Page 83 of His Blazing Witch
"Yeah, I know. What about it?"
"Nephera was a Water Witch, right? There's no way she was Danica's daughter, according to that sacred cycle thing, her firstborn had to be an Earth Witch! Look, the tree has the exact same pattern all over. Each branch. Fire, earth, water, fire, earth, water, it's all the same. There's no way a Water Witch was a Fire Witch's daughter."
Liam stares at me, dumbfounded. He probably didn't even think of doing the math until now. Looks like his ex wasn't anywhere near done with having secrets.
However, it doesn't explain to us where the hell Nephera the bad witch came from. Why would they claim to be half-sisters? From the same father, then? However, there are no male names here. The witches only kept track of each other's daughters. So much for the patriarchy, I guess.
"Here."
I found her, just a branch higher. Because of the way the tree is composed, her branch happens to end farther away, but Nephera is there, and... she is not alone. I frown. Right after her, there's a burn mark over the name. She had a daughter...?
"Oh... She mentioned a stillborn child," whispers Liam, as I put my finger on the burn mark.
"Really?"
He nods slowly and sits down next to me, looking bitter.
"She... Nephera didn't really have the happiest life. She said it a bit... before the fight, while talking to Sylviana. She was chased out of Silver City by my father, the previous Alpha King, and he basically sent vampires... to attack her. She was pregnant at the time, and the baby... died."
"...Vampires killed her child?"
Liam looks really uneasy, staring at that burnt spot with a sour expression.
"It was my father's fault, mostly. He... didn't want Nephera to have his child."
I'm lost for a second.
"Wait, his child? What the heck? You're telling me that the Water Witch, the one that attacked Silver City, was pregnant with... your father's child, and he had her attacked by vampires?"
"Yeah, my father was that kind of asshole," he growls.
"Fucking messed up seems like an understatement. So that burn mark is basically your... stillborn half-sister?"
He nods.
"And your ex's niece...? Seriously, how fucked up is this, exactly?"
And they are telling me Nephera was the bad witch in the story? After losing her baby to a fucked up ex, who happens to be Liam's dad? I turn to Liam.
"You guys just told me it was two sisters having a spat, you never mentioned that kind of fucked up history."
I don't know why I feel so upset about this? Is it because this is another half-truth the werewolves served me? Or because those women were witches? According to this tree, we are all related, all cousins, all sisters. Mothers and daughters. Why do I feel so upset about Nephera and Sylviana's story? I didn't suspect they were so closely related to the werewolves, especially to the Black family. They made Sylviana sound like a friend and Nephera like an enemy. Why?
"Mara, we barely met Nephera before the war," he says.
"You mean before you killed her? Why? Why do you even call her a bad witch at all? Because she wanted to get to Silver City? She had grounds for her revenge, didn't she?"
Liam rolls his eyes, starting to look angry too.
"You know nothing, Mara. Sylviana was Silver City's witch, and her sister just wanted that spot. She was ready to kill for it, and not just a few people. You know she killed some loved ones we had."
Yeah, that I know. Selena mentioned she lost one of her best friends, Ben and Bonnie's older brother. I saw her husband's missing arm too, and Liam's eye is blind, right in front of me. I sit down next to him.
"I want the full story, Liam Black. Stop giving me pieces here and there. I want Nephera and Sylviana's story, as it was, not just the part that accommodates the werewolves!"
"Fine, fine," he growls.
I see him glance at Sylviana's name on the wall.
