Stephanie Garber Quotes

“So,’ she said cautiously, 'is all this your way of telling me you’re the villain?’
His chuckle was dark. 'I’m definitely not the hero.’
'I already knew that,’ Tella said. 'It’s my story, so clearly I’m the hero.”
― Stephanie Garber, Legendary

“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

“She didn't want someone to hold her while she cried and tell her it would be all right. She wanted fury, she wanted rage, she wanted a villain to tell her she'd done exactly what she needed to do.”
― 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

“The truth is never what you want it to be, Little Fox.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“It felt as if he were reaching into her, as if there were invisible fingers digging in to her mind, taking things they shouldn't. Memories.
...
With her body weakened, she fought to lock him out of her mind, to hide her remaining memories, but one by one he plucked them out.

The night in the crypt with Jacks... gone.

Marrying Apollo... gone.

Her friendship with Lala... gone.

Apollo infected with the Archer's curse... gone.

Jumping off the cliff with Jacks-

'No!' she screamed.

... gone.

The wonder of the Hollow... gone.

Jacks bandaging her wounds... gone.

Jacks confessing he was the Archer... gone.

'Please, stop,' she begged.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“You know,' she confessed, 'I've always loved your dimples.'

'I know.' He smirked. 'You were so obvious with your love at first sight.'

'It was not love at first sight.' She huffed. 'I only said I like your dimples at the start.' She dropped her hand from his cheek. 'I didn't even like you. I thought you were terrible.'

'And yet.' He grabbed her hand again and wrapped it around his neck. 'You kept staring.'

Well...' She wrapped her other hand around his neck before sliding her fingers back into his hair. She really loved his hair. 'I might not have liked you, but you were always ridiculously handsome.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“I'm broken. I like to break things. Sometimes I want to break you.'

'Then break me, Jacks.'

His fingers tensed against her neck. 'For once I want to do the right thing. I can't do this. I can't watch you die again.'

The word again scraped against her like a thorn. 'What do you mean, again?'

'You died, Evangeline.' Jacks pulled her closer until she could feel the ragged rise and fall of his chest as he rasped. 'I held you in my arms as it happened.'

'Jacks... I don't know what you're talking about. I never died.'

'Yes, you did. The night you opened the Valory. The first time you did it, I didn't go with you.' He went silent for a moment and then she heard him think, I couldn't say goodbye.

'It was only you and Chaos,' he whispered. 'As soon as his helm was off, he killed you. I tried to stop him- I tried to save you- but-'

Jacks opened and shut his mouth as if he could barely get the words out. 'I couldn't. When I got there, he had already bitten you- and he'd already taken too much blood. You died as soon as you were in my arms. The only thing I could do was use the stones to turn back time. I was warned that it would cost me something. But I thought it would cost me. I didn't imagine it would take from you.'

I'm sorry, he thought.

'You don't need to be sorry, Jacks.'

'It's my fault,' he gritted out.

'No, it's not. I didn't lose my memories because you turned back time. I lost them because Apollo took them from me.'

Jacks looked murderous for a second. Then just as quickly he shook off her words. 'It doesn't matter. What matters is that you died. And if you die again, I cannot bring you back.'

'So you'd rather live without me?'

'I'd rather you live.'

'I am living, Jacks, and I am not going to die anytime soon.' Evangeline closed her eyes and then she kissed him.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“Jacks idly stroked her jaw with his fingers. 'I love you,' he said simply. Then his face went abruptly serious. 'I'm never going to let you out of my sight.'

'You say that as if it should be a threat.'

He continued to look at her solemnly.'This isn't just for now, it's for always, Little Fox.'

'I like the sound of always.' She smiled against his fingers and then she reached up to touch his cheek, because now he was smiling, too.

And he loved her.

He loved her.

He loved her.

He loved her.

He loved her so much he'd rewritten history. He'd given up what he had believed was his only chance at love. And now he had finally broken the spell that he never thought he'd escape.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“I mean... it's just one night,' he said softly. 'In the morning, you can forget it. You can go back to pretending you don't like me, and I can pretend that I don't care. But for tonight, let me pretend you're mine.'

She melted at the word mine. For a dizzying second, she couldn't think. She couldn't bring herself to pull away, and yet she couldn't tell him she would stay.

