Red Moon Secrets (Deadly Beauties 3)

"This had better not be a waste of my time," I growl, looking toward the shadows in search of my mother.

"I told you I'd find it," she says, stepping out to be where I can see her.

Any help she offers will come at a price, but I'll gladly pay it if this is what I need to make Alyssa see I'm the one she's meant to be with.

Mother holds up a scroll that looks tattered and beaten, but the glimmer of magic that shimmers over the surface proves it's legitimate and not a forged piece of uselessness. My heartbeat quickens, as do my steps, and I snatch it out of her hand, careful not to let the old scroll tear during the hasty exchange.

My heartbeat pounds in my ears, making me tingle with anticipation. I almost leap in the air when I see each and every bit of promise being delivered, just as I knew it would if I ever found the whole prophecy. Elation fills me. Finally—fucking finally.

I look up, dreading the price, but I ask, "What's this going to cost me? And where did you find it?"

Her lips pucker as though she's offended, but it's more mocking than sincere.

"Can't a mother do something nice for her son without there being a price?"

I scoff, "Only if there's a hidden agenda."

She pouts, but it's exaggerated and still taunting, as opposed to authentic. Crazy bitch. She has an angle, but I don't know what it is.

"No price, Gage. Go get your girl and keep her from destroying the world. This benefits me, seeing as I'll live. It's not as if you or Drackus will let me kill her."

If you know her, then you know that had the underlining promise of a threat in there. My blood almost literally boils from my surging anger.

"You come anywhere close to her, and I'll—"

"Oh, stop with the theatrics," she murmurs dryly in interruption while waving a dismissive hand in the air. "I would have tried by now if I was going to."

I still don't even know how she found out about Alyssa, but I'm sure I don't want to know either. My mother's magic is dark and powerful. There's no telling what force she tapped into in order to break free those secrets.

"You know," she says, sounding bored, "you should have just used the spell I gave you."

I almost roll my eyes. That spell affected me more than it did Alyssa.

"I did. It only ever amplified her feelings of lust, not love."

She sighs out, seeming annoyed. "Because you let her stay around that damn night stalker. Her bond to him was stronger than that spell. Even after you severed the bond, she still remained too close to the first man she loved. He has to be out of the picture. Then the spell will work."

I know what she's implying, but I won't do it. I hate Kane—loathe the fucker. But I won't kill him. I don't kill without having a justifiable reason to do so. Not to mention, it would destroy Alyssa.

"There are some lines I won't cross, Mother. I'm not having this conversation again."

She murmurs something about me being a foolish bastard, and I restrain the power desperate to break free so it can slash into her. I really hate this bitch.

"There are things to come, son. You should do what you have to before she destroys you and everyone else. If you get the chance to tear her away from the night stalker, then use the spell again. He doesn't have to be dead. He just has to be gone."

She starts to walk away, leaving me to glare at her back.

"I've got the proof now. She'll leave him. She'll want to do what's right."

Her movement stops, and from within the shadows, she turns back, letting her eyes flicker with a spark of fire.

"It won't be enough. You've waited too long. You'll have to pry her away from him, because she's too far gone to care as much as she used to."

With that, she vaporizes, leaving nothing but the echo of a breeze swishing in her wake.

Alyssa isn't too far gone. She'll leave him. She'll learn to love me without a spell. We're meant to be together, and now I can prove it. Finally.

When I materialize inside the house, I hear the laughter coming from Kane's room. They'd spend all day in the bedroom if they could. I'm sick of it. Sick of them being together when she belongs to me.