Chapter 209 CHAPTER 209
The corridors of Mooncrest prison were never truly silent.
Even in the depth of night, when the rest of the kingdom lay wrapped in sleep, there was always something - distant footsteps, the faint clink of metal, the low murmur of guards exchanging quiet words as they moved through their rounds. But tonight, the silence felt heavier, as though it carried something unseen within it.
Liam walked through the dimly lit passage with steady steps, his expression unreadable, though his mind was anything but still. The torches along the stone walls flickered faintly as he passed, casting shifting shadows that seemed to follow him deeper into the prison’s inner wing.
He stopped outside a guarded cell.
Inside, Miss Blackwood sat on the narrow bed, her posture no longer composed, no longer defiant. In the quiet solitude of the cell, stripped of audience and expectation, something about her had changed. The rigid confidence she had worn earlier had softened into something far more fragile.
“Open it,” Liam said quietly.
The guard hesitated for only a second before unlocking the cell door.
“Commander,” he said respectfully.
“I need a moment alone with her.”
The guard glanced briefly toward Miss Blackwood, then back at Liam before nodding.
“Yes, sir.”
The door opened with a low creak.
Liam stepped inside.
“Leave us,” he added.
The guard closed the door behind him, and the sound of the lock settling into place echoed softly through the small space.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Miss Blackwood did not look up immediately.
Her hands were clasped tightly together, her fingers interlocked in a way that spoke more of restraint than calm. When she finally lifted her gaze, there was no defiance left in her eyes—only exhaustion, and something deeper that she had not been able to hide earlier.
Fear.
Liam stepped closer, his gaze steady on her as he spoke again, more quietly this time.
“I know the truth.”
Miss Blackwood’s breath caught, but she didn’t respond. Her fingers tightened against each other, her shoulders stiffening as though she were bracing herself against something she refused to face.
“You don’t have to keep pretending,” Liam continued, his voice calm but firm. “I’ve already figured it out.”
Her eyes flickered, uncertainty breaking through the fragile mask she had been holding onto.
“You’re not the one behind this,” he said. “You were used.”
She shook her head faintly, too quickly.
“I told you already—”
“No,” Liam interrupted, not harshly, but with quiet certainty. “You told me what you wanted me to believe.”
Silence fell between them.
“I know you didn’t do this out of your own will,” he went on. “Something forced you. Something—or someone—gave you no choice.”
Her breathing grew uneven.
“Lisa and Isabel spoke about you,” Liam added, his tone softening slightly. “They said you’re a good teacher. Fair. Strict, yes—but not cruel. Not reckless.”
Her eyes dropped.
“That’s not someone who sets a trap like that,” he finished.
The words lingered.
Then, more gently, he said, “Tell me what happened. Let me help you.”
For a moment, she said nothing.
Her lips parted slightly, as though she might speak—but no words came. The fear in her eyes deepened, warred with something else… something desperate, something tired.
“You can’t help me,” she whispered.
“Try me,” Liam replied.
That was the moment it broke.
Her shoulders trembled, the strength she had been holding onto unraveling all at once.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she said, her voice cracking as the words finally came. “They took them.”
Liam’s expression stilled.
“Who?”
“My family,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes now. “My husband… my daughters…”
Her voice faltered, and she pressed her hands together tightly as if trying to steady herself.
“How old?” Liam asked quietly.
She swallowed hard.
“My eldest is eight,” she said, her voice trembling. “And the little one… she just turned five.”
A tear slipped down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away.
“We were supposed to meet that evening,” she continued, her words coming slowly now, pulled from a place she had tried to bury. “At the park near our home. We do that sometimes… when I finish work early enough. They like feeding the birds.”
Her lips trembled faintly.
“I was late that day,” she added. “Just a little. When I got there… they weren’t there.”
She paused, her breath unsteady.
“At first, I thought they had gotten tired of waiting and gone back home,” she said. “I didn’t think… I didn’t think anything was wrong.”
Her eyes closed briefly.
“But when I got home…” her voice broke, “…they weren’t there either.”
Silence filled the space between them.
“There was a note,” she whispered. “On the table.”
