I’m not sure I can.
He must sense my immediate uneasiness because he rounds the table with careful steps. “There’s a reason why our true demon forms are so vicious. In that form, we are physically stronger and more powerful than we can ever otherwise be, but we are also the most vulnerable because only in that form are our true souls exposed.”
Mom moves to the side to allow Jareth to approach me, and even Roman gives us space. Not much. A mere step. But it leaves me the center of my father’s attention once more.
“Koda has informed me that Esta controls thousands of souls and each one gives her a life,” Jareth says. “She is as close to immortal as any demon could ever be.”
He doesn’t reach for me, but again, I sense the icy taint to the air that must be the merest hint of the nightmare power he’s honed his whole, long life. “If you force Esta to take her true demon form, her original soul will be exposed. Kill her in that form, and her power will die.”
“But the other souls—”
“It won’t matter how many souls she controls,” Jareth says. “Her original soul carries the power that controls the others. If she dies in that form, the other souls will be freed.”
Roman is shaking his head. “Esta will know this,” he says. “She will choose not to take her true form.”
“Not if you take yours, Nova. And you, Koda,” Jareth says, including my brother. “Esta fears being discarded and forgotten. She seeks glory. If you challenge her in front of the people—if you make a show of undeniable strength—she will respond.”
“If she doesn’t?” I ask.
Jareth is silent for a long moment. As my heart thuds within my chest, he extends his hand, a request for me to take it. The first contact between us that doesn’t involve violence.
My hand hovers near my father’s, my mouth dry. “Father?”
His eyes meet mine and I feel like there’s something he’s not saying. Something he’s holding back, but I’m not sure what it could be.
Finally, he says, “There’s no other way to defeat Esta. Unless we can force her to take her true form, and kill her in that form, we will all die.”
Mom gasps and Jareth spins to her, enveloping her in his arms for a long moment. Her face presses to his chest, before he gently coaxes her to look up at him. “I will make sure Nova comes back to you.”
My hand drops to my side. Jareth is making a promise he might not be able to keep, and my heart is cracking a little.
The tips of Mom’s wolf’s teeth are visible between her lips and her eyes have fully shifted. “You willallcome back to me,” she commands him before she pulls back to cast her fierce gaze on me, Koda, and Roman, too. “All of you.”
It’s an alpha’s command. There is no sign of the broken person Mom used to be, only strength, and it fills me both with comfort and fear that I can’t do what she asks.
“We will, Sarah,” Koda says, a fierce rumble that reminds me of the way he spoke when he controlled my father’s nightmare power. “I will do everything I can to make sure your family returns to you.”
Koda’s promise concerns me, but I hide it. He and I found a way to combine our powers so we could both survive, but there are no guarantees in another fight with Esta.
I take a deep breath and settle my fears.
We will win. We have to.
Jareth drops a kiss to Mom’s forehead. Despite the vehemence of her responding growl, he doesn’t rise to her anger. Instead, it’s as if love is pouring from him in waves and her shoulders slowly relax, her sharp teeth disappear, and she raises herself up to plant a kiss on the corner of his lips.
Roman wraps an arm around me, pulling me back against his chest, and I sink there. Despite all the danger in front of us, I’m learning to embrace these brief moments of happiness because these moments are what I’m fighting for.
Eventually, Mom and Jareth step apart, as if an unspoken communication has passed between them, and Mom releases him.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Jareth says to me. “If you will allow me, Nova, I must teach you how to access your demon form.”
My gaze flickers to Koda, who’s paused a few paces ahead of Jareth. Like me, he doesn’t seem to have missed that Jareth singled me out.
“What about my brother?” I ask.
A surprisingly proud smile crosses Jareth’s expression as he turns to Koda. “Koda has already accessed his true demon form.”
Koda’s eyebrows rise with surprise. “I have?”
