A frustrated growl came from Jacks’s throat. His footsteps halted just past the door. Then, almost too low for her to hear: “I don’t want to open it at all.”
35
Jacks didn’t want to open the Valory Arch. It was all Evangeline could think about as he disappeared up the stairs.
The revelation was so unexpected and incomprehensible, Evangeline fell into the nearest chair. Her back was throbbing again, and now her mind was spinning with this news.
Usually, Jacks just twisted the truth rather than lying, but he’d told her very clearly before that he wanted to open the Valory Arch. Hadn’t he?
Evangeline swore he’d said it, but when she thought back to the last time she’d asked him about it, she just remembered him saying: I’m flattered you’ve taken such an interest in my wants.
She thought back further to when she’d first learned about the existence of the Valory Arch. She’d asked Jacks what it was, and he’d told her that she didn’t need to worry about it. But he never actually said that he didn’t want to open it. Which begged the question once again: What did Jacks actually want?
In the hall, the clock with all the meals chimed, and the hand that had pointed to Cider creaked its way to Mead. Before Evangeline’s eyes, the earthen mug in front of her shifted to a tall glass filled with sparkling golden liquid the same color as the truth stone Jacks had just taken from her. And it struck her like a bolt of lightning, sharp and electric and painful. Jacks didn’t want to open the Valory Arch—he just wanted the four stones.
Tiberius had said that together the Valory Arch stones possessed great power, and Petra had hinted that when all four stones were together, they were capable of impossible things. It must have been this power that Jacks wanted all along.
Was he even going to let her use the stones to open the arch and save Apollo?
Given how quickly he’d taken both stones after she’d found them, she suddenly doubted he’d ever planned to let her use them. Was this the real reason why he hadn’t wanted to tell Chaos where they were going? Because he’d planned to keep the stones for himself?
Evangeline looked toward the rounded door of the tavern—she wasn’t sure if Jacks would be returning soon, but she didn’t plan to sit there and wait for him.
His last revelation might have left her with more questions than before, but she had learned one thing: the Hollow was Jacks’s former home. If anywhere had more answers about Jacks and what he was truly after, this might be the place.
And it would be nice to find some more clothes.
Although no one was there, Evangeline still felt a little too exposed as she climbed up to the second floor, with all its fairytale-covered doors, in nothing but Jacks’s shirt. She was also starting to feel terribly achy and tired.
The first door she opened was carved with a picture of a pastry goblin tossing sweets. The room on the other side was even more delightful, decorated with apothecary jars full of colorful candies. The pillows on the bed all looked like sweets as well—wrapped taffy, gumdrops, and fluffy marshmallows. It felt tempting to lie down, just for a minute. She could almost hear the bed say, If you sleep here, your dreams will be sweet, too.
But Evangeline wanted answers—and clothing—more than she wanted sleep.
After opening an empty wardrobe and an empty desk, she dragged herself into the next room. This door possessed a picture of a knight with a star-shaped key, and even more stars lived inside the room, hanging from the ceiling and covering the quilt and the carpets.
She peeked inside the wardrobe—which had star-shaped handles—but it was sadly empty of both clothes and answers to mysteries.
“You don’t give up, do you?” Jacks asked.
She spun to find him in the doorway, arms crossed over each other as one shoulder leaned casually against the frame.
He had come back to find her—she hadn’t expected that. He’d seemed upset when he’d left. She’d thought he’d shut down again and disappear. But there he was, watching her from the doorway.
He’d put on a clean shirt—soft blue, with sleeves shoved up to the elbows, and most of the buttons done except for the ones up top, which allowed a clear view of the fading bite marks she’d left on his neck. Earlier, she’d felt so bad about them, but now she thought he deserved them.
“You lied to me.” She hated that she sounded more hurt than angry and that his cold expression didn’t shift.
“About what?” he drawled.
“You don’t want to open the Valory Arch.” She glared, hoping it hid just how much this betrayal stung. “You just want the stones.”