Chapter 76 CHAPTER 76
To anyone passing by Nolan’s townhouse on that quiet city street, nothing about this morning looked unusual. Curtains drawn open, sunlight spilling across well-kept plants on the balcony, the faint hum of a television inside. Just an ordinary home in the middle of a human neighborhood.
Inside, however, five fae elders - ancient in soul but cleverly disguised as ordinary humans - sat scattered across Nolan’s living room furniture, chatting as though they were nothing more than old friends gathered for brunch.
Mason lounged comfortably in an armchair, one leg crossed over the other, still wearing a stylish black shirt embroidered with silver thread - the same one he wore on TV the night before during his magic show. His dark hair was slicked back, his smile bright and annoyingly smug. He was the youngest of the group, and the richest, thanks to the fame he’d gained from performing so-called “impossible tricks” on television. Tricks the world believed to be illusions - never knowing they were seeing carefully disguised magic.
The others loved mocking him for it.
“Look at him, all fancy,” Elder Jora teased from the couch. She was the oldest among them, a silver-haired woman with kind eyes and a permanently amused expression. “If I had known I could become a millionaire by pretending magic was just some illusions, I would’ve done it long before your generation.”
The others nodded in agreement, chuckling.
Mason raised his hands in surrender, laughing. “Hey, it’s not my fault you all refused to embrace the modern world. Besides, it’s not too late. I can bring you in as my assistants.”
Jora snorted. “Have you seen the dresses your assistants wear on stage? I’m old, not blind. My knees would give out!”
Laughter filled the living room, bright and warm. For a moment, they were simply fae disguised as humans, hiding in plain sight among a world that no longer believed in magic.
Footsteps sounded from the hallway.
Nolan emerged from the kitchen balancing a large tray filled with glasses and a jug of fresh juice. His brown hair was tied back loosely, and he wore a simple grey sweater - another carefully chosen disguise to blend with the human world. He set the tray on the coffee table and handed each fae a glass before sinking onto the couch beside Mason.
Looking at them now - laughing, sipping juice, teasing each other - any outsider would have mistaken them for an ordinary group of friends catching up on a Saturday morning.
Unfortunately, this morning was anything but ordinary.
Jora leaned forward, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “So, Nolan,” she said, “tell us why you dragged us from our lives before noon. I’m missing my granddaughter’s soccer practice, you know.”
The others chuckled, but the question hung in the air.
Nolan’s smile faded. His voice softened into something serious. “There have been… incidents,” he began. “Reports of our kind using dark magic. On others.”
The room went still.
Five pairs of eyes widened.
“Dark magic?” Mason asked, sitting upright. “You must be mistaken.”
Jora shook her head firmly. “My clan hasn’t practiced dark magic in centuries. We live peacefully among humans now.”
“Mine too,” Elder Paerin insisted. “We barely use magic at all!”
“And I know that,” Nolan said. “I’m not accusing your clans.”
“Then what are you talking about?” another elder demanded. “You’re not making sense.”
Nolan didn’t argue. Instead, he lifted his hand toward the television.
The screen flickered on by itself.
A news broadcast filled the room - the same one Liam had watched days ago. The anchor’s calm voice contrasted sharply with the panic in his words:
“…another report of a missing young man between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six. Police say the disappearances share similar patterns…”
Photos flashed across the screen. Faces of the young men who had disappeared along with their names and the dates they disappeared.
The fae council members gasped, hands flying to their mouths.
Jora whispered, “Nolan… please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”
“I believe it is,” Nolan said grimly.
Paerin’s voice trembled. “Dark magic hasn’t been seen in the human realm for….”
“Seventeen years,” Nolan finished. “Not since Mooncrest Court was attacked. I thought we had taken care of that problem once and for all but it seems like it has reappeared.”
A heavy silence fell. Everyone remembered the chaos and fatality the attack on mooncrest had left – even Mason who was still a teenager at the time had heard his mother, who was the elder then, speaking somberly about it. But he never quite knew who had caused the chaos.
