Zoha > Zoha's Quotes

“Jacks no longer felt like her enemy, he felt like her home.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“Sorry to break your fairytale, Little Fox, but ballads don't end happily, and neither do the two of us.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“The Fate gave the queen a look more vicious than any curse. 'There is nothing of equal value to me.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“It didn't matter if he stayed forever cursed. All that mattered was that he stayed, that he chose her instead of fear.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“A tormented scream pierced the night like a blade. The sky bled, and darkness fell instead of stars, erasing lights across the Magnificent North.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“... the girl remained unmoving. Dead. And yet the Fate continued to hold her.

'Bring her back,' he said softly.

'I am sorry,' said the queen who'd just awoken. She was a petite thing. She's tried to pull her son away from the girl to stop his unnatural feeding, but her hands were not strong enough. The queen could not fight immortals physically, but she had an iron will forged of mettle and mistakes. 'You know I cannot do that.'

The Fate finally looked up. 'Bring her back,' he repeated. For he also possessed an indomitable will. 'I know you can do it.'

The queen shook her head remorsefully. 'My heart breaks for you- for this. But I will not do this. After bringing back Castor and seeing what he became, I vowed to never use that sort of magic again.'

'Evangeline would be different.' The Fate glowered at the queen.

'No,' she repeated. 'You wouldn't be saving this girl, you would be damning her. Just as we did to Castor. She wouldn't want this life.'

'I don't care what she wants!' roared the Fate. 'I don't want her dead. She saved you, you need to save her.'

The queen took a shaky breath.

If the story curse could have breathed, it would have held its breath. It hoped the queen would say yes. Yes to bringing her back, to turning her in to another terrible immortal. Despite what this Fate believed, the girl would be horrible- the ones with endless life always were, eventually.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“At the word sacrifice, something sparked in the Fate's cold eyes. He held the girl tighter, carrying her in his bloodstained arms as he stood and started down the ancient hall.

'What are you doing?' A crack of alarm showed in the queen's implacable face.

'I'm going to fix this.' He continued marching forward, holding the girl close as he carried her back through the arch.

The angels who'd been guarding it now wept. They cried tears of stone as the Fate set the girl at their feet and began wrenching stone after stone from the arch.

'Jacks of the Hollow,' warned the queen. 'Those arch stones can only be used one time to go back. They were not created for infinite trips to the past.'

'I know,' Jacks growled. 'I'm going to go back and stop your son from killing her.'

The queen's face fell. For a moment, she looked as old as the years she'd spent lying in suspended state. 'This is not a small mistake to fix. If you do this, Time will take something equally valuable from you.'

The Fate gave the queen a look more vicious than any curse. 'There is nothing of equal value to me.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“I don't care what she wants!' roared the Fate. 'I don't want her dead. She saved you, you need to save her.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“Why are you being so cruel?'

'Because you won't leave!' Jacks shouted. 'And if you stay, you will die. Chaos hasn't fed in thousands of years. I know he thinks he can control his hunger, but he can't. That's why they put the helm on him.'

'You could have just said that. If you didn't want me to say goodbye or you want me to leave, you don't have to hurt me to get me to do it.'

'I'm not- I-' Jacks broke off abruptly. His eyes were no longer just red, they were blazing with fear. She'd never seen him look so terrified before. She'd been poisoned, shot, lashed across the back, and Jacks had always kept his calm until now.

With a great deal of effort, he took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was soft but uneven. 'I'm sorry, Little Fox. I didn't want to hurt you, I just-'

He looked suddenly at a loss for words, as if whatever he said next might be the wrong thing. He's never looked at her like this before.

'Jacks, please, don't use the stones tonight. Come with me instead.'

He took a jagged breath. For a second, he looked torn. He raked a hand through his hair, his movements jagged.

Evangeline took a step closer.

He shuttered his expression and took a step back. 'This doesn't change anything. I still can't have you in my life. You and I aren't meant to be.'

'What if you're wrong?'

Evangeline had once heard a tale about a pair of doomed stars, drawn across skies toward each other's brightness, even though they knew that if they drew too close, their desire would end in a fiery explosion. This was how Jacks looked at her now. As if neither of them would survive if they drew any closer.

