β
In the morning, you can forget it. You can go back to pretending you don't like me, and I can pretend that I don't care. But for tonight, let me pretend you're mine.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Heroes don't get happy endings. They give them to other people.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
It hurts, Jacks.β
βI know, love. Iβm going to take you somewhere safe.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Where were you?β she asked.
βI was killing innocent maidens and kicking puppies.β
βJacks, thatβs not funny.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
I wish our story could have had another ending.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Hope is a difficult thing to kill, just a spark of it can start a fire.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
He held her with the type of intensity that only happens when a person wants something that isn't quite theirs.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
And he loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her so much heβd rewritten history.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
I don't know if I can fix your broken heart, but you can take mine because it's already yours.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, Iβm your monster, Evangeline.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
I do not want you dead, and Iβll kill anyone who tries.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
If you think I'm jealous because someone else got to stab you, then you're right.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Iβm going to go back and stop your son from killing her.β
The queenβs face fell. For a moment, she looked as old as the years sheβd spent lying in a suspended state. βThat is not a small mistake to fix. If you do this, Time will take something equally valuable from you.β
The Fate gave the queen a look more vicious than any curse. βThere is nothing of equal value to me.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to. They are dreams that want to escape the night. They are treasure with wings. They are wild, feral, reckless things that need to be constantly chased, or they will certainly run away.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Glad to know you're thinking about me when you kiss your husband.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Jacks no longer felt like her enemy, he felt like her home.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
All stories are made of both truths and lies, [...] What matters is the way that we believe in them.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
It's all right. I'd probably kill another man if I found him with you like this.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
The fates weren't dangerous because they were evil; the fates were dangerous because they couldn't tell the difference between evil and good.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I already told you. You are the love of my life. You are mine, Jacks of the Hollow. And youβre not going to be the end of me.β βBut you were dying.β βNo,β she said, a little embarrassed. βI just forgot to breathe.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
She tried to pull away, but Jacks held tight, knotting her hair in his fist and keeping his forehead pressed to hers. "Please, Little Fox, remember.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
But you have to have a working heart for it to break.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Sorry to break your fairytale, Little Fox, but ballads don't end happily, and neither do the two of us.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
[...] After I got mauled by the wolf, my scars weren't sexy scars-"
"He just said sexy scars," Jacks drawled. "Are you really listening to this?
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
The girl was dead. If her lifeless body had not confirmed it, then it would have been made clear by the horrible scream of the Fate who held her in his arms. The story curse was familiar with pain, but this was agony, the sort of raw grief that was only seen once in a century. The Fate was every tear that anyone had ever shed for lost love. He was pain given form.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
It smelled of him; of apples and magic and cold,moonlit nights.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
The Fate gave the queen a look more vicious than any curse. 'There is nothing of equal value to me.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Nothing has been safe since the moment I laid eyes on you. And yet I don't want to look away.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Once upon a time, a girl who believed in fairytales stole the heart of a prince who had sworn to never love.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
She was the moth and Jacks was still the flame.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
The Fate didnβt move. He didnβt let the girl go. He looked as if he never would. He continued holding her as if he could return her to life with the force of his will. His eyes were wet with blood. Red tears fell down his cheeks and onto hers. But the girl didnβt stir.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
He would carry her through more than just freezing waters. He would pull her through fire if he had to, haul her from the clutches of war, from falling cities and breaking worldsΒ .Β .Β .
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
For anyone who has ever hoped for a second chance.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
This isnβt just for now, itβs for always, Little Fox.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Jacks gave her a smile that was all sharp edges. A drop of blood fell from the corner of his mouth, and something godforsaken washed over his expression. "Hurt is what made me.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
She feared that dreams were like fairytales, a little bit true and not entirely trustworthy
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Every story has the potential for infinite endings
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I'll never understand humans." Poison sighed. "All of you seem to welcome our lies, but you never like it when we tell the truth.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I'm broken. I like to break things. Sometimes I want to break you."
