30. Evangeline #3
He was horrible. Evangeline knew he was horrible, but the depths of his deception hit her harder and harder. She wanted to slap him again, to yell and scream and rage, rage, rage, but she had to be more careful.
And she had to do it now.
She tried to make herself smaller. Garrick had finally released her after Apollo had appeared. She hugged both her arms to her chest and tucked her head, as if she were shaken up and frightened, which she should have been, but it was so hard to feel it through all the anger pulsing through her.
It was even harder to make her voice tiny as she said, “I didn’t realize I could hit so hard, either. It’s just all been so upsetting. The bodies, the blood. And did you know that Lord Belleflower killed Hale and tried to murder me?”
“I heard about that.”
Apollo wrapped his arms around her, but his hug felt too tight. Suffocatingly tight. “It’s all right, I’m here now.”
Evangeline told herself, Keep pretending. Just keep pretending. She needed to hug him back and act relieved, but she wasn’t sure she could. It was hard enough just to breathe regularly with his body pressed so close to hers.
Finally Apollo pulled away, but he continued to touch her. He draped a heavy arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. She wondered if he could sense that she wanted to escape. She tried to relax, but the next words he said made it impossible.
“I’m going get Evangeline out of here,” Apollo said to Garrick. “You need to find Jacks before he murders again.”
“Jacks didn’t do this,” Evangeline protested.
Apollo tensed as soon as she said Jacks. She could feel his arm go taut around her.
But she refused to take the words back. She could pretend she’d lost her memories and she could endure a hug, but she wasn’t going to let Apollo blame Jacks for murders he did not commit. Not again. And not when there was another killer out there. “This was the work of a vampire.”
Apollo gave Evangeline a brief, unsettling look that seemed to ask, What do you know about vampires? Then he laughed. It was a soft chuckle, but it was enough to make her cheeks blaze with heat as he said, “My wife is clearly addled after all that she’s been through.”
“My head is perfectly clear,” Evangeline protested calmly. “I saw a vampire in the Cursed Forest.”
Which was true. She hadn’t realized it at the time.
But now that she had her memories again, even more things clicked together.
The Handsome Stranger in the Cursed Forest was Chaos.
He’d told her as much when they’d met, but Evangeline hadn’t remembered who he was, so she hadn’t pieced together that he was a vampire and until recently he’d worn a helm that prevented him from feeding.
Now she understood why Jacks had been so quick to incapacitate him. Jacks had been protecting her. He was always protecting her.
And she needed to protect him.
“I know I sound mad,” Evangeline said. “But I am certain of what I saw. I saw a vampire and he looked nothing like Lord Jacks.”
She added the final Jacks just to watch Apollo flinch. But this time, he didn’t. His lips slowly moved into a smile that made Evangeline think of putting on a mask. “All right, my sweet, I believe you.”
“You do?”
“Of course. I was merely surprised. It’s not often anyone speaks of vampires, so forgive me for my initial skepticism.”
Apollo rubbed her shoulder as he looked back toward Garrick. “Lord Jacks is still your priority. But tell your men to search for Lucien, the impostor heir to the throne as well. Warn them that he’s a vampire and he has gone on a killing spree.”
Evangeline fought the urge to react. She tried to keep her face carefully blank, innocent, however she was supposed to look. She needed to look like a girl without her memories and not like a girl who’d just heard her lying, deceptive husband accuse her first love of murder.
“This heir,” Evangeline said softly, hoping she sounded merely curious. “What did he look like? I heard he was young and extremely handsome.”
Apollo scowled at the word handsome, but Evangeline went on as if oblivious.
“My maids all talked about how devastatingly attractive he was. But the vampire who did this—the one I saw in the forest”—she shuddered—“he was old and monstrous.” She felt a pang of guilt for this lie.
But Evangeline knew if she tried to describe Chaos, Apollo would probably twist it around so that it still sounded like Luc, as both vampires were young, dark-haired, and handsome.
“Evangeline, darling,” said Apollo. “Vampires look different when they feed. I know you think the vampire who did this was an old monster, but vampires are quite rare. I’m sure if you truly saw a vampire, then it was the impostor heir. Unless you’re not certain it was a vampire?”
Bastard. Murderer. Monster.
I hate you, Evangeline wanted to say. But telling Apollo how she felt right now wouldn’t help either Luc or Jacks. Instead she said the only thing she could bring herself to say: “I’m certain it was a vampire.” And she desperately hoped that Luc was somewhere safe and far away.