He has me there. The light council isn't what it was designed to be, but that doesn't make me trust a dark user.
"If not you, then who?"
"Who has your mother? I don't know, but I would know if her disappearance was related to my kind. No one wants to pick a fight with you or your father. You're not far from your immortality, and we're not the only ones afraid of what you'll be able to do. Have you ever thought this might not be about your mother at all, but you instead?"
"Me?" I squeak, an overwhelming surge of questions burning through me. "Why would they go after someone as powerful as my mother when I'm still not changed? And how the fuck do you know who my father is?"
"I have my ways of knowing things, though I can't believe he'd give you access to these killing machines destroying my people right now. Whoever this is went after your mother because if they swooped in and took you, your father would surely get involved. Whoever this is could be using her as a means to get to you without alerting your father of their true intentions."
I shake my head as sense comes to me. "No, they want something my mother has. A group of night stalkers attacked me, and one of them wanted to know where it is. I assumed they were working with you."
This time he lets out a mocking laugh.
"Our people don't work with night stalkers, at least not on sanctioned missions. If one of our kind is involved, they're not aligned with the dark council. I can assure you of that. As for the things your mother protects
, there's a long list. She's the strongest of the light, so they've tasked her with a great deal of their possessions. However, you might want to consider the black diamond of Roth."
"The what?"
"It's a powerful gem that can destroy or create. In the hands of the wrong user - light or dark - it could easily suck all the life from the world. The gem was too powerful to be entrusted to anyone else. Even we agreed with that."
His soft blue eyes are almost convincing. His tall, lean body moves closer, and my breath catches in my throat as his true beauty is shown under the full streak of light cast by the moon.
"Your mother is also respected by our people. You should know that we'd never seek to cause her harm when unprovoked."
I force myself to counter, though his beauty still calls for my attention.
"Your people tried to kill me when I was-"
"In our domain, near our root of power?" he interrupts, sounding condescending and bitter. "They were protecting our tree just as you would yours. You even demolished many of our men for doing so."
I take a step back, bringing my wandering eyes back up to meet his.
"That wasn't us. A band of night stalkers and lycans stepped in and saved us."
He tilts his head, and then he glances toward the house I can no longer see.
"They're coming for you. Call off your killers, and I swear you won't have any further problem from my people."
"I don't have killers. The people up there are looking for my mom, not chasing you down."
"Not them," he murmurs. "There's a group of twenty or more night stalkers who've been shredding us apart."
I gasp, suddenly realizing who he's talking about.
"Those are the same ones who attacked me," I almost whisper.
Again his head tilts, and then he kneels in front of me as the ground begins to sweep around us. Suddenly, an image appears, as if he's opened up a mirror to another place, and I gasp in awe as I stare down at the power.
"Is this them?" he asks while moving back.
I kneel and stare at the imagery - the horror show playing. Savage night stalkers rip apart dark users with effortless ease. They're fast enough to keep up with the evaporating warlocks and witches.
"Yes. That one is the one who wanted me to tell him where-"
"Alyssa!" Frankie screams from the distance.
The dark user glances that way, and then he turns back to me.