Chapter 69. 

  Author’s POV.   Those words echoed in Axel’s mind, resounding in his ears like a relentless drumbeat. He stared at Alex, a look of disbelief clouding his expression.   He could barely process what he had just heard. How could Tracy have that?   The medallion—his mother had given it to him. She had made one for each of them: Alex, his elder brother, and Alexia, his younger sister. But Alexia… she was lost. Swept away by the river, the very river where they had often played.   The memory hit Axel with the force of a thunderclap, dragging up painful recollections he had desperately tried to bury.   He could see it all so clearly—the riverbank, just days after the tