A Curse for True Love

After rescuing Evangeline from the well, Jacks goes to her room that night to teach her to defend herself. He introduces himself as Archer and throws clothes at her, ordering her to get up. Though he sees how much his attitude hurts her, he can’t bring himself to be kinder. After what he’s done, she’s safer with Apollo, and Jacks knows that “by the end of this, it would hurt her more if he was kind” (101).

Evangeline puts on the clothes Jacks gives her—an impractical skirt, thin shirt, and vest. When she meets him in the hall, he rakes his gaze over her body and smiles in a way that makes her feel like there’s something “almost uncomfortable about how beautiful he was” (105). Outside, Jacks bends Evangeline over the side of a bridge, threatening to push her over if she doesn’t fight back. When she does, the two of them fall and land in a heap tangled around each other. Their closeness sparks memories for Evangeline, and though something about him feels dangerous, Evangeline doesn’t pull away until Jacks gives her his dagger for protection and leaves.