Well... yes. It does. I sympathize with your mother's plight, but you and I are strangers -- if I'm to leverage my abilities and my connections, I need to know what the consequences may be. What's stopping whoever did that to your mother from doing it to one of my Mages in retribution?

[ He shoves his hands in his pockets, smiling ruefully at Kurt. ]

I am not so heartless as to leave your mother to her fate. But nor will I let someone else put their neck on the line for a stranger without knowing what the ramifications of that may be. Do you know why he decided to double-cross her?