Mara's POV
Athènia and Tevi had left, leaving us behind.
Mara: Something definitely feels wrong.
I muttered.
Garth: Yeah, I know something's off.
Asher: We should find out who this Im really is, but we don't even know his true identity.
Mara: That man is a complete mystery… as if he never existed in this world.
That Supreme Im was like a ghost, invisible to everyone.
Kevine: Athènia already has her own theories.
Garth: Yeah, but without a proper lead, we can't find anything. We searched for Im under the STORM family… but nothing. Not a single Storm family record.
Uncle Kevine's phone rang, and he glanced at the message.
Kevine: I'm sorry, kids. I need to attend a meeting.
Garth: It's fine, Dad, you can go. We'll continue the research. You've already spent a lot of your time here.
Kevine: Nothing is more important than my family. I'll be back later.
Uncle Kevine left in a hurry. That meeting had to be something big.
Mara: So… where were we?
Garth: The Storm family.
Mara: Lis is convinced that Im is either a Storm or someone connected to them.
Atlas: Or maybe… we should dig into the king's wife, Rayan's wife.
We all looked at Atlas like he had just said something ridiculous.
Atlas: What?!
Asher: What you're saying is insane, impossible.
Garth: For once, you're actually making sense.
I raised an eyebrow at them.
Atlas: And why would it be impossible?
Mara: Andrea has been dead for centuries.
Atlas: And…?
Garth: And we can't exactly search for someone who's been dead for centuries, especially if she wasn't a famous figure.
He smacked his forehead in frustration.
Atlas: Famous or not, the government must have kept records of all its citizens. In some archive, somewhere, Andrea's name would still exist.
In the end, he was right. I sighed.
Mara: But we don't even know where she lived.
Atlas: For that… we're going to need the help of a certain sorcerer.
We all turned toward Garth, who looked shocked.
Garth: Me?! No way.
Asher: Come on, man, you're the only sorcerer here.
Garth: But I don't know if I can handle it. Athènia's way stronger when it comes to traveling into the past.
Atlas: But Athènia isn't here right now.
Mara: Garth, you're just as strong as she is.
Garth: She's a thousand times stronger than me.
Mara: Maybe, but if she can do it, so can you.
Garth: …Fine. I'll try. Where do I start?
Mara: At the place where King Rayan and his son died… and where she disappeared.
Garth: Got it.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It looked like a scene from a movie, where the hero has to do everything to save his heroine. Winds swirled around us as Garth's focus deepened. The more he concentrated, the more his body began to float in the air. If I weren't a supernatural being myself, I would have been shocked.
Asher: What should we do?
Mara: Maybe search online for more about the Storms.
Atlas: I'm useless with technology.
Asher: Then just sit there and watch him.
Asher sat down with his laptop and started typing, while I went to make sandwiches.
{??: I'm bored.}
Let me introduce you to my wolf, Arthmy. And when she's bored… something bad usually happens.
Mara: What's bothering you this time?
{Arthmy: I feel something evil approaching.}
Mara: What do you mean, "evil"?
{Arthmy: I don't know exactly… I can't reach Kora.}
Mara: Try again. It won't hurt.
---
I finished making the sandwiches and placed them on a tray. Back in the living room, I handed one to each of them. An hour later, Garth finally returned from his trip into the past.
Mara: So, did you find anything, time traveler?
I teased him.
Garth: This time traveler found things he never wanted to know.
We laughed at him, and I handed him his sandwich.
Mara: Well, go on then.
Garth: Andrea went to America, under the name Andrea Foster.
Asher: On it.
After a few keystrokes on his computer—
Asher: Got her. Andrea Foster, wife of the late President of Harmony, Rayan. She died at 43. Two sons: Jinking Storm—deceased—and Malluk Foster, who was 15 at the time. Andrea was killed in a supernatural clash between a sorcerer, a werewolf, and a vampire.
Atlas: Wait… Malluk?
Asher: Malluk never married, never had any relationships. He has plenty of reason to hate those three races.
Mara: Which means our enemy might be a man over a thousand years old.
We were all stunned.
{Arthmy: Mara, I reached Kora. The Supreme is in the forest.}
Oh no… Athènia, Tevi…
Mara: We have to go to the forest!
I bolted, and the others scrambled to follow me.
Garth: MJ, slow down!
When we got outside, Uncle Kevine had just parked. I jumped into the car, the others piling in, breathless.
Mara: Uncle, we need to go to the forest!
Kevine: Alright. Roger, to the forest. Full speed.
Roger drove like lightning.
Garth: MJ, what's happening?!
He was still catching his breath.
Mara: Do you remember how Tevi said goodbye to us this morning?
Atlas: Yeah…
Asher: He looked like he was saying goodbye for the last time.
Mara: Because it was. That was the last time we would ever see him alive.
My eyes stung with tears.
Kevine: What do you mean?
Mara: The Supreme Im is in the forest.
They were all shocked. Roger pressed harder on the gas.
Atlas: Tevi…
A tear slid down his cheek.
The car screeched to a halt at the edge of the forest. We rushed out, sprinting toward the lake—only to find a sight that confirmed our worst fears. Lis was kneeling, holding Tevi's lifeless body.
Atlas: Tevi!!
{Arthmy: He's not breathing…}
We staggered closer, stunned, tears already falling for the loss of our friend. Tevi had been a loyal ally, and he had proved it. I managed to ask between sobs:
Mara: Lis… what happened?
Athènia: The end of the alliance.
We froze.
Mara: What do you mean, our alliance?
Athènia: No… the one with the Alpha and the Vampire Lord. They discovered everything and ended it.
Atlas knelt in front of Tevi and Athènia, tears streaming down as he touched Tevi's hand.
Atlas: My friend… I finally met you again, and you didn't even say goodbye properly…
Athènia: I'm sorry. He kept his promise. He protected me, at the cost of his life.
She was crying. We sat down around them.
Asher: It's not your fault, Lis. You knew it was his destiny to die, whether today or tomorrow.
Athènia: But I could have at least helped him have a less painful death.
Kevine: It wasn't your fault, darling.
Garth put a hand on her shoulder.
Garth: We all knew about his destiny… but none of us thought he'd leave without saying goodbye.
Finally, Lis let go of Tevi's body, collapsing into Garth's arms as we all wept. Losing Tevi hurt more than we could have imagined. Even though we knew it was his fate, we couldn't save him—and that was the most painful truth of all.