Liam didn’t move.
“It said they had them,” she continued. “It said I was to wait for instructions and keep my mouth shut if I ever wanted to see my family again.”
Her breathing grew heavier now, uneven with the memory.
“That was three days ago,” she said. “Three days of waiting. Three days of not knowing if they were alive or…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
Her hands shook.
“And then this morning,” she said, her voice dropping lower, “I found another note. In my desk. Inside the school.”
Liam’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“It told me exactly what to do,” she said. “The speed test. The phones. Everything. Step by step.”
“And Isabel’s phone?” Liam asked.
Her eyes widened slightly, fear returning in full.
“They knew her lock code,” she said. “They wrote it down for me. Like it was nothing. Like they’ve been watching her… watching all of us.”
The words settled heavily in the room.
“They told me to take it,” she whispered. “To write the message. To make sure Lisa would go to the locker room.”
Her face drained of what little color it had left.
“They said they would send my family,” she whispered. “Piece by piece… until I obeyed.”
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said, her voice breaking again. “I didn’t know who to trust. I still don’t.”
Liam held her gaze for a long moment.
“You didn’t see who took them?” he asked.
She shook her head immediately.
“No. Nothing. No scent, no sign, no trace. It was like they were just… gone.”
Liam exhaled slowly, his thoughts already moving ahead, piecing together what she had revealed.
“They’re watching,” he said quietly.
Miss Blackwood’s eyes filled with fresh fear.
“I know,” she whispered.
Liam straightened slightly.
“I’m going to help you,” he said.
She looked at him then, something fragile and desperate flickering in her gaze.
“Can you?” she asked.
Liam didn’t answer that question directly.
But the look in his eyes was enough to tell her.
He would try.
By the time Liam reached Ethan, the night had deepened.
Ethan stood by the large window in his study, the city stretching out below in quiet darkness, his posture still, his thoughts far from calm. He did not turn immediately when Liam entered, but he spoke as though he had already known he was there.
“Well?”
Liam stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
“She’s not the culprit,” he said.
Ethan turned then.
“We knew as much,” he replied. “What did she say?”
Liam didn’t waste time.
“They took her family,” he said. “Her husband and two daughters. She doesn’t know who did it.”
Ethan’s expression hardened instantly.
“They left her instructions,” Liam continued. “A note in her desk. It told her exactly what to do—how to set up the test, how to take Isabel’s phone, how to write the message.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“They knew the phone’s password,” Liam added.
That made Ethan go still.
“They knew the code?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Silence fell for a moment.
Then Ethan spoke again, quieter this time.
“Then they’re close.”
“Yes,” Liam agreed. “Close enough to observe. Close enough to know routines, habits… personal details.”
Ethan exhaled slowly.
“Someone within the palace,” he said.
“Or someone close to Lisa or Isabel,” Liam added.
The implication hung between them.
Danger was no longer distant.
It was near.
Too near.
“We can’t let it be known that we know,” Liam said after a moment. “If whoever is behind this realizes we’ve figured it out, they’ll disappear. Or worse…”
Ethan’s gaze sharpened.
“They’ll kill the hostages.”
Liam nodded once.
“We need to find her family first,” he said. “Quietly.”
Ethan moved away from the window, his mind already turning through possibilities.
“And the guards?” he asked.
Liam’s expression darkened slightly.
“I don’t trust them,” he said.
Ethan stilled.
“None of them?”
“There are a few I would normally trust,” Liam admitted. “But right now… I’m not certain. Not after what happened with Vaughn. Not after what we’ve already seen.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“You think we’ve been compromised.”
“I think it’s possible,” Liam said. “And if that’s the case, we can’t risk using our usual channels. Not for this.”
Silence settled again.
Then Ethan spoke.
“Then we don’t use them.”
Liam looked at him.
Ethan’s expression shifted slightly, something more decisive settling into place.
“We bring in someone outside the system,” he said.
Liam frowned faintly.
“Who?”
Ethan held his gaze.
“We call Alpha Reed.”
The name settled into the room like a quiet storm.
And with it…
The understanding that whatever they were facing…
Had just become something much bigger.