who thinks about what I do when you’re not around?”
“Only because I know you’re up to no good.”
“No good.” He laughed as he said the words. “I would hope you know by now that I’m up to far worse than just ‘no good.’” Jacks slid his arm through hers.
Her stomach tumbled. She would have pulled away, but she didn’t want to reveal how much he affected her. Although she had a feeling he already knew, or he wouldn’t have taken her arm and pulled her so close to his side.
“Remember,” she said instead, “no killing anyone here.”
Jacks gave her an impressive scowl. “Some of these people deserve to die, you know.”
“But it’s LaLa’s party,” she reminded him.