"Then break me Jacks.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
He gritted his teeth. βBeing yours does not make you mine.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
You ask a lot of questions."
"Only because you do a lot of questionable things.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
She wasn't making love choices, she was making compromising choices because she wanted love. Luc wasn't her weakness- love was. Not even just love but the idea of it.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
It didn't matter if he stayed forever cursed. All that mattered was that he stayed, that he chose her instead of fear.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
You don't want to be the hero, you want the happy ending- that's why you came to me. If you do this, that will never happen. Heroes don't get happy endings. They give them to other people. Is that what you really want?
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
He was still indescribably breathtaking, but it was all the tragic beauty of a sky where every single star was falling. His hair was a storm of broken gold. His eyes were a mess of silver and blue.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
He held on to her as if she were a grudge, his body rigid ad tense, as if he really didn't want her there, and yet his arms were tight around her waist as though he had no intention of ever letting her go.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I'm not going to tell you to trust me, because that's a terrible idea.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
She used to think love was like a house. Once it was built, a person got to live in it forever. But now she wondered if love was more like a war with new foes constantly appearing and battles creeping up.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Whatever it is, Jacks, you won't feel the same in a minute."
He swalloved hard and clenched his jaw. "You have no idea what I'm feeling now."
He looked at her lips, and the most tortured expression she'd ever seen crossed his face.
When Jacks wanted something, it was with an intensity that could break worlds and build kingdoms. That was the energy pouring off him now, as if he wanted to destroy her and make her his queen all at once.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
I swear this is what I really want.β He spoke each word like a vow. βI want to erase every moment you and I have spent together, every word youβve said to me, and every time Iβve touched you, because if I donβt, Iβll kill you, just like I killed the Fox.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Regret was the worst.
Regret was sour and bitter, and it tasted so close to the truth she had to fight sinking into it.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Stop flashing your fangs. Iβm the only one who gets to bite her.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
You know, biting is really like kissing but better, if you do it right.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
She didn't want someone to hold her while she cried and tell her it would be all right. She wanted fury, she wanted rage, she wanted a villain to tell her she'd done exactly what she needed to do.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
He wanted her to look at him, just once, and know him the way she had before.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Iβd give you the world if I could. The moon, stars, and all the suns in the universe. Anything for you, my heart
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Jacks had always considered himself more of a sadist than a masochist. He enjoyed inflicting pain, not receiving it. And yet he couldnβt bring himself to leave the shadows of Evangelineβs bedroom.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
In the morning you can forget it. You can go back to pretending you dont like me. and i can pretend i dont care.But for tonight, let me pretend youre mine
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
He looked like a bad decision some unfortunate person was about to make.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Being yours does not make you mine.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Iβm glad you came.β βIβll always come. Even when you donβt want me to.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
A tormented scream pierced the night like a blade. The sky bled, and darkness fell instead of stars, erasing lights across the Magnificent North.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Jacksβs chest was heaving, his clothes were soaked, his hair was a mess across his faceβyet in that moment, Evangeline knew he would carry her through more than just freezing waters. He would pull her through fire if he had to, haul her from the clutches of war, from falling cities and breaking worlds. And for one brittle heartbeat, Evangeline understood why so many girls had died from his lips. If Jacks hadnβt betrayed her, if he hadnβt set her up for murder, she might have been a little bewitched by him.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
He considered setting the room ablaze just so that he'd have a reason to pick her up and carry her out, to save her one last time, before he left her for good.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Jacks looked down on her from the dark nightstand where heβd perched
himself. His long legs draped negligently over the edge of the furniture as
his hands played with an apple and a knife.
βYou talk in your sleep,β he drawled. βYou said my nameβa lot.β
Evangeline felt a rush of heat crawl up her neck. βObviously, I was
having a nightmare.β
βIt didnβt look that way to me, Little Fox, and I was here all night.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
I'm curious about a lot of things. I'm curious about you, but I don't want you to bite me!"
