~ NYSSA

I risked a glance at Eric out of the corner of my eye before turning back to Allister who had not blinked once.

"You’re joking, right?" I asked but his expression did not waver. "You want me to help you kill your father?"

"It’s the only way either of us is going to get what we want."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I know what I want, but what do you want?"

"To be free from his tyranny... to rule," he shrugged. "You can take your pick. I don’t know which you prefer."

He seemed honest enough, but I wasn’t about to let him in just yet, not when I was home alone and he lied to us about who he was the last time.

"How did you get into the pack undetected?" I asked, eyeing him warily. "The pack is heavily protected."

"it is, yes, but there’s a brief window between when the guards change. It’s just a minute long but I’m fucking fast. I get in and out with ease."

"Did you take note of that?" I asked Eric who hummed.

"I’m relaying to the King as we speak. He’s on his way. He’ll be here in ten minutes tops."

Ten minutes was a long time to delay the vampire at the door so with a sigh, I stepped aside and gestured for him to walk in. His eyes widened in surprise, but he took a step inside, eyes scanning every inch of the house.

"It’s... nicer than I thought it would be."

"What did you think it would have? -Shed fur and dirt?"

The corner of his lips tugged upwards but he never responded. He lowered himself onto the couch, his hands folded neatly in front of him.

"I take it you’ve already called your mate," he drawled and I nodded. "Good, the quicker we talk about what needs to be said, the quicker I can head back."

"Won’t your father notice you’re missing?" Eric asked quietly. "You are his heir after all."

"My father doesn’t care about anyone who isn’t himself. If he doesn’t need me as a trophy by his side, then he doesn’t give a fuck about what I do," he answered with a shrug. "Besides, he’s too busy thinking about how to destroy this pack to notice I’m gone. You must be really important to him."

I frowned at that. "He said it wasn’t about me."

Allister’s head cocked to the side. "When did he say that?"

I hesitated for a moment. "Yesterday... in my dream."

His eyes widened to the point of saucers and he sat up straight, his lips thinning out. "He appeared in your dream?"

I nodded. "In some kind of dark forest with a—"

"Blood red moon," he finished for me. "Yeah I know that fucking forest. It’s his favorite dream plane. I’s fucking terrifying but I guess that’s the point. He did it to me too growing up. You can’t let him keep you there again."

I rolled my eyes. "it’s not like I’m offering myself up on a silver platter for him. I just... appear there."

"It’s your dream as much as it is his. If you don’t want to be there, all you have to do is will yourself out. That is his domain, he can hurt you there... terribly."

Subconsciously, my hand found my throat where the bruise was already mostly healed. If I thought about it long enough, I’d still feel his hand wrapped around me, squeezing tightly.

I opened my mouth to speak but the words never got the chance to leave because the door slammed open so hard that the paintings on the walls shook. I felt Rowan before I even saw him. Tense energy radiated off him, and his hands balled into fists at his sides as he made his way over to us.

His attention was fixed on Allister and there was no warmth in his eyes.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you and send your head back to your father," Rowan growled low.

"For starters, you don’t even know where he stays," Allister answered smoothly. "The whole thing about us staying in the mountains is a myth. Perception is a very powerful tool, and my father is an expert at manipulating it."

Rowan’s expression never faltered. "You still haven’t answered my question."

"How about this?" Allister began, rising to his feet. "I am the only one who can get close enough to him to kill him. I can end this war."

"No one does anything for free, especially not one of you. What do you get out of it?"

"An alliance?"

"I’ve been alive for over a fucking century. You’ve done well enough without an alliance from us, why do you need one now?"

Allister’s jaw clenched. "It’s personal."

Rowan’s answering laugh was cruel. "You better start talking or get the fuck out. We’ll take our chances with your father. At least we know what he wants."

For a long minute, neither of them spoke. They stared each other down, neither one willing to back off their position.

I truly thought that Allister would walk out, but to my surprise, he sighed and lowered himself onto the couch. "There’s a woman."

I raised a brow. "You’re willing to risk this all over a woman? Why do I find that hard to believe."

"She’s not just any woman," he hissed. "We do not have... mates in the sense that you do, but ever so often, there is a bond between two vampires, one that transcends human understanding. I found her... in my father’s cells."

Understanding crashed into me fiercely and I found a knot of unease and pity forming in my heart for the vampire.

"She’s a slave," I deduced and he nodded.

"She hasn’t been... broken in yet, and I would prefer if that never happened. I’ve seen what happens to my father’s slaves and I’ll be damned if I let it happen to her too."

"Why not just kill him yourself? Why ask for our help?" Rowan crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because he is too paranoid for that. I need him distracted..." he trailed off slowly, his eyes flickering over to me, and that was when I finally understood.

"You want us to be bait."