'If it's easier, you can pretend, too,' he whispered. 'You can pretend I'm still Jacks of the Hollow and that you want to be mine.' His mouth pressed against her throat once more and slowly traced a blissful line up her neck, to her ear. Then his teeth nipped her earlobe.

She gasped. The bite was sharp and a little painful, as if he wanted to hold her and punish her, too. But he didn't have to punish her. This was already torture because she wanted it so much. She wanted him to want her, even if he was half-delirious in his wanting.

'I'm not delirious.' His voice was husky with something like sleep, but when he looked down on her, his eyes were clear and lucid.

And Evangeline felt as if she was tumbling in to them.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“If you really believe this is what you want, you're lying to yourself.'

'I'm not lying to myself,' Jacks snarled.

'Then tell me this is what you truly want. Swear you want this more than anything else and I'll never mention it again.'

Jacks grabbed her by the shoulders and looked directly in to her eyes. For a minute, he didn't speak. He just looked at her, at the remaining blood still on her lips and the dried tears staining her cheeks. 'I swear this is what I really want.' He spoke each word like a vow. 'I want to erase every moment you and I have spent together, every word you've said to me, and every time I've touched you, because if I don't, I'll kill you, just like I killed the Fox.'

Evangeline's heart stopped.

She searched Jacks' eyes, but all she saw was darkness, and all she felt was the press of his hands. He held on to her the way a person might grasp the edge of a cliff, knowing once they let go, there was no taking hold again.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“I love you, Jacks.'

He closed his eyes as she said the word love.
She hoped a little harder. She wanted to ask him to look at her, but all that mattered was that he didn't let her go.

'I used to wonder if fate was real,' she said gently. '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 your 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 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.'

'I think I already am.' He opened his eyes as they dripped red tears. 'Let me go, Evangeline.'

'Tell me you won't set fire to your heart, and I will let you go.'

'Don't ask me to do that.'

'Then don't ask me to let you go!”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“She was choosing Jacks.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“i can't say that i understand love, or that I'm very good at it, because I've never loved anyone before. but I love everything about you, donatella dragna. everything.”
― Stephanie Garber, Finale

“Ready, love? Or would you like me to carry you?” he said.
Now all Evangeline could hear was the word love.”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“Given that the bookstore was a bit of a secret, it didn't look like much from the outside. Just a door with a knob that always seemed on the verge of falling off. And yet there was a certain sort of magic once you stepped inside. It was the feel of candlelight at twilight, paper dust caught in the air, and rows and rows of unusual books on crooked shelves.”
― Stephanie Garber, Once Upon a Broken Heart

“She no longer wanted to sit quietly at the end of a story. She wanted to keep stepping into new ones. She wanted to love, to discover, and to feel. She wanted a life that felt like running through a field of wildflowers and then finding a gate at the end that led into an enchanted unknown. And she wanted to do it all with Jacks by her side.

(Indigo Exclusive Edition bonus chapter).”
― Stephanie Garber, A Curse for True Love

“he looked like the ending of a doomed love story”
― Stephanie Garber, Finale

“Then very soft from LaLa: “I hope you brought enough apples.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“But she'd been raised to believe in wishes and fairytales and things that seemed impossible.”
― Stephanie Garber, Once Upon a Broken Heart

“But in every telling of the tale, they fell in love. ''Love at first sound'', her father would say. Then her mother would always kiss him on the cheek and say, '' For me, it was just love at first''. Then her parents would both be sure to tell Evangeline that not all loves happened at first; some took time to grow like seeds, or they might be like bulbs, dormant until the right season approached.”
― Stephanie Garber, Once Upon a Broken Heart

“In case you forget what the Prince of Hearts has done and you’re tempted to trust him again.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“First she needed to be sure she wasn’t being watched or followed or stalked by that deceitful, apple-eating scoundrel whose name she wouldn’t even think.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“But Jacks was all broken without any heart.”
― Stephanie Garber , The Ballad of Never After

“So thoughtful,” the taller maid said dreamily.
“I like him already,” the shorter maid agreed.
I want to punch him, Evangeline thought.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“He’d found another apple as she’d gotten dressed - it was unbitten and blue, and he tossed it in time with his merry song.
“You’re staring.”
“I was just wondering why you always carry apples.” Jacks chuckled under his breath. “Trust me Little Fox, you’re better off not knowing.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“And truth -“ Jacks smirked. “The truth is never what you want it to be, Little Fox.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After