The corner of Jacks's mouth twitched. "I've already done that, Little Fox.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
What is the point of having friends if theyβre not there to support your bad decisions?
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
The truth is never what you want it to be, Little Fox.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Jacks had so badly wanted to tell her that he couldn't even remember what Donatella looked like, that Evangeline's face was the only one he saw whenever he closed his eyes, that he would go with her anywhere . . . if he could.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Maybe it would be better to forget him. She hadnβt wanted the forgetting before, but she wanted it now.
She wanted the pain to end. She wanted to forget his dimpled smile, his brilliant blue eyes, the way he called her Little Fox. And suddenly, her chest was tight at the thought she might never hear that nickname again. And she didnβt want to forget. She didnβt want to forget at all.
She didnβt want the memories erased or rewritten; she wanted more of them.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Always promise less than you can give, for Fates always take more.
Do not make bargains with more than one Fate.
And, above all, never fall in love with a Fate.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
She didn't make being alone seem lonely as Evangeline had always feared. She made it seem like an adventure, as if every moment were the start of a story with endless possibilities.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Tick Tock Little Fox
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Are you jealous of Luc?'
'I thought we'd already covered that yesterday. I'm always jealous. And so are you.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Or have you already forgotten the way heartbreak rips apart the soul piece by piece, how it turns you into a masochist, making you long for the thing that just eviscerated you until there's noting left of you to be destroyed?
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
He wanted to keep her pressed to the floor beneath him. He would have set the world on fire and then let it all burn just to keep holding her like this.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Like all admirers of fairytales, she'd always loved the scent of books. She loved the paper dust in the air, the way it swirled in the light like little sprinkles of magic. And most of all, she loved the way that fairytales always made her think of her mother and endless possibilities.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
So you're saying you'd settle for a boring romance if it ends well?"
"Yes. I would gladly take an uneventful happily ever after.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
This isn't just for now, it's for always, Little Fox."
"I like the sound of always.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
I know you're still angry with me, but you've always known what I am. I never tried to pretend otherwise, you just let yourself believe I was something I'm not.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
She wanted to be someone's love, not their curse.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Locks of blue hair fell across his forehead, but they didn't hide his eyes. They were wide, broken star-bright, and full of something that looked a lot like hope.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I used to fear it
meant that I had no real choices. Then I secretly hoped fate was real and
that you and I were fated, that by some miraculous chance I was your true
love. But now I donβt care if fate is realβbecause I donβt need it to decide
for me. I donβt need it to make this choice. Iβve made my decision, Jacks.
Itβs you. It will always be you, until the end of time. And Iβll fight fate or
anyone else who tries to tear us apart- including you. You are my choice.
