Evangeline felt a prickle of something like trepidation as she remembered what Petra had said before she’d died. It was only then that I learned what all four stones could do together. But I’m guessing they didn’t tell you that part.…
“Ready?” Jacks said.
She spun around to find him in the doorway, standing straight as a soldier, clad in a long dark travel coat that looked as forbidding as his expression. She knew the mirth stone had taken all the joy from this place, but she’d have thought he’d have been at least a little happier now that they’d located all four stones. Instead, Jacks looked almost angry as he watched her.
“Aside from opening the arch,” she asked, “what do all four stones do when they’re together?”
“It’s a little late to worry about that,” he said sharply. His tone was no colder than it had been a hundred times before, and yet she felt the sting of it as he turned from the door.
The sled was ready to go when Evangeline stepped outside. Cold winter air whipped her hair across her face as she looked around at the Hollow. The flowers lining the road, which had been so bright when she’d arrived, were now wilted and covered in frost. She thought she remembered cheery mushrooms and flowers on the rooftop as well, but now it was just a series of boards that looked as if one storm might tear them away.
“We should get going,” Jacks said.
Evangeline climbed onto the sled beside him. It was as white as snow, with a wide bench that would have allowed for another passenger. This was the amount of space between her and Jacks. And she was achingly aware of the distance.
She didn’t want to keep glancing at him and hoping that he would look back at her. She didn’t want to feel anything for him at all, especially not this callous version of him. But her heart would not stop hurting.
She kept thinking the pull she felt toward Jacks would vanish now that the mirth stone had been put into a box. But she could not let go of it.
The ride back to Valorfell was brutal—it was frigid and silent, save for the galloping of the horses drawing the sled.
She wondered if Jacks truly felt nothing or if he was just trying to hide what he felt. She was the one who’d insisted on taking the mirth stone from the clock so that they could leave and open the arch. And she would do it again.
She didn’t regret her choice.
She just hated that it hurt so much. She hated that all she wanted was to reach across the carriage and take Jacks’s hand.
But she didn’t dare move.
Even if Jacks did still feel a flicker of something for her, he was choosing not to show it.
* * *
They left the sled at the cemetery gates to travel the rest of the way to Chaos’s castle on foot. Jacks had two of the stones in his satchel, and she still had the mirth stone sealed inside the cast-iron jar.
She was surprised he let her hold on to it. Unless he really didn’t have any lingering feelings, and the very thought of them appalled him so much that he didn’t want to carry the stone, even sealed away.
Two sad marble angels guarded the entrance to Chaos’s underground castle—one of the angels mourned over a pair of broken wings while the other played a harp with broken strings. She’d seen them several times before, but usually, it was during the night. The sun was still out now, shedding grainy light on the statues, and for the first time, they’d reminded her of the angels guarding the Valory Arch. She wondered if there was some sort of connection she was missing.
“Now that we’re back, I’m sure you’re eager to see your husband,” Jacks said, “but don’t go looking for him. Until the Archer’s curse is lifted, Apollo is a danger to you.”
“I already know that.”
“Well, I know how much you like tempting death, so I thought I’d remind you,” he snapped.
Shaking her head, Evangeline used her blood to open the door.
This earned her another glare from Jacks as they stepped through.
“What’s wrong now?” she asked.
“You have no sense of self-preservation. Did you not listen when Chaos told you that you shouldn’t shed blood when you’re in a vampire castle?”
“It’s still daylight. The vampires are asleep.”
“Which gives you several hours to die before you can open the arch.”
She lifted her chin defiantly. She almost added that she’d lived here for nearly two weeks on her own—she didn’t need his caution. But there was still a part of her that couldn’t help but wonder if his worry wasn’t just about the arch. “I thought you didn’t care about opening the arch. I thought you only wanted the stones.”