Nothing Of Equal Value (Evajacks Oneshots)

Never thought it would get this far, it was supposed to be like one one shot and that's it. This might be rushed idk.

As Tella pinned Jacks against the wall with her arm, Evangeline now truly grasped what Jacks meant when he talked of the princess. 

Just as Evangeline had pulled on her nightgown for the evening, Tella had thrown open the door and shoved Jacks against the wall, Dante following behind her. 

"Stop don't hurt him!" She pulled at Tella's arm, trying to yank her away from Jacks, before she could, strong arms shoved her away and threw her on the bed.

"Stay out of this." Tella's lover said gruffly. 

In one swift movement, Jacks twisted away from Tella and swung his fist at Dante's perfect jawline, he didn't have time to dodge before Jacks's fist connected with a crack. 

"Keep your filthy hands off of her." He spat in Dante's face. With a growl Dante wrapped his hands around the blond boy's throat. 

"Keep your whore's hands off my girl." There was a gasp from somewhere, and Evangeline saw Scarlett at the door, Julian behind her. She briefly wondered if she had been the one to tell Tella that Jacks was in the palace. Jacks's face went deep red with anger at the words as Julian rushed forward and pulled Dante away from him. Even Tella looked a little shocked by how Dante had reacted.

"Dante, that's enough." With a shove and a sneer he took a step back from Jacks, Evangeline took the chance and threw her hands around his waist. He murmured in her ear so no one else could here.

"Its ok Little Fox, I'm fine. Sorry you had to see that."

"You didn't have to punch him Jacks." She muttered into his collar.

Then he spoke to the others, his eyes cold, still holding her.

"Evangeline's not my whore." 

"What else would she be, Tella's your true love." Legend spat at him as the princess held his arms and Julian grasped the back of his coat.

"Donatella is not my true love." Jacks growled. "Evangeline is." 

It was Tella that spoke next.

"Prove it then. Kiss her." She thought for a moment and then lurched forward. "Wait don't kiss her you'll-."

It was too late though, Jack's lips had captured Evangeline's in a gentle kiss.

***

Tella rarely thought before she spoke, it was a flaw in her perfect self. The flaw that would get Evangeline Fox killed. Yes, she was angry Evangeline brought Jacks to Scarlett's engagement party, but she didn't want Jacks to kiss and kill her. It was bad enough that Dante had thrown her like a ragdoll. 

She lunged forward to stop Jacks from kissing her but his lips were already on Evangeline's. There was something different about the way he kissed Evangeline, gently, as if they had all the time in the world. Then Jacks pulled back and smirked at Dante. 

"You've just slowed her heart so she wont die." Dante drawled, but Tella could feel the imperceptible tightening of his grip on her arm. 

"Evangeline's my wife." Jacks said. "If I slowed her heart she'd be dead long before we got here." 

Tella's gaze immediately went to Evangeline's hand, the small pink diamond ring on her left hand, and shiny diamond wedding band above it proved the statement. A flash of annoyance sparked in her that Dante hadn't given her a ring yet.

Evangeline was rapidly telling a story about the Magnificent North and a dead husband and a vampire, but Tella wasn't listening. She was focused on the strange feeling she had that something was off. Something was off about Jacks.

His hair was still blond. His eyes were still blue. His lips were still red. He still smelled like apples.

Wait no, Tella though. He doesn't smell like apples. The revelation was so random and yet so significant that Tella once again exposed her flaw of speech before thoughts.

"You don't smell like apples." She said, interrupting Evangeline as she told Dante something about an arch. 

Jacks smiled slightly. 

"I don't need them anymore." 

"Why?" Tella asked, cursing her curiosity. Surprisingly, Jacks replied while he played with one of Evangeline's pink curls.

"I used to eat them to control my...urges. To kiss someone. I don't need them anymore. I can just..." He smirked down at Evangeline, who blushed. 

"Oh." Was all that came out of Tella's mouth. Thankfully, Evangeline just picked back up with her story to fill the silence.

"...and I begged him to come here with me so you would understand and not hate us."

They were all silent for a moment then Tella heard Dante speak from behind her.

"The stones. Why did Jacks need the stones." 

She was quiet. 

"What do the stones do?" Scarlett voiced Tella's question/

"When combined, they take the user back to a certain time in their life." Dante answered his eyes never leaving Jacks's.

"You were going to go back to when we met, weren't you, in the carriage?" Tella asked, she wanted to believe Evangeline and Jack's but he had done so much to her.

"Yeah, I was." Jacks said quietly, looking down. 

Dante tried again to lounge at Jacks but Julian held him back. Despite all the proof that Jacks and Evangeline were in love, Tella wanted more.

"Dante?" She asked him. "Do you still have that elixir from your last Caraval? The one that makes the user relive the times in their life when they felt the most emotion?" Dante stopped struggling and she could see the exact moment when he saw what she was thinking.

"Yes. I do." He replied.

***

"If you do love her, the greatest emotion you ever felt will probably be love for her at some point in your life. This elixir will show us your moments of greatest emotion." Dante explained with a clenched jaw. Tella, Scarlett, Julian, and Evangeline were sitting on a settee in one of the many palace parlors.

"How will we see his memories?" Scarlett asked. She was certain that Evangeline and Jacks were telling the truth, she could see the hesitation in Donatella's eyes as well, mostly this test was just for Dante. 

"It will be like an illusion, it will feal real to him. And we will be transported to the memory, you'll see." He held a vile of purple liquid out to Jacks. Scarlett was surprised by how compliant Jacks was to this, he raised the vile to his lips slowly, eyes locked on Evangeline's, and then downed it.

Instantly the room transformed.