Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2
The Ballad of Never After
by Stephanie Garber
Contents
Chapter 15
Overview
Evangeline and Jacks meet Chaos and discover the luck stone, one of the Valory Arch stones. The stone’s magic overwhelms Evangeline with reckless desire until Chaos secures it. Chaos reveals there are four stones—luck, truth, mirth, youth—and that Evangeline, as the key, will feel them most. Meanwhile, Apollo and Havelock remain missing.
Summary
On the way to meet Chaos, Jacks is uncharacteristically merry as Evangeline, newly committed to opening the Valory Arch, questions his motives. Jacks reports no word on Apollo or Havelock; Chaos’s people are searching, but both are missing.
Finding Chaos’s study empty, Jacks forces Evangeline to unlock the door. Feeling briefly empowered by being needed, Evangeline snoops and discovers a radiant gem necklace under a glass cloche. The sight of it stirs an urgent, reckless need; when Chaos appears and snatches it away, she attacks him until Jacks restrains her and Chaos locks the gem in an iron box, instantly breaking the compulsion.
Shaken, Evangeline learns the gem is the luck stone, one of the missing Valory Arch stones. Chaos explains its magic affects everyone—especially Evangeline as the key—pushing them toward dangerous recklessness. Jacks, typically reckless, jokes it did nothing to him.
Chaos outlines the quest: there are four stones—luck, truth, mirth, and youth—each potent and perilous. Jacks warns of their darker effects: mirth can unhinge minds, youth can incite jealousy and violence, and truth is never welcome. The meeting ends with the stakes clarified: Evangeline must locate the remaining stones while Apollo and Havelock remain at large.
Who Appears
- Evangeline FoxThe key to the Valory Arch; overcome by the luck stone’s compulsion and resolves to help find the stones.
- JacksFate allied with Evangeline; taunting yet protective, delights in progress, reports searches, warns of stones’ dangers.
- ChaosVampire lord; secures the luck stone, explains the four stones and their risks, and continues searching for Apollo.