You are my love. You are mine. And you are not going to be the end of me,
Jacks.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Don't worry, I'm still not going to kiss you." His lips brushed over the delicate underside of her wrist. Once. Twice. Three times. It was barely a touch, and yet there was something incredibly intimate about it. It made her think of the other stories that said his kisses might have been fatal, but they were worth dying for.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Iβm actually a little afraid Iβm going to lose. I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think itβs a reason to fight for those things. I know my attempt to save Jacks could end in a fiery explosion, but Iβd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
Once, very long ago, Time fell in love with Fate. This, as you might imagine, proved problematic. Their romance disrupted the flow of time. It tangled the strings of fortune into knots.Β The stars watched from the heavens nervously, worrying what might occur. What might happen to the days and nights were time to suffer a broken heart? What catastrophes might result if the same fate awaited Fate itself? The stars conspired and separated the two. For a while they breathed easier in the heavens. Time continued to flow as it always had, or perhaps imperceptibly slower. Fate weaved together the paths that were meant to intertwine, though perhaps a string was missed here and there. But eventually, Fate and Time found each other again.Β In the heavens, the stars sighed, twinkling and fretting. They asked the Moon her advice. The Moon in turn called upon the parliament of owls to decide how best to proceed. The parliament of owls convened to discuss the matter amongst themselves night after night. They argued and debated while the world slept around them, and the world continued to turn, unaware that such important matters were under discussion while it slumbered.Β The parliament of owls came to the logical conclusion that if the problem was in the combination, one of the elements should be removed. They chose to keep the one they felt more important. The parliament of owls told their decision to the stars and the stars agreed. The Moon did not, but on this night she was dark and could not offer her opinion.Β So it was decided, and Fate was pulled apart. Ripped into pieces by beaks and claws. Fateβs screams echoed through the deepest corners and the highest heavens but no one dared to intervene save for a small brave mouse who snuck into the fray, creeping unnoticed through the blood and bone and feathers, and took Fateβs heart and kept it safe. When the furor died down there was nothing else left of Fate.Β The owl who consumed Fateβs eyes gained great site, greater site then any that had been granted to a mortal creature before. The Parliament crowned him the Owl King. In the heavens the stars sparkled with relief but the moon was full of sorrow. And so time goes as it should and events that were once fated to happen are left instead to chance, and Chance never falls in love with anything for long. But the world is strange and endings are not truly endings no matter how the stars might wish it so.Β Occasionally Fate can pull itself together again.Β And Time is always waiting.
β
β
Erin Morgenstern (The Starless Sea)
β
Just love him the same way you live your lifeβlove him without holding back, love him as if every day with him will be more magical than the last, love him as if heβs your destiny and the world will be better if you two are together, and he wonβt be able to ever stop loving you.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
I love you, Jacks. I used to wonder if fate was real. I used to fear it meant that I had no real choices. Then I secretly hoped fate was real and that you and I were fated, that by some miraculous chance I was true love. But now I don't care if fate is real--because I don't need it to decide for me. I don't need it to make this choice. I've made my decision, Jacks. It's you. It will always be you, until the end of time. And I'll fight fate or anyone else who tries to tear us apart--including you. You are my choice. You are my love. You are mine. And you are not going to be the end of me, Jacks.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #3))
β
She ran her fingers through his soft hair, just once.
He leaned in to her hand. 'That feels good,' he mumbled. 'You feel good, too.' He hooked an arm around her waist and drew her on to the bed.
'Jacks- what are you doing?'
'Just for tonight.' He tightened his arm, holding her even closer, until her chest was pressed against his bare skin.
'You're injured,' she breathed.
'This makes me feel better.' He spoke against her throat and finished with a lick that made her head begin to spin.
Now would have been a really good time to untangle herself.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
His teeth grazed her pulse.
'Jacks-' It was suddenly impossible to form words. His mouth was against her throat and his teeth were on her skin. HIs teeth! Evangeline finally pressed against his chest. But it was as useless as trying to battle a block of marble. Hot, sculpted marble. She wanted to tell him not to bite her, but saying the word bite didn't seem like the wisest idea just then. 'You won't want this later.'
'Not really thinking about later.' He licked her, one languorous stroke up the column of her neck.
She gasped. 'You don't even like me.'
'I like you right now. I like you a lot.' He gently sucked her skin. 'In fact, I can't think of anything I like more.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
At the word sacrifice, something sparked in the Fate's cold eyes. He held the girl tighter, carrying her in his bloodstained arms as he stood and started down the ancient hall.
'What are you doing?' A crack of alarm showed in the queen's implacable face.
'I'm going to fix this.' He continued marching forward, holding the girl close as he carried her back through the arch.
The angels who'd been guarding it now wept. They cried tears of stone as the Fate set the girl at their feet and began wrenching stone after stone from the arch.
'Jacks of the Hollow,' warned the queen. 'Those arch stones can only be used one time to go back. They were not created for infinite trips to the past.'
'I know,' Jacks growled. 'I'm going to go back and stop your son from killing her.'
