16. Evangeline
Evangeline
Mistress Luck must have been talking about Luc. Evangeline’s head pounded at the thought that she might lose him forever if she didn’t find him again before the sand in the hourglass ran out.
Earlier, Evangeline had suspected that it would run out at sunset, and that still appeared to be true, which probably gave her two hours at most. It didn’t feel like nearly enough time.
If she wanted to find Luc, she probably needed to leave now.
But where would she even look? The whole city was a carnival.
Although the day’s celebrations were dying down, the evening revelry would soon come alive.
And if she left the gambling den now, she had no idea when she might find the Prince of Hearts again.
For all she knew, his gambling den was like Caraval, always changing its location.
Her best option was to find Luc after securing Jacks’s help. And she thought that she had finally figured out a way to get Jacks to help her.
Determined, Evangeline pushed back through the crush of gamblers, in search of the Prince of Hearts.
She hurried past crowded table after crowded table, looking for heads of golden hair and cruel expressions, until finally she spotted him.
He stood next to a roulette table, talking to a stunning girl with the most brilliant set of fire tattoos along both of her brown arms. Her dress was all golden sparkle, and her long dark hair swung violently behind her as she spoke to Jacks.
Evangeline wondered if perhaps he’d cursed her wedding, too.
He didn’t seem to be replying to her. Jacks simply leaned back against a roulette table, looking bored once again as he tossed another of his shiny white apples.
Evangeline crept closer, hoping to catch their—
Smack!
The girl with the tattoos slapped him, hard enough to leave a pink mark across his pale cheek.
Evangeline darted forward. Then she crashed to a halt, not quite sure why she felt a sudden instinct to protect Jacks.
Fates didn’t need protecting. And undoubtedly, he deserved the slap.
In fact, as Evangeline watched this other girl storm off, leaving sparkles in her wake, she imagined that this was someone she would like to befriend.
“You don’t have to lurk.” Jacks swung his head in Evangeline’s direction.
“What did you do to her?” Evangeline asked.
“It happens.” He shrugged a careless shoulder as he tried to rub the pink from his cheek. “I’m surprised you haven’t done it.”
“I’ve considered it.”
Jacks’s blue eyes sparked with something like amusement. “I think you just lied to me.”
“No—” Evangeline started to protest, but Jacks cut her off.
“You’re a little pink-haired liar.” He laughed, disturbingly amused. “You didn’t even think about slapping your wretched stepsister. You have no sense of self-preservation.”
“I do too,” Evangeline protested.
“You wouldn’t be here if you did.” Jacks’s eyes met hers as he shoved off the roulette table. And then he was right in front of her. Too tall. Too beautiful. Too dangerous. Too much.
Evangeline tried to pretend that her heart wasn’t racing and her palms weren’t sweating.
Knowing who Jacks really was made her feel as if she should run away or walk away or at the very least take a step back.
But she had already made up her mind that she was going to get him to help her.
“I’m here because I want you to save my family. ”
“I already told you, I’m not a savior.” Jacks looked her over, eyes skimming her fitted silk bodice, then sliding down to the skirt that clung to her hips and thighs.
His gaze lingered there before falling to the floor, where she stood in a pile of tattered lace.
And she could imagine what he was thinking.
A barefoot girl made of pink and nonsense. “I don’t fix things,” he said coldly.
Just then, the table behind him went entirely quiet. The ball had landed on green, and everyone had lost. People who’d been clapping minutes before now stood wide-eyed as they watched the dealer callously collect their gaming coins.
“Hold there,” Jacks said to the dealer, and then he was taking Evangeline by the waist. With one hand, he easily tugged her to the table. Then he quickly released her, scooped up the last pile of coins before the dealer could clear them away, and shoved them into Evangeline’s hands.
A dozen or so golden Jackses looked up at her with crying eyes. The coins were heavy. Evangeline didn’t know how much they were worth, but she imagined it was rather a lot—or what amounted to a lot for her.
“What are these for?” she asked.
“Since you’re not going to take my advice about finding whoever cursed you, then you should enjoy whatever little time you have left.”
He tossed his apple again as his eyes cut once more to the hourglass on Evangeline’s wrist, flickering with something like concern.
It was there and gone so fast, Evangeline might have imagined it.
And yet the thought of it bolstered her hope.
Jacks clearly didn’t want to care, but perhaps a part of him couldn’t help it.
“I have another idea,” she said boldly. “I would like to challenge you to a game.”
“That’s a truly terrible suggestion,” he said.
Evangeline ignored him. “If I win, then you will save my family and friends. If you win, I’ll leave.”
“That’s not much of a bet, pet. I could easily make you leave if I wanted.” Jacks leaned in closer.
Evangeline shivered.
This was a bad idea. Even Jacks had said this was a bad idea. But she was determined, and now she was also curious. “What do you want?” she asked.
Jacks caught his apple and took a slow bite. He cocked his head from side to side as he chewed, as if deciding just how much he wanted to torture her. “If I win, I want a kiss.”
Evangeline’s legs nearly buckled.
Jacks took another bite of his apple. Seconds ago, the fruit had been white, but now the color of the apple changed to shimmering rose gold.
Evangeline felt a sudden rush of heat as she watched Jacks’s teeth sinking into flesh the same color as her hair.
And suddenly she was picturing those teeth sinking into her: her lips, her neck, other places that made her skin go even hotter.
And she knew she couldn’t kiss him. She knew all the stories about his kiss being fatal. But even if it wasn’t, she knew one kiss would ruin her. If just watching him bite into an apple made her feel how she was feeling now, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have his lips on hers.
“Is there anything else I could give you instead?”
“No,” Jacks said flatly. “It’s one kiss or nothing.
” And he looked as if he wanted her to say nothing.
But then he took another bite of the apple—the apple that somehow felt as if it was supposed to be her, and she imagined he wanted her to say yes.
He wanted her to accept the bet, and then he wanted her to lose.
He wanted her to be the apple in his hand.
Evangeline didn’t want to be the apple. She didn’t want to die.
So then why did she want to kiss him?
Why were her toes curling into the carpet as she tried not to show all her thoughts on her face?
She struggled to keep her voice even. “Why do you want to kiss me?”
Jacks laughed. “I never said I want to kiss you.” He dropped his apple to the ground. “I want to see if you’re willing to bet your life to save your friends and family. If you can do that, then I’ll play your little game.”
Monster, Evangeline thought, along with a few other inappropriate words. She didn’t usually curse, but Jacks definitely deserved it. And she was glad of that because now she felt like herself again. And she really did not want to kiss him. Not at all.
Evangeline needed to go. Leave. Find Luc before the sand in the hourglass ran out, and then together they could find another way to save the people she loved.
But what if they didn’t? What if this was her only chance?
“You have a bet,” she said. “I just have one condition.”