Liliana was roused from her sleep by fervent knocking on her suite door. She opened it quickly, still slipping one shoulder into the sleeve of her dress robe to see Jacks standing in front of her with a pale Evangeline in his arms.
She took in the broken gold wings at her back, the torn hem of her full white skirts, and the tears coating her cheeks. The tracks had made their way down her neck, dampening the neckline of her dress. She did not know a human could cry that much.
"What did you do?"
"Why must you assume I had something to do with this?" Jacks face was the epitome of innocence.
Liliana gave him a dead look and opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by the girl letting out another waterfall of tears. Gods, the sound was beginning to grate on her nerves.
She opened her mouth, a musical lilt to her voice as she began singing a few notes in a language that had long since been forgotten. But, nothing. If anything, the girl just began crying harder. Wonderful.
Her gaze narrowed at the wet puddle that had begun forming at Jacks and Evangeline's feet. "Are those all tears?" Her eyes flicked up to his. "What happened? Her tears aren't normal."
He nodded, his arms tightening around Evangeline as she clutched at his chest and sobbed. "I know. My powers aren't working either. I think she's been poisoned."
"It's grief, Jacks, not poison! Apollo just died in front of me."
Apollo was dead?
"I'm not criticizing you for being emotional." Jacks ground his jaw. "But if this were purely your feelings, I should be able to take them away."
"Something unnatural is amplifying your feelings," Liliana explained, her thoughts in sync with his. "The Unwed Bride."
He nodded. "There's another Fate who cries poisoned tears with the power to kill someone by breaking her heart. I think someone has poisoned you with those tears, and if we don't get you the cure soon, you'll cry yourself to death."
Evangeline opened her mouth to speak but before she could, she was hit by a new wave of uncontrollable sobs.
"We're going to her. You can come or stay it's your choice."
This time, Liliana lost the battle and rolled her eyes as far back in her skull as it would go. "I'm coming." Jacks set Evangeline down and ripped off his coat, tossing it to her.
She helped Evangeline out of Wolf Hall and set her in a waiting sled.
"We're almost there" were the only words he said during the journey, the otherwise silence continuously broken between Evangeline's unending sobs.
Liliana did not recognize where they were going. It was a testament to how much of her friends' lives she had missed.
The sled came to a halt, and he scooped Evangeline up into his arms again, pressing her tight against his chest.
All she could do was follow as he trudged across what sounded like snow and then began to ascend what felt like an endless flight of stairs.
"Do not start giving up," Jacks growled at the girl. "Giving in to the poison makes it work faster." His words were followed by a swift knock on a door. Then another and another and another-
The door finally groaned open.
"Jacks? Liliana?" Lala went silent as he turned to reveal Evangeline cradled to his chest. "What in Fate's name-"
"She needs you to save her now," He ground out.
"What have you both done?" Lala demanded.
"I think we both know this isn't my doing."
"Are you - never mind, bring her inside. And do not let go of her," warned the girl. "If you stop holding her, she might slip away. Try to comfort her while I put together an antidote. Pretend she's someone you care for."
Jacks's arms tensed around Evangeline and Liliana felt like a stranger - out of place amongst people she once loved more than herself but knew no longer.
He lowered her onto his lap, while they settled in front of a fire, holding her with about as much affection as he might handle a log he was about to toss into the blaze. "There are much better ways to die than this, Little Fox."
"Your attempts at comfort are tr-tragic," Evangeline stuttered.
"You're still alive," he grumbled.
"Here." Lala held out a mug. "Feed her this."
Jacks' hand left Evangeline's cheek and he coated his fingers in the drink, before painting her lips with them slowly, carefully.
Coming here, with them, with him, was a mistake. She should leave. But Liliana wanted to make sure Evangeline was alright.
"The antidote's working," said Lala.
"Does that mean I can let her go?"
"Yes," Evangeline managed at the same moment that Lala said, "No, not unless you want her to die. She'll need close physical contact for at least a full day for the cure to take."
Jacks made no move to release her and instead held on to her as if she were a grudge, his body rigid and 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.