The story could have ended there, with the villain defeated and the happy couple about to go off to some ambiguous happily ever after.
Unfortunately, the fight did not simply cease because Apollo was now trapped inside of a tree for eternity. Jacks was still furious. And so when Wolfric Valor’s sons finally released him, more punches were thrown and violent curses were loosed. The words echoed across the moonlit cavern as fists hit faces and clothes were ripped.
Evangeline cried out, “Stop!” after the first punch. But it quickly became apparent that no one was listening to her and the fight would soon escalate if she didn’t find a way to stop it.
Apollo’s discarded sword wasn’t too far away. After scooting across the rocky ground toward it, she managed to slice her finger on the blade and then use the blood to free herself from the shackles.
“Enough!” she yelled as she ran toward the melee.
The two Valor sons were both now battling Jacks, noses bloody and making an awful mess. Wolfric was the only one who’d stepped out of the fray. It looked as if he was inspecting the tree—or perhaps talking to the tree. Evangeline merely glanced at him before jumping in between the three fighters and yelling, “Stop all of this nonsense, right now!”
Jacks was the first to freeze, followed by one of the Valor sons. The other Valor son, the broader of the two, punched Jacks in the stomach one final time—as if he couldn’t stop himself. But Evangeline had the feeling that he was just the sort who needed to get the last punch in.
Jacks doubled over with a grunt.
Evangeline rushed to his side. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” He put a protective arm around her shoulder as he straightened up once again. “I’ll kill them later.”
“Good luck with that,” said the broader Valor, the one who’d punched Jacks last. He took off his dark gray shirt to mop up his nose.
“That’s Dane,” Jacks grunted.
It took Evangeline a second to place the name. Dane. LaLa had said it a couple of times. Dane was her dragon shifter. Evangeline had never actually tried to picture him before, but she wasn’t sure she would have imagined this brute who’d just gotten the final punch in.
His brother, who was very tan and golden and even glowed a touch, seemed a little nicer. “It was nothing personal, Jacks. We were just doing what our father asked.”
Jacks tightened his arm around Evangeline as he shot a glare at Wolfric, who had just rejoined the group. “Couldn’t you have found an easier way to get rid of the prince?” Jacks asked. “Like maybe just shoving a sword through his stomach or chopping off his head?”
All three Valors flinched at the mention of chopping off heads. Jacks grinned.
The Valors’ heads had not actually been chopped off, of course, but they must have been familiar with the story by now, and they’d possibly seen their headless statues in the Valorfell Harbor.
“I’m sorry about putting you in that position,” Wolfric said to Evangeline. He looked contrite, but there was something about his words, about the way he’d added putting you in that position, that made her think he wasn’t really sorry.
Evangeline had the impression that Wolfric believed he’d done the right thing and that his action was more important than whatever hurt or terror it had caused her. He then explained the history of the awful tree, how he’d planted it not knowing what it was and how Apollo had found out about it and asked him how to use it. Wolfric told Evangeline and Jacks he’d warned the prince two times. Evangeline believed this, but she didn’t
believe that Wolfric Valor was regretful in the least that the prince hadn’t listened to his warnings.
“Do you plan on taking back the kingdom now?” asked Jacks.
Wolfric laughed. “There’s no taking back—the North has always been mine.” He started whistling as he walked toward the mouth of the cavern. “Let’s go, sons,” he called over his shoulder. “We need to find your sister.”
The brothers shot looks at each other that made Evangeline think they were reluctant to follow their father on another quest. Not that she could blame them, as she wouldn’t have been eager to find Aurora, either.
“What do you think they’ll do to her?” Evangeline asked once they were gone.
“I don’t think they’ll ever find her,” Jacks said. “Those boys don’t want to hunt their sister. They’ll give up after two days. And Wolfric’s too proud to let anyone outside of the family know that his daughter is a monster.”
Just like Castor, Evangeline thought. But she didn’t want to say it aloud; she actually liked Castor quite a bit. And she didn’t want to talk about the Valors anymore, even though she was sure this wouldn’t be the last of them. With Apollo now gone, Evangeline imagined her title of princess didn’t mean much anymore. But if Wolfric Valor wanted the kingdom, he could have it. Just as long as she could have Jacks.
Jacks laughed softly beside her, and Evangeline had the impression he’d heard what she was thinking.
She turned to him. A purple-and-blue bruise was growing beneath his left eye, a split cut through his lip. His clothes were torn. The buttons on his shirt were gone; his left sleeve was ripped at the shoulder and hanging at an angle.
And he still looked as beautiful as ever.
He actually reminded her of the first time they’d met in his church, when he’d been sitting in the back, tearing at his clothes. Only he was smiling now. She watched his lips curve into a cocky grin as they started to walk out of the cavern.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
A dimple appeared just below a cut on his cheek. “We can go wherever you want, Little Fox.”