The queen's face fell. For a moment, she looked as old as the years she'd spent lying in suspended state. 'This is not a small mistake to fix. If you do this, Time will take something equally valuable from you.'
The Fate gave the queen a look more vicious than any curse. 'There is nothing of equal value to me.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
You're good at this,' she murmured. 'Do you often travel with girls who've been flayed?'
That earned her a soft laugh. 'No.' Then quietly, as he ran a cloth along her lower back, just below the dip in her waist. 'Would you be jealous if I did?'
I'm not a jealous person was what Evangeline intended to say, but instead the words 'of course' came out.
Jacks laughed, louder this time.
Embarrassment surged through her. 'That's not what I meant to say.'
'It's all right. I'd probably kill another man if I found him with you like this.' Jacks' hands pressed harder as they went to her shoulders and, one by one, ripped off the sleeves of her dress so that what remained of the gown completely fell away.
She made a sound somewhere between a squeal and a gasp. 'What that really necessary?'
'No, but everyone should have their clothes ripped off at some point.'
She imagined Jacks was mostly trying to distract her from all the pain, yet she blushed all the way from her cheeks to her chest.
Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw him smile.
And for a second, nothing hurt.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
Once, heβd been the Seducer, the Executioner, the High Priest of the Hourglass, the Prince of the Darkness, the High Lord of Hell.
Once, heβd been Consort to Cassandra, the great Black-Jeweled, Black Widow Queen, the last Witch to walk the Realms.
Once, heβd been the only Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince in the history of the Blood, feared for his temper and the power he wielded.
Once, heβd been the only male who was a Black Widow.
Once, heβd ruled the Dhemlan Territory in the Realm of Terreille and her sister Territory in Kaeleer, the Shadow Realm. Heβd been the only male ever to rule without answering to a Queen and, except for Witch, the only member of the Blood to rule Territories in two Realms.
Once, heβd been married to Hekatah, an aristo Black Widow Priestess from one of Hayllβs Hundred Families.
Once, heβd raised two sons, Mephis and Peyton. Heβd played games with them, told them stories, read to them, healed their skinned knees and broken hearts, taught them Craft and Blood Law, showered them with his love of the land as well as music, art, and literature, encouraged them to look with eager eyes upon all that the Realms had to offerβnot to conquer but to learn. Heβd taught them to dance for a social occasion and to dance for the glory of Witch. Heβd taught them how to be Blood.
But that was a long, long time ago.
β
β
Anne Bishop (Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels, #1))
β
... the girl remained unmoving. Dead. And yet the Fate continued to hold her.
'Bring her back,' he said softly.
'I am sorry,' said the queen who'd just awoken. She was a petite thing. She's tried to pull her son away from the girl to stop his unnatural feeding, but her hands were not strong enough. The queen could not fight immortals physically, but she had an iron will forged of mettle and mistakes. 'You know I cannot do that.'
The Fate finally looked up. 'Bring her back,' he repeated. For he also possessed an indomitable will. 'I know you can do it.'
The queen shook her head remorsefully. 'My heart breaks for you- for this. But I will not do this. After bringing back Castor and seeing what he became, I vowed to never use that sort of magic again.'
'Evangeline would be different.' The Fate glowered at the queen.
'No,' she repeated. 'You wouldn't be saving this girl, you would be damning her. Just as we did to Castor. She wouldn't want this life.'
'I don't care what she wants!' roared the Fate. 'I don't want her dead. She saved you, you need to save her.'
The queen took a shaky breath.
If the story curse could have breathed, it would have held its breath. It hoped the queen would say yes. Yes to bringing her back, to turning her in to another terrible immortal. Despite what this Fate believed, the girl would be horrible- the ones with endless life always were, eventually.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))
β
The Trial By Existence
Even the bravest that are slain
Shall not dissemble their surprise
On waking to find valor reign,
Even as on earth, in paradise;
And where they sought without the sword
Wide fields of asphodel foreβer,
To find that the utmost reward
Of daring should be still to dare.
