Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2
The Ballad of Never After
by Stephanie Garber
Contents
Chapter 7
Overview
Evangeline refuses to let Luc kill Marisol and convinces Jacks to intervene, forcing Marisol to flee. Shaken, Evangeline rejects more news from Havelock and escapes to the gardens, where Jacks follows and needles her. A mysterious watcher appears and is revealed to be Apollo, reigniting the core entanglement.
Summary
Evangeline debates letting Marisol face Luc but decides she cannot allow a killing. Despite Marisol’s insults and accusations, Evangeline warns her to leave Wolf Hall and the North. When Marisol heads for the solarium anyway, Evangeline begs Jacks to stop her.
Jacks initially refuses but uses his power at the last moment, sending Marisol fleeing in panic. Evangeline braces for a price, recalling the final kiss she owes, as Jacks eyes the last broken heart scar on her wrist. Havelock approaches with news, but Evangeline, drained and noting her shared wound with Apollo has ceased bleeding, refuses to hear more.
Declaring she needs space, Evangeline leaves the castle for the cold gardens, wrestling with her exhaustion and convictions. Jacks follows, inescapable as ever, and their charged interaction mixes warning, teasing, and a reminder of their fraught bond.
A tremor of unease passes through the garden as Evangeline senses someone watching. She spots a distant horseman and, drawn by a wordless pull different from Jacks’s curse-bound tether, approaches. Moonlight reveals the rider’s face: Apollo.
Who Appears
- Evangeline FoxDetermined to prevent Marisol’s death, seeks space from crises, confronts Jacks, and discovers Apollo watching in the gardens.
- JacksReluctantly uses his power to drive Marisol away, follows Evangeline outside, taunts and comforts, ever-present reminder of their debt.
- MarisolStepsister who scorns Evangeline; nearly enters Luc’s solarium before fleeing under Jacks’s compulsion.
- HavelockLoyal guard who approaches with news; Evangeline refuses to hear it in her overwhelmed state.
- Prince ApolloMysterious rider in the garden; finally revealed, pulling Evangeline back into their cursed entanglement.