Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1)

by Stephanie Garber

All stories are made of both truths and lies, she used to say. What matters is the way that we believe in them.

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.

During her search for the missing door, she’d read that the Prince of Hearts’ church held a different aroma for everyone who visited. It was supposed to smell like a person’s greatest heartbreak. But as Evangeline entered the cool cathedral, the air did not remind her of Luc—there were no hints of suede or vetiver. The dim mouth of the church was slightly sweet and metallic: apples and blood.

According to the myths, the Prince of Hearts was not capable of love because his heart had stopped beating long ago. Only one person could make it work again: his one true love. They said his kiss was fatal to all but her—his only weakness—and as he’d sought her, he’d left a trail of corpses.

He gave her a real smile, revealing a pair of dimples that briefly made him look more angel than devil. But she imagined even angels would need to beware of him. She could picture him flashing those deceptive dimples as he tricked an angel into losing its wings just so he could play with the feathers.

“I don’t know if I can fix your broken heart, but you can take mine because it’s already yours.

The Fates weren’t dangerous because they were evil; the Fates were dangerous because they couldn’t tell the difference between evil and good.

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?”

“All of you seem to welcome our lies, but you never like it when we tell the truth.”

But hope is a difficult thing to kill, just a spark of it can start a fire, and this note had given Evangeline a new spark.

“I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.

She knew some people would think this made her foolish, but it was tremendously hard to fully fall out of love with someone when you had no one else to love instead.

“There’s always a piece of truth in those pages, enough to make the lies seem real.

Just for a few heartbeats, then she’d pull away.

He wrapped his other arm around her and held on to her like a promise he intended to keep.

But there were reasons powerful emotions didn’t vanish in a blink, reasons why a person had to become stronger than her feelings to let them go.

He 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.

And then, as if he weren’t a monster as well, Jacks slid an arm underneath her cape and wrapped it around Evangeline’s waist, holding her possessively tight as he drawled, “Stop flashing your fangs. I’m the only one who gets to bite her.”

“Evangeline,” Jacks growled. His cold fingers gripped her cheek and wrenched her back until her eyes met his.

Truth is often bitter, particularly when a person has been tasting more enjoyable lies.

But just because Marisol wasn’t completely heartless didn’t mean she was innocent.

Having faith was brave.