“You really don’t recall?” Jacks cocked his head to the side, and she swore it was just so she could get a better view of where her teeth had marked his skin.
She wanted to say she had no memories of biting Jacks’s neck, no intense flashes of digging her teeth into his shoulder, but once more, the words refused to come.
“I’ll cover them up. If you give me my shirt back.” Jacks’s eyes glittered as he let his gaze drift lower, past the meager buttons of the top she wore and down to her very naked legs.
She’d been warm before, but now her skin was on fire. She didn’t really think he’d take the shirt, but she never knew with Jacks.
His mouth inched up playfully, and he took a deliberate step toward her. “Speaking of things we don’t remember, I do have a question about something.” He traced a line down her neck with his finger and took hold of the chain at her throat.
It felt like being tossed into a barrel of ice water. With all that had happened, she’d forgotten that she had the truth stone.
“Don’t!” she cried.
But Jacks’s fingers were faster. They plunged down her shirt and made her gasp as he pulled out the glowing gold rock.
“What do we have here, Little Fox?” His voice took on a mocking lilt. “Was this a gift from Luc?”
“No!” she said, and she might have laughed with relief that he didn’t know what it was and then again at the disturbed look on his face. “Are you jealous of Luc?”
“I thought we already covered that yesterday. I’m always jealous. And so are you,” he added with a smirk. His eyes cut past her then to the names on the wall she’d been looking at: Aurora + Jacks.
And she couldn’t deny it. The feeling wasn’t as strong as it had been in the presence of the youth stone, more of a prickle than a burn, but it was there. She shouldn’t have been jealous. Aurora Valor was dead, and from what Evangeline had gathered, the circumstances around it were tragic. But in every book she’d read, Aurora was always described as the most beautiful girl to ever live. Last night, Jacks might have told Evangeline that Aurora was a pest, but here Jacks’s and Aurora’s names were linked together.
“Were you in love with Aurora?” she asked.
“No. I didn’t even know this was here.” He actually frowned, and she felt a little better. Which, again, made her feel silly.
Even if he had loved Aurora, it shouldn’t have bothered her. But it seemed the delirious feelings of attraction that she’d experienced so strongly yesterday hadn’t completely vanished.
It could have just been that Jacks was still standing a little too close, in only a pair of trousers, while she wore nothing but his shirt—and the necklace, which he still had yet to let go of.
She probably should have told him what the rock really was. But he’d certainly put it in another iron box, and there were so many questions she wanted to ask him.
Although it probably would be best to wait until Jacks wasn’t gripping the stone. She wasn’t quite sure how the stone worked, but she remembered that when she’d asked Petra questions she didn’t want to answer, the rock had flared with heat and she’d been compelled to tell the truth. If the stone warmed now, Jacks might know it was magic and steal it away from her.
“I’m hungry,” she announced. Then she pried Jacks’s fingers from the stone and started toward the tavern.
* * *
The Hollow’s tavern was just as welcoming as the rest of the curious inn, with lots of wood and candles and one wall of windows that looked out on a lake, which appeared as if it were full of stars instead of water. It was all glitter and night-glimmer, and she was already wondering what it would look like in the day.
Evangeline hadn’t noticed the lake upon her arrival, but given the condition she’d been in, she imagined there were lots of things she hadn’t noticed.
Like the rest of the Hollow, the tavern was empty of people, but every table and seat at the bar was set with fresh meals. Evangeline could see the steam rising from the food as she and Jacks sat at a cozy nook in the corner, near a clever triangle window that looked out upon the starry lake.
Their meals matched the ones that the hands on the clock had pointed to. There were two earthenware bowls of meat and dumplings, with thick slices of bread, mugs of spiced cider with dollops of cream, and dishes of honey pie.
It all smelled amazing, like the best parts of home and the sweetest of memories. She knew there were questions she still needed to ask, but she couldn’t resist sipping the spicy cider and taking a bite of one perfect dumpling.