To my mother.The same way she gave him her heart and, with it, her strength.
“I left my weakness on Earth!” he shouts. “My mate. She was nothing but a weight to tie me down. Shackles to bind me.” He butts his horns against the glass with asmackthat vibrates through the surface. “The only way to leave her was to leave my heart behind.”
I exhale as the full meaning of the situation hits me. I stumble back from the cage, but not because he has hurt me. My sudden realization sends a greater weight crashing onto me.
My voice is still puffed, every breath difficult as I turn to my pack. “We were focusing on the wrong part of him. I thought we needed to reunite him with his soul, but what if he needs his heart more?”
Taniya removes her palm from the side of the cage, swaying with exhaustion. “But that would mean we have to take him to Earth first.” She shakes her head vehemently. “We can barely control him here. We can’t unleash him on the supernatural community on Earth—and certainly not on the humans. It would be a slaughter.”
“He needs to be with Mom,” I say, more certain with every passing second. “She has his heart.”
Inside the cage, Jareth jolts away from the cage wall, staring at me before he rams himself against it again. His fist thumps the glass as he sneers. “Take me to your mother. I will tear her apart. I will feast on her flesh and gnaw on her bones.”
Taniya stares at him, gritting her teeth before she turns back to me. “Are you sure, Nova? His heart could be anywhere. Stored in an object. Imbued in a place. How would we even find it? And fast enough?”
Malia is quiet as she steps up to the cage, studying my father. “Could it be something Momma M carried with her?”
“She didn’t wear any jewelry,” I say. “I think it’s more intangible than that. I think he gave her his heart simply by loving her. When he left her, he broke their mate bond and left his love behind. The bond is with her.Sheis his heart. We need to reunite them.”
Malia’s fingertips glow with light magic, an instant response to my mention of love, but she quickly extinguishes it with a grimace. “He isn’t lying, Nova. He will tear Momma M apart. And us, too, if we can’t control him.”
I suddenly remember what I read in the book Malia gave me. “He doesn’t have his nightmare power. It’s trapped with his soul in Mortem’s prison.”
Taniya’s eyes widen. “Are you sure?”
I purse my lips. “Mostly sure.”
She continues to shake her head vehemently. “Even without his power, we can’t take that chance. Look at him. He doesn’t need his power to kill with his bare hands alone. Bringing him to Earth is the worst risk we could take. Let alone how we’d be endangering Momma M’s life.”
Roman wraps his arms around me from behind, a sudden comfort. His voice is low and soft at my ear, his touch sending slivers of unexpected heat through me, making my own heart burn. Despite how drained we are, the spark between us survives.
“A heart is more powerful than a soul or a mind,” he says. “I lost my heart when my family was killed. With you, I found it again.”
I turn within the circle of his arms, tipping my head back to see the new storm in his eyes.
He drops a kiss to my lips. “Your mother was Jareth’s true mate, just like Athella said. Her heart can bind and heal him. The same way your heart has healed and bound me.” His lips brush across mine. “Mate.”
I close my eyes and soak up the truth of his words. “Then it’s worth the risk,” I whisper. “But if we fail… and my father becomes a threat to us…” I open my eyes. I’m filled with fear and turmoil again. “You have to help me kill him.”
He exhales heavily, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’ll stand beside you until the end.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
Taking another moment to breathe, I grip Roman’s forearms, gaining strength from his presence.
Finally, I make myself turn.
“Malia?” I ask. “Are you still willing to try moving my father?”
She draws level with me, her shoulders squared. “I am, but I’ll need to step out of the darkness to do it.” She gestures to the curtain above us. “My light magic could destroy the protective shield you’ve created, and exposure to more light will weaken you. I won’t risk that. I’ll keep my distance while I use my magic.”
I give her a nod. “We’ll stay here, but we’ll be ready. For both Jareth and the angels.”
I have no illusions that the angels will stand by and let us break my father’s cage and set him loose on their world. If they had decided to help us, I’m sure we could have found a way to get him out of here safely. But instead, they chose to annihilate us.
I grit my teeth before I say, “I’m sure the angels will have sensed my nightmare power by now. They won’t let us do this without a fight.” I spin to my blonde-haired sister. “Taniya, I need you to stay nearest to Malia and protect her. Roman—”
He’s already moving close to Malia, too, although he stays well within the shade of the dark canopy. He proved on Mortem that his runes can reinforce her magic and it’s likely she’ll need his help restraining my father.
