Chapter 69 CHAPTER 69
Liam lay on his back staring at the ceiling, the steady rhythm of the night wind brushing softly against the windows of his quarters. He had removed his boots, loosened the collar of his shirt, and even pulled the blankets halfway up in an attempt to trick his body into rest. It wasn’t working. His mind refused to slow down. It spun in circles, weaving through every memory, every conversation, every clue he had gathered since the moment Lisa stepped foot into Mooncrest.
Sleep would not come.
He rolled onto his side, exhaling heavily as he stared at the wooden wall opposite his bed. The shadows flickered with the movement of torchlight from the hall outside, casting restless shapes that made his thoughts even louder. Everything was piling on top of each other in a way he couldn’t ignore. Every thread he tugged led him back to the same place—Lisa. Every question he asked spiralled into the same centre - Lisa. And every danger they had uncovered since she came home seemed tied in some impossible way… to Lisa.
He pushed himself upright and raked a hand through his hair. Perhaps getting up would quiet his thoughts more than lying here, suffocating under them.
His quarters were dim, lit only by a single bronze lamp near his desk. The glow warmed the room but did nothing to soften the tension wrapped around his shoulders. He crossed the floor barefoot and stopped in front of the large wall he had unofficially claimed for himself. What had begun as a few notes had turned into something far larger—a board covered with names, maps, arrows, and scribbled theories. He stared at it now, feeling the familiar frustration stirring in him.
And there she was, right in the centre.
Lisa Ashvale.
He had placed her name in a circle, outlined twice in red ink. She sat at the crossroads of everything.
From her name, arrows stretched outward in different directions:
SEBASTIAN / KAEL — The Bond
WITCHES — Seraphine / Sara
ISABEL — Human in the supernatural realm
NOLAN — The fae who found her first
SILVERPINE — Abduction, adoption, suffering
THE ATTACK ON HER PARENTS — Witch origin
Every line pointed back to her.
Liam exhaled slowly. “What are you meant to be, Princess?” he whispered under his breath.
He wasn’t a man who jumped to superstition or prophecy lightly. He was a soldier. A strategist. A warrior. He believed in physical evidence and practical threats. But this wasn’t something he could measure with training or solve with a sword. Lisa’s return had triggered something ancient -something too complex to be coincidence.
Was it fate?
Was it a goddess’s design?
Was it simply the universe unknowingly colliding in the wrong place?
Or did the witches know something they didn’t?
He paced before the board, his hand tightening around the marker he still held from earlier. Every event was a knot, and every knot tied back to her. The witches had taken her as a baby. Why? The records said Queen Hellena and King Roderic were attacked because of an old betrayal. But what if Lisa had been a target too? What if they always knew who she was destined to be?
He paused, staring at one arrow in particular:
Sara - Sebastian - Kael - WITCHCRAFT
It tormented him. How could it be possible that the same faction that stole Lisa as a child had later infiltrated Silverpine? That their spy had wormed her way into Sebastian’s life? That the spell cast on Sebastian now threatened Kael -and by extension, Lisa?
The probability felt impossibly small.
Too small to be chance.
Too exact to be random.
He rubbed his temples. “This can’t be coincidence.”
His thoughts shifted to Nolan. The fae had found her first, disguised as a vet. Nolan had always insisted that the goddess wanted Lisa brought home. But why Lisa? Why now? Why after all these years? What was she meant to be in the tapestry of fate?
Could she hold a power none of them knew about yet?
Was she the key to stopping the witches?
Or the reason the witches had re-emerged at all?
He felt the uncomfortable tug of responsibility coiling tighter inside him. For the first time in years, Liam found himself wanting to break a promise. He wanted to go to his mother, to Elder Lora, and demand answers. She was wise. She knew old histories, old prophecies. If anyone would know whether something had been foretold about Lisa long ago, it would be her.
But the secrecy oath hung heavy in his chest. He and Ethan had agreed - nothing about the witches, the spy, or Lisa’s ties to Silverpine could reach the council until they understood the threat fully. Breaking that trust was not an option.
He leaned one hand against the wall, closing his eyes. His thoughts were spiralling, looping back onto themselves until he felt dizzy. Thinking in circles was not helping. He needed a break. A distraction. Anything to stop his mind from tearing itself apart.
Liam dropped the marker onto the desk and crossed to the low table where the TV remote sat. He picked it up, pressed the power button, and let the screen flicker to life.
The room filled with the bright glow of the news. He expected the empty noise to drown out his thoughts. Instead, the anchor’s voice pulled him in.
“…another report tonight of missing young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six. Police say the disappearances have increased sharply over the last six weeks.”
Liam straightened, all fatigue draining from his posture.
The anchor continued, “Authorities have yet to find a connection or motive. However, witnesses say many of the missing were last seen attending invite-only ‘gothic-themed’ parties described as witch or wizard gatherings. Police believe these events may be connected to the disappearances.”
Liam’s blood ran cold.
“Supernatural-themed,” the anchor added with a small laugh, unaware of the irony. “Authorities continue to warn young people to stay home during late hours and avoid underground events.”
Liam muted the TV slowly.
It wasn’t a coincidence.
The witches weren’t attacking only Silverpine. They weren’t working only through Sara. If humans were disappearing from themed witch parties, these weren’t parties at all. They were rituals. Traps. Lures. And the victims were young men - similar ages to the drained warriors in Silverpine.
A pattern.
A disturbing, undeniable pattern.
His jaw tightened as the realization struck him with full force.
If the witches were feeding on humans and wolves, strengthening themselves, building something… then the threat wasn’t local. It wasn’t isolated. It was spreading. Expanding. Growing stronger by the week.
And Isabel - human Isabel - had been brought into the supernatural world by Lisa herself. What if that wasn’t coincidence either? What if the goddess brought Isabel to Mooncrest because she would be needed? Because she was connected? Because something in the human world was worsening, and Lisa unknowingly brought the one human who had to be here?
Liam exhaled shakily. “This is bigger than we thought.”
He stood, walked back to his board, and took another blank tag from the stack. With deliberate strokes, he wrote:
DISAPPEARING HUMANS
He pinned it next to Isabel’s name, then drew a long arrow connecting them. Isabel - human realm. Humans - victims. Witches - active. Lisa - centre of it all.
He stepped back and stared at the board in silence.
“Whatever is coming,” he whispered, “it’s already begun.”
And for the first time since he became head commander, Liam felt a chill settle deep in his bones.
The witches were not just returning.
They were expanding.
They were evolving.
And the world - both human and supernatural - was running out of time.