“We need to reunite you with your soul before we can deal with Esta,” I say.
Jareth’s white-blue eyes become hard. “Koda filled me in on what happened during the Elimination and the battle in the arena. I don’t remember much about Esta’s attack on me. It seems that when she took my soul, my memories were also split. But I do remember the time before it—and my time in the cage.”
He exhales heavily as a weighted silence descends. At the other end of the table, Koda sits stiffly, and I’m certain that the conflict between him and our father has not been resolved.
Jareth speaks carefully. “My oldest demon children chose corruption and greed over duty. I encouraged them to increase their power because I thought it would protect the crown from challenges. I didn’t see the depth of their subterfuge until it was too late. Not only Esta’s deception, but the damage Arga and the others were causing.” He looks up, directly at Koda. “I was wrong, son. I failed you.”
Koda remains very still, a surprised and stunned expression on his face, as if he hadn’t expected to hear our father say that. “I’ve never heard you admit to any wrongdoing. Not once.”
The Demon King makes a low rumble in his chest. “I have many apologies to make. To you. And to Nova and her mother. I also have apologies to make toyourmother, Koda. As difficult as Carys can be, she was loyal to me. I made many choices that left damage in my wake. It’s my goal now to make up for the consequences of my decisions.”
Mom leans into him, speaking quietly. “You don’t need to apologize to me. Neither of us knew what would happen when you left. We could never have guessed that we would lose parts of ourselves. We have to focus on moving forward now.”
The fact that my father is a demon who abandoned me shaped my view of myself growing up and for most of my life, I struggled with the darker aspects of my power, always battling it. But at the same time, my life had good in it. I chose my family and my pack. I did okay without him, and I have a better understanding now that he was in a tough position.
Just like we all are in now. Possibly the toughest any of us have ever faced.
I lean forward, focusing on Jareth. “I can’t begin to imagine the position you’re in right now. Only three of your children survive and we’re bound by magic to kill each other. Even if we succeed in reuniting you with your soul, Esta and Crone won’t stop until we’re dead.”
I pause, but I don’t lower my gaze. “You don’t have to help us, but unless we figure out a way to eliminate all of the souls Esta controls, we will never be able to—”
“There is a way,” Jareth says quietly. “Though it breaks my heart to assist in the death of one of my children, I will tell you.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
Jareth rises to his feet, his dark clothing only accentuating the paleness of his eyes and violet of his hair.
“First,” he says, “there’s something I need to do.” He pins Roman with a hard stare. “Rise, my old friend, so that I might remove the shackles I placed on you.”
Beside me, Roman is suddenly stiff and tense, an air of wariness about him that puts me on edge as he pushes his chair back and draws to his feet.
I glance from him to my father, these two powerful demons, worried by the heavy silence between them.
What’s going on?
I glance at Koda, but he gives me a puzzled shake of his head, and Mom appears baffled also.
“Many, many years ago,” Jareth begins. “I feared Lord Rune’s power and the potential for him to challenge the throne. I sought a way to curtail his power and I found it. I knew that what he wanted most was peace, and I sensed that he was at home in the Wilds, with the wild creatures. So I offered him a deal.”
Roman nods. “You gave me the Wilds, and in exchange, I promised not to challenge the throne.”
A rueful smile flickers across my father’s face. “Ah, but you’re unable to speak of the true terms of our deal.”
Roman’s jaw clenches and his eyes narrow. “You must not speak—”
“Unless I intend to release you from the death bond you gave me, Rune.”
Roman stiffens even further, staring back at Jareth as friction grows in the air that sets the hairs on my arms on end.
When I was in the Wilds, Roman explained to me that a death bond is a promise to carry out someone’s wishes after they die. Roman carries a death bond—manifested as three claw marks across his shoulder—but the details of the bond are secret, and he can’t tell me what it is.
I myself asked Roman for a death bond, and he agreed, promising that he would get my sisters out of Mortem if I died in the Elimination.
But now, it seems, that his first death bond is owed to my father.
Jareth sighs heavily. “I knew how much you wanted freedom from the intrigues of demons,” he says to Roman. “But I asked too much and because of that, you’ve been fighting with one hand tied behind your back.”
Jareth spins to me. “I imagine Rune tried hard to avoid getting involved in the Elimination. He probably explained that the rules stopped him from helping you. And that is true—he can’t fight Esta for you. But you see, he also couldn’t help you as much as he would have wanted to because I made him promise…” My father’s focus flickers to Roman and back to me. “I made him vow that he would never kill any of my children.”