Everyone had lost someone that time. It was heartbreaking.
Mason gave a half-hearted scoff; he was not ready to admit how serious this was. “This can’t be real. Witches that feed on young boys? That was just a childhood story told to scare us from wandering into the woods.”
Nolan looked him dead in the eye. “They’re real.”
He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Commander Liam traced dark magic in the mountains after they intercepted one of the witches’ spies in Mooncrest. I was there when she committed suicide when we tried questioning her.” There was a long pause, none of the elders said a word.
“Liam followed a trail - faint, but unmistakable - to a village hidden deep inside. A village protected by spells that made it impossible to enter. He described the area around it exactly like the stories we heard as children.”
The elders stared at him, horror dawning.
Mason swallowed hard. “You’re serious.”
“Very.”
Paerin shook her head wildly. “No… no, this is madness… What if the young wolf is making it up to stir something among the fae community?”
“No,” Nolan said. “I trust him, he wouldn’t do such a thing. And like I said earlier, I have witnessed some of these things with my own eyes.”
“If the village is under a spell and is invisible and impenetrable, how then did this…this commander wolf know that he had the right place?” Mason asked with amusement. “I’m compelled to agree with Paerin on this one. We may be on a wild goose chase here.”
Nolan drew in a breath. “One of their young witches left the village while Liam was on watch. He followed her until she crossed into Silverpine territory. His investigations show she has been hiding in Silverpine for years. Reporting back to the witch village from time to time.”
Jora gasped. “Silverpine…?”
“And she’s been draining the wolves,” Nolan continued. “Weakening them. Feeding on their strength.”
The elders erupted into a chorus of disbelief and fear.
“My Goddess…”
“They’re feeding again?”
“How has no one detected this!?”
“My husband doesn’t even know I’m fae!” one elder whispered frantically. “I’ve lived happily like a human all these years - now these witches want to resurrect their nightmare era?”
Nolan raised his voice gently but firmly. “Listen to me. If these witches are feeding - if they’re attacking humans AND wolves - then something is coming. Something big. And not just for Mooncrest. For all kinds.”
Silence fell again, heavier this time.
Mason exhaled. “What do we do?”
Nolan straightened, taking command. “We should act fast to avoid the chaos that happened years back. First - we protect. Each of you still holds their pieces of the guardian crystals passed down by the elders before you. The crystals will repel and weaken the dark magic before we come up with a permanent solution to this problem. We have to work with the Wolf King and the alphas under him on this. We must be united for us to have a chance of fighting these witches.”
They all nodded.
Nolan continued, “You will activate your stones. Place protective spells at key locations. At pack borders. At city limits. Anywhere a living creature might be targeted.”
Jora frowned. “You want us to cast spells across the kingdom? Without being seen?”
“Yes,” Nolan said. “Use invisibility charms. Move quietly. If Sarah or any of her coven senses us, they will disappear - and we lose our only lead.”
The elders exchanged grave looks, then nodded.
Nolan pointed to each one.
“Jora - you will cover Mooncrest.
Paerin - Red Valley.
Tamiel - Silverpine.
Mason - you take the city.”
“And you?” Mason asked.
“I’ll try to communicate with the goddess, I’ll be fasting and waiting for her counsel. We meet here after it is done. May the goddess be with each one of us in this mission.”
The council rose slowly, each one understanding the weight placed on their shoulders.
Nolan watched them with a tight chest. For years, they had lived quietly, comfortably, peacefully among humans. They had blended so well that even their closest friends didn’t know they were fae.
This morning changed everything.
As the elders prepared to leave, Jora touched Nolan’s arm lightly. “Be careful, you carry more weight than the rest of us.”
Nolan smiled faintly. “And so do you.”
One by one, the fae slipped out of Nolan’s home - disappearing behind glamour that turned them invisible as they spread across the city.
When the last of them faded into the morning light, Nolan locked the door, leaned back against it, and exhaled.
A storm was coming. And the first blow had already fallen.