I gulp down my saliva and, in a few words, tell her about our little quest at the library for answers, how that name came up, and more recently, our new revelation about Mara's affiliation to Nephera.
"...I don't know much about Nephera, but... in my opinion, it feels a bit strange that Judah Black would have been the father of her child."
"Why not? He was enough of an asshole for that," she growls.
"Liam Black and I are... fated mates."
A few seconds of silence follow; Bonnie’s jaw drops though no sound comes out. Kelsi and I exchange a nervous glance, when finally, Lysandra Jones chuckles
"Wait... you're the young Black's fated mate? That stubborn little punk got himself a mate, and a witch, to boot!"
"Yes, I mean we are not technically mates yet, but... You seem to... really know Liam?"
"Know Liam? Girl, I trained with his little ass since he was a kid! He would come every single week to our territory, looking for trouble. He just loved to brawl behind his brothers' backs, he would come and train in that very same arena you saw just now."
Arena, she means that deserted building? Is that really their training ground, then? I wouldn't exactly call that an arena... Lysandra laughs, putting her hands on her hips.
"I don't know how many times he and I almost killed each other, but my father didn't care as long as he didn't go over the line. Liam had so much energy to spare... plus, that's how he met Sylviana."
"You knew Sylviana well too?"
Lysandra nods.
"Of course. My pack is one of the oldest packs in Silver City. We are familiar with witches, we knew they were here long before us. Sylviana knew we were probably one of the only packs with nothing against witches at the time she came to this city, before... Black got rid of his father and Nora Bluemoon became the new Luna. She never asked for anything, but she was useful to our community. We let her settle in that house, protecting her identity from other packs as long as we could."
"Th-then... do you think that before Sylviana was around, Nephera could have... I mean, if your pack is familiar with witches, and she could have been acquainted with your... family..."
As she slowly understands what I'm trying to imply, she opens her eyes wide, staring at me. After a while, she scoffs, but frantically shakes her head.
"I'm going to stop you right there, young lady. My mother died when I was a child, but she was my father's fated mate. Bless their souls, there is no way he would have ever gotten involved with another woman. I have no idea if she had an affair with those three’s piece-of-shit father, but there is no way it ever happened with my dad."
"Then... why would I–I mean, Clarissa pick the name Jones? Was it just a coincidence?"
"I don't know about Nephera, but I have never heard of her being associated with our pack. If she hid from Judah Black long enough to have a kid with someone else, it wasn't with my father."
My hopes crumble with those words. So Mara was really... Judah Black's child? It... still doesn't feel right. I was so sure her father could have been someone different, another man. Everything would have made sense too since the Purple Moon was familiar with witches, but it feels like something went wrong, both with my conclusions and Nephera.
"...I think you're looking for the wrong witch, hun," she sighs.
Just as I was about to ask what she meant, Lysandra suddenly walks to one of the portraits, a black and white picture, a family portrait. She takes it off the wall and brings it to me. I notice a young couple, posing on a bench, both with little girls on their knees. If they are not twins, the two girls ought to be very close in age. The picture looks very old, a few decades old at least. I am confused.
"...Sorry, but who are they?"
"Lucian and Beatrice Jones, my great-great-great-grandparents."
...Beatrice? A vision of that name flashes in my mind. The Witches' Ancestral Tree. I remember clearly, the name Beatrice was there. Her name was among Sylviana and Nephera's ancestors, the witch who had two daughters! I stare again at the picture. Two daughters... two young witches. Sisters who got separated and each formed their own line of descendants, giving birth to new witches.
"That woman you see right there? The little girl on her knees was the last known witch of Silver City before Nephera and Sylviana. And she was also my great-great-grandma. Her name was Sadia Jones."
I hesitate a few seconds, replaying the events in my head, but... something's just not right.
"No, no, it's not possible," I mutter, completely confused.
"Mara?" asks Kelsi, a bit lost.
"Sadia was marked as Nephera's mother, in that tree," I explain. "She was right next to her name. If she was your great-great-grandmother, she can't be Nephera's... mother. It makes no sense, that would skip more than two generations!"
"Could it be another woman with the same name?" suggests Bonnie.
