Chapter 30 The MYSTERIOUS WITCH
Chapter 30:
Dante's POV
The words hit me like a physical blow. "Asher is gone?"
I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't support me. Weeks in a cursed sleep had left my body weak, even if my mind was finally whole.
"When?" Sera's voice was deadly calm, the kind of calm that preceded violence. "When exactly was he taken?"
"Three days ago." Lyssa wouldn't meet her eyes. "You were in the nightmare realm, Dante was unconscious, and we were stretched thin defending against probing attacks on the borders. Someone....something, got past our defenses during a coordinated distraction."
"Show me." Sera stood, swaying slightly. The nightmare realm had taken its toll on her too. "Show me where he was taken from."
"Majesty, you need to rest-"
"Show me NOW!"
The command cracked like thunder. Lyssa flinched and nodded, leading us from the healing ward.
I forced myself to walk, each step an exercise in willpower. My body screamed for rest, but my son was missing. Rest could wait.
We moved through the compound, and I noticed the changes immediately. More guards. Tighter security. And underneath it all, an atmosphere of fear and failure.
"The nursery wing," Lyssa explained as we walked. "We had four guards posted. All experienced warriors. But they don't remember anything between sunset and sunrise. Complete memory blank."
"Magic," Sera said flatly.
"Obviously. But we've had every mage in Aurora examine them. The spell used was ancient, powerful, and left no trace. Whoever did this knew exactly how to bypass our defenses."
We reached Asher's room. It looked untouched. Toys still scattered across the floor, his small bed neatly made. As if he'd simply disappeared mid-play.
Sera stood in the center, eyes closed, reaching out with senses I couldn't match. "There's nothing. No magical residue, no scent trail, no disturbance in the air itself."
"We've had trackers searching for three days," Lyssa continued. "Every territory within a hundred miles. Nothing."
"Because he's not in any territory." Sera opened her eyes, silver bleeding through. "He's been taken somewhere outside normal space. Between dimensions, or hidden behind wards we can't penetrate."
"The witch," I said, pieces clicking together. "The one who cursed me. This is her endgame. She cursed me to break you, and while you were focused on saving me-"
"She took our son." Sera's voice was dead. Empty. "I chose wrong. I should have let you die and protected Asher."
"Sera, no-"
"I should have!" She whirled on me, eyes blazing. "My duty as a mother comes before my duty as a mate! I should have kept him safe!"
"You couldn't have known-"
"I should have KNOWN!" Power exploded from her, cracking the walls. "The witch has been playing us from the beginning! The curse, the attacks, all of it designed to distract me from the real target!"
She was spiraling. The guilt and fear she'd been holding back while focused on saving me was crashing over her all at once.
"Sera." I grabbed her shoulders, ignoring my body's protests. "Listen to me. We will find him. We will get him back. But you can't fight if you destroy yourself first."
"How?" The word came out broken. "How do we find him when there's no trail? When we don't even know who took him or where?"
"The same way we've survived everything else." I pulled her close, feeling her shake with suppressed rage and terror. "Together. We start with what we know and work from there."
She clung to me for a moment, then pulled back, forcing herself to breathe. "What do we know?"
"The witch cursed me with ancient, forbidden magic," I said, thinking through it. "Magic that shouldn't exist anymore. Which means she has access to knowledge that was supposed to be lost."
"Or she's very, very old," Lyssa added. "Old enough to remember when that magic was common."
"A surviving Lunar Lycan?" Sera suggested. "Another one who escaped the purge?"
"Possible." I moved to examine the room more carefully. "But the purge was twenty-five years ago. Even if she survived as a child, she'd need decades to master that level of dark magic."
"Unless she didn't age normally." Sera knelt, running her hands over the floor where Asher would have played. "Some magics can extend life. Or suspend it."
"We're speculating without evidence." I hated saying it, but we needed to be strategic. "What do we actually know for certain?"
"The witch is powerful." Sera counted on her fingers. "She has knowledge of ancient Lunar Lycan magic. She specifically targeted our family. She managed to curse an Alpha and kidnap a royal Lycan heir without leaving traces. And-" She stopped, eyes widening.
"What?"
"She knew exactly when to strike." Sera stood slowly. "She waited until I was in the nightmare realm. Until I was most vulnerable and distracted. Which means-"
"She's been watching us closely." I finished the thought. "Very closely. Close enough to know when you'd entered my subconscious."
"Someone in Aurora is feeding her information." Sera's expression went cold. "We have a spy."
Lyssa's face paled. "Majesty, everyone in Aurora has been vetted-"
"Then they were compromised after vetting." Sera turned to her. "I want everyone questioned. Everyone. I don't care if it takes weeks. Someone here betrayed us, and they're going to tell us everything."
"And if the spy doesn't know where Asher is?" I asked. "If they were just feeding information without knowing the full plan?"
"Then we squeeze them for every detail they do know and work from there." Sera moved toward the door. "Lyssa, gather the council. I want a full report on everything that's happened in the last three days. Every attack, every incident, every anomaly. Look for patterns."
"Yes, Majesty." Lyssa hurried off.
Alone in Asher's room, Sera and I stood in heavy silence.
"I can't feel him," she said quietly. "Through whatever bond exists between mother and child. I can't feel if he's scared, or hurt, or-" Her voice broke.
"Don't." I moved to her side. "Don't think like that. Whoever took him needs him alive for something. Otherwise they would have just-"
I couldn't finish that sentence either.
"We'll find him," Sera said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "We found each other through a nightmare realm. We survived gods and curses and wars. We'll find our son."
"We will." I wanted to believe it as much as she did.
A knock at the door. One of the younger warriors, breathless from running. "Majesty, Alpha....there's someone at the gate. A woman. She says she has information about the young Alpha's location."
Sera and I exchanged glances. Too convenient. Definitely a trap.
"Show her in," Sera said anyway. "Under heavy guard. Search her thoroughly for weapons and magical items. And have mages ready to counter any spells."
"Yes, Majesty."
We followed the warrior to the main hall, where guards were already positioning themselves. Whatever was coming, we'd be ready.