Horror raced through Evangelineโs veins.
The fly buzzed off, and a gray bird, the same dull color as the statues, found the wreath of flowers in Marisolโs hair and began peck-peck-pecking. Evangeline and Marisol might not have been closeโand maybe
Evangeline was more jealous of her stepsister than sheโd wanted to admitโ but Evangeline had only wanted to stop her wedding. She hadnโt wanted to turn her to stone.
It hurt to breathe when Evangeline faced Lucโs statue. Usually, he appeared so carefree, but as stone, his face was frozen in alarm, his smooth jaw was rigid, his eyes were tight, andโa crease formed between his granite brows.
He was moving.
His stone lips parted next as if he were fighting to speak, to tell her somethingโ
โIn another minute, heโll stop twitching.โ Evangelineโs gaze shot toward the back of the gazebo.
Jacks leaned casually against a trellis covered in cloudburst-blue flowers and bit into another brilliant white apple. He looked halfโbored young noble, halfโwicked demigod.
โWhat have you done?โ Evangeline demanded.
โExactly what you asked.โ Another bite of his apple. โI made sure the wedding didnโt happen.โ
โYou need to fix it.โ
โCanโt.โ His tone was laconic, as if heโd already grown tired of this conversation. โA friend of mine who owed me a favor did this. The only way it can be undone is if someone takes their place.โ Jacks cut a look toward a patch of grass next to the gazebo, where a brass goblet rested on an aged tree stump.
Evangeline stepped closer to the drink.
โWhat are you doing?โ Jacks shoved off the trellis, no longer indifferent as Evangeline eyed the chalice.
If she drank from it, would it fix everything?
โDonโt even think about it.โ His voice turned sharper. โIf you drink that and take their place, no one is going to save you. Youโll be stone forever.โ
โBut I canโt leave them like this.โ Although part of Evangeline agreed with Jacks. She didnโt want to become a garden statue. She couldnโt even bring herself to pick up the goblet as she read the words etched onto its side.
Poison
Do Not Drink Me
The smell of sulfur wafted from it, and she wasnโt even sure she could drink the foul liquid. But how could she live with herself if she let them all remain cursed?
Evangelineโs eyes shot from the bird still pecking at Marisolโs wedding crown, then back to Luc and his frozen plea for help. Lucโs parents stood on either side of him. Then there was the unfortunate marriage minister, whoโd picked the wrong union to officiate. Evangeline didnโt want to feel bad about Lucโs three friends or about Agnes. But even though her father had not married Agnes for love, he would have hated all of this. Both of her parents would have been so disappointed that this was where Evangelineโs faith in magic had led her.
โThis wasnโt what I wanted,โ she whispered.
โYouโre looking at this the wrong way, pet.โ Jacks dropped his half- eaten apple, letting it roll across the gazebo floor until it hit Lucโs stone boot. โOnce this story spreads, everyone in the Meridian Empire will want to help you. Youโll be the girl who lost her family to the horrible Fates. You
might not get Luc, but youโll forget about him soon. With your stepmother and stepsister stone, Iโm guessing youโll inherit some money. By tomorrow morning, youโll be famous, and not poor.โ
Jacks flashed both dimples as if he really had done her a favor. Evangeline felt sick again.
In the stories, the Fates were wicked gods that only wanted mayhem and chaos. Butย thisย was what people should have been scared of. Evangeline looked at these human statues and saw it as a horror, but Jacks saw it as helpful. The Fates werenโt dangerous because they were evil; the Fates were dangerous because they couldnโt tell the difference between evil and good.
But Evangeline knew the difference. She also knew that sometimes there was a murky space in between good and evil. That was the space sheโd thought sheโd entered that morning when sheโd gone into Jacksโs church to pray for a favor. But sheโd made a mistake, and now it was time to fix it.
Evangeline picked up the goblet.
โPut that down,โ Jacks warned. โYou donโt want to do this. You donโt want to be the hero, you want the happy endingโthatโs why you came to me. If you do this, that will never happen. Heroes donโt get happy endings. They give them to other people. Is that what you really want?โ
โI want to save the boy I love. Iโm just going to have to hope heโll decide to save me, too.โ Before Jacks could stop her, Evangeline drank.
The poison tasted worse than it smelledโlike burnt bones and lost hope. Her throat closed as she struggled to breathe and then to move.
She thought she saw Jacks shake his head, but it was difficult to be sure. Her vision was breaking. Black veins were filling the garden, spreading like escaped ink. Darkness, darkness everywhere. It was night, without any moon or stars.
Evangeline tried to tell herself sheโd done the right thing. Sheโd saved nine people. One of them would save her, too.
โI warned you,โ Jacks murmured. She heard him take a frustrated breath, heard him mutter the wordย pity.ย And then โฆ
She heard nothing.