The light of heaven falls whole and white
And is not shattered into dyes,
The light for ever is morning light;
The hills are verdured pasture-wise;
The angel hosts with freshness go,
And seek with laughter what to brave;β
And binding all is the hushed snow
Of the far-distant breaking wave.
And from a cliff-top is proclaimed
The gathering of the souls for birth,
The trial by existence named,
The obscuration upon earth.
And the slant spirits trooping by
In streams and cross- and counter-streams
Can but give ear to that sweet cry
For its suggestion of what dreams!
And the more loitering are turned
To view once more the sacrifice
Of those who for some good discerned
Will gladly give up paradise.
And a white shimmering concourse rolls
Toward the throne to witness there
The speeding of devoted souls
Which God makes his especial care.
And none are taken but who will,
Having first heard the life read out
That opens earthward, good and ill,
Beyond the shadow of a doubt;
And very beautifully God limns,
And tenderly, lifeβs little dream,
But naught extenuates or dims,
Setting the thing that is supreme.
Nor is there wanting in the press
Some spirit to stand simply forth,
Heroic in its nakedness,
Against the uttermost of earth.
The tale of earthβs unhonored things
Sounds nobler there than βneath the sun;
And the mind whirls and the heart sings,
And a shout greets the daring one.
But always God speaks at the end:
βOne thought in agony of strife
The bravest would have by for friend,
The memory that he chose the life;
But the pure fate to which you go
Admits no memory of choice,
Or the woe were not earthly woe
To which you give the assenting voice.β
And so the choice must be again,
But the last choice is still the same;
And the awe passes wonder then,
And a hush falls for all acclaim.
And God has taken a flower of gold
And broken it, and used therefrom
The mystic link to bind and hold
Spirit to matter till death come.
βTis of the essence of life here,
Though we choose greatly, still to lack
The lasting memory at all clear,
That life has for us on the wrack
Nothing but what we somehow chose;
Thus are we wholly stripped of pride
In the pain that has but one close,
Bearing it crushed and mystified.
β
β
Robert Frost
β
Why are you being so cruel?'
'Because you won't leave!' Jacks shouted. 'And if you stay, you will die. Chaos hasn't fed in thousands of years. I know he thinks he can control his hunger, but he can't. That's why they put the helm on him.'
'You could have just said that. If you didn't want me to say goodbye or you want me to leave, you don't have to hurt me to get me to do it.'
'I'm not- I-' Jacks broke off abruptly. His eyes were no longer just red, they were blazing with fear. She'd never seen him look so terrified before. She'd been poisoned, shot, lashed across the back, and Jacks had always kept his calm until now.
With a great deal of effort, he took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was soft but uneven. 'I'm sorry, Little Fox. I didn't want to hurt you, I just-'
He looked suddenly at a loss for words, as if whatever he said next might be the wrong thing. He's never looked at her like this before.
'Jacks, please, don't use the stones tonight. Come with me instead.'
He took a jagged breath. For a second, he looked torn. He raked a hand through his hair, his movements jagged.
Evangeline took a step closer.
He shuttered his expression and took a step back. 'This doesn't change anything. I still can't have you in my life. You and I aren't meant to be.'
'What if you're wrong?'
Evangeline had once heard a tale about a pair of doomed stars, drawn across skies toward each other's brightness, even though they knew that if they drew too close, their desire would end in a fiery explosion. This was how Jacks looked at her now. As if neither of them would survive if they drew any closer.
'Evangeline, you need to go.'
A thunderous roar poured out from the Valory, so loud it shook the arch and the angels and the ground at Evangeline's feet.
'Get out of here.' Jacks said.
She held his gaze, one final time, wishing she knew how to change his mind. 'I wish our story could have had another ending.'
'I don't want another ending,' Jacks said flatly. 'I just want you to leave.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2))