'Evangeline, you need to go.'

A thunderous roar poured out from the Valory, so loud it shook the arch and the angels and the ground at Evangeline's feet.

'Get out of here.' Jacks said.

She held his gaze, one final time, wishing she knew how to change his mind. 'I wish our story could have had another ending.'

'I don't want another ending,' Jacks said flatly. 'I just want you to leave.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“I'm broken. I like to break things. Sometimes I want to break you."
"Then break me Jacks.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“The girl was dead. If her lifeless body had not confirmed it, then it would have been made clear by the horrible scream of the Fate who held her in his arms. The story curse was familiar with pain, but this was agony, the sort of raw grief that was only seen once in a century. The Fate was every tear that anyone had ever shed for lost love. He was pain given form.
...
The Fate didn't move. He didn't let the girl go. He looked as if he never would. He continued holding her as if he could return her to life with the force of his will. His eyes were wet with blood. Red tears fell down his cheeks and on to hers. But the girl didn't stir.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“She hoped that he would argue with her- she hoped that he would fight for her. She hoped despite everything that he would choose her.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“I love you, Jacks. I used to wonder if fate was real. I used to fear it meant that I had no real choices. Then I secretly hoped fate was real and that you and I were fated, that by some miraculous chance I was true love. But now I don't care if fate is real--because I don't need it to decide for me. I don't need it to make this choice. I've made my decision, Jacks. It's you. It will always be you, until the end of time. And I'll fight fate or anyone else who tries to tear us apart--including you. You are my choice. You are my love. You are mine. And you are not going to be the end of me, Jacks.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“As much as she hated the choice that Jacks was making, she didn't want to take it away. Instead, she hoped, one final time, that he would make a better one.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“It hurts, Jacks.”
“I know, love. I’m going to take you somewhere safe.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“Jacks wasn't safe. He came with no promises of happily ever after. If anything, he guaranteed the opposite. He didn't believe that heroes got happy endings. Loving Jacks felt doomed from the start. But Evangeline had learned that love was more than a feeling. And it didn't have to be the safe choice, because love was more powerful than fear. It was the ultimate form of hope. It was stronger than curses.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“It had taken all the heartbreak, all the almost love and the wrong love, to know that this love was true love.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“This isn't just for now, it's for always, Little Fox."
"I like the sound of always.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“Little Fox. Two simple words. Only they did not feel simple at all. They felt like falling. They felt like hope. They felt like the most important words in the world. The words made her blood rush and her head spin until once again it was only her and Jacks. Nothing existed except for the press of his cool forehead, the feel of his strong hand tangling in her hair, and the pleading, broken look in his quicksilver blue eyes.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“He silently held her tighter and pressed his forehead to hers. She wasn't sure if he was crying or if she was, but there was wet on her cheeks. It felt a lot like tears.”
― Stephanie Garber, Once Upon a Broken Heart

“It looked as if it was taking all his strength not to reach out and graze her fingers with his. As if one brush of their skin might set off a riot of sparks or blow out every light in the hall.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“I know I seem naive," Evangeline pressed on. " I know my faith in love might appear foolish. I also know it might not be enough. But I'm not doing this because I believe I'll win. I'm actually a little afraid I'm going to lose. I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think it's a reason to fight for those things. I know my attempt to save Jacks could end in fiery explosion, but I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“People who don't like me call me Jacks.”
― Stephanie Garber, Once Upon a Broken Heart

“I’m a mess. A work in progress. I’m two steps forward and one step back. I hoard my cheese, and I can’t efficiently load the dishwasher, and I’m going to struggle with the truth until the day I croak.
Jack knows all of this, and he loves me. Not anyway, but because.”
― Ali Hazelwood, Love, Theoretically

“He held her with the type of intensity that only happens when a person wants something that isn't quite theirs.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“And he loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her so much he’d rewritten history.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I’m your monster, Evangeline.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“For anyone who has ever hoped for a second chance.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“She was the moth and Jacks was still the flame.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love