My father gestures me forward. “To the healing cavern,” he says, the air becoming icy as his power filters around me. “It’s time to train.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT
Weeks ago, I never would have dreamed I’d willingly follow the King of Hell into a dark cave, but I walk beside Jareth now as he turns toward the rocky outcrop to the far left of the compound.
The healing cavern isn’t as dark at night as I was expecting. The circles of black stones seem more luminescent than they were earlier today, and I wonder if it’s because of all the light they absorbed from our bodies.
Jareth retreats to the other side of the cave, picking his way along the paths between circles, while I hover closer to the entrance.
“You will lose the fight with Esta unless you understand more about your power,” Jareth says. “I believe Rune taught you much. But he didn’t teach you everything.”
Jareth plants his feet, and I’m suddenly apprehensive about the intensity with which he’s staring at me.
“Find my fear,” he says to me, his pale-blue eyes appearing nearly white in the darkness. As he speaks, misty light swirls around his fingertips. Even without his soul and the full force of his strength, this bare hint of his nightmare power chills me and sends an instant shiver down my spine.
My own power reacts without me calling it, the darkness that clings to my soul rising around me in tendrils that swirl at the edges of my vision, curling around my shoulders and chest.
The sight of them draws a smile to my father’s lips, but it’s a grin that only worsens my apprehension, reminding me of the violence with which he smiled at me when he was in his demon form.
“You have too much loyalty, daughter,” he says. “Too much care for your pack. Your wolf’s protective instincts are a strength that makes you a good alpha but tempers your demon power. If you are to have any chance of surviving an encounter with Esta, or with Crone, you must break the ties that bind your heart.”
“No.” My response is instinctive and instant. “My pack makes me stronger.”
“Your pack makes yourwolfstronger. But within you, there is a demon you haven’t unleashed. Andsheis pure darkness. Only she can face your enemies and survive.” He takes a step toward me. “You have seen me without my heart and soul. The pure demon who lives within me. Finding your demon within yourself won’t be easy.”
His pale eyes glisten and his forehead creases as his voice softens. “For Rune, it took losing his wolf to find his demon. For my children… well… Koda hit rock bottom. He had nothing left to lose.”
I take a step back. “I won’t hurt my pack to achieve this.” Already, I feel my wolf stirring within me, her bonds with my sisters, my mother, and my demon wolves—not to mention Roman—rising up in protest.
I stare my father down. “I am blessed to have so many whom I love. Blessed to have so many who love me. I will find my demon another way.”
He considers me carefully, and I’m aware that the cavern has become darker, my demon power instinctively intensifying, the shadows growing around us. Shadows that creep toward him. But I’m also horribly aware of his power creeping toward me. They can’t be even a tenth of the full extent of his power, and yet my heart is pounding, my mouth is dry, and already, I’m living my worst nightmare: the thought of losing my family.
Well, I guess he was the King of Hell for a reason.
He strides toward me. “Cut your ties, find your demon, and your nightmares will stop!”
“No!” I unleash my power on him, a stream of darkness that barely makes him flinch and does nothing to protect me from the images filling my mind that seem so real…
So fucking real…
Esta is striding across the red canyon where I now shelter, striking at will, destroying eagles midair, dragging my family to their knees in the dirt, wrenching their souls from their bodies and leaving them screaming for the seconds it takes them to die…
I can’t get to them.
No matter how hard I run. No matter how hard I fight. They fall, and I can’t protect them.
Jareth’s voice cuts through my nightmare. “This is the future if Esta and Crone win. If we don’t stop them, they will eventually turn their gaze to Earth and beyond. Ruling Mortem will not be enough. They will destroy everything we love.”
I drop to my knees as he looms over me. I’m frozen with fear—knowing that, despite my efforts to keep my family from joining this final fight, Esta and Crone might come for them if I don’t win.
Jareth roars a command, his voice echoing around the cavern. “Conquer your fear and find your demon!Now.”
His final shout is like a trigger.
I launch to my feet with a scream, pushing through the dark images clouding my mind. A surge of power streams through me, a wild abandonment of control, but it comes with my wolf, whose snarls fill my voice as I advance on the Demon King with a savage growl.
For a brief second, I sense my body shift, but not into my wolf’s form despite her growls filling my mouth. Black claws—notmy wolf’s claws—extend from my fingertips and my footsteps become heavier. My point of view rises as if I’m gaining a few inches in height. My clothing stretches against my skin, but at the same time, the air around me feels lighter, as if my muscles have increased in strength, and a violet glow tints the air around my face.
