Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2
The Ballad of Never After
by Stephanie Garber
Contents
Chapter 11
Overview
Evangeline wakes human and weakened in Chaos’s lair, then cleans up and resolves to leave. She outwits a guard, uses her blood to open a locked exit, and escapes into the graveyard at night. A healed Apollo, compelled to hunt her, begs her to flee. As he readies a golden arrow, an unseen figure seizes her, likely intervening.
Summary
At dawn, Evangeline returns to her human state, weak and mortified to realize Chaos pinned her all night to restrain the venom’s effects. After Chaos departs, she cleans up, eats, and resolves to leave, determined to return to Wolf Hall and question Havelock about Apollo’s condition and whoever is coercing him.
Finding her dagger missing, Evangeline confronts a female vampire guard and leverages Chaos’s need for her cooperation to walk out. She navigates upward through cages and halls, pricks her finger, and uses her key-blood to open a locked door to the graveyard above, stepping into a frigid night without cloak or proper shoes.
Disoriented among dense trees and cliffs, she hears hoofbeats and spots Apollo, healed and searching. Apollo warns he’s compelled to hunt her, urges her to flee, and pleads for her help breaking the spell, promising protection if freed. Evangeline stays hidden, torn between fear and sympathy, and briefly suspects Jacks’s involvement.
As Apollo draws a glowing golden arrow, an unseen person clamps a hand over Evangeline’s mouth and restrains her, whispering, “Don’t make a sound, Little Fox.” The intervention halts her response and leaves the confrontation unresolved.
Who Appears
- Evangeline FoxWeakened after venom fades; escapes Chaos’s lair; hides from Apollo and weighs how to break his compulsion.
- ApolloHealed but magically compelled to hunt Evangeline; warns her to run; draws a golden arrow.
- ChaosVampire lord; restrains Evangeline overnight; provides food and clothes; his lair is the place she escapes.
- Unseen figureGrabs Evangeline and whispers “Little Fox,” likely Jacks, abruptly intervening before Apollo can act.
- Female vampire guardThe red-lipped vampire who bit Evangeline; allows her to pass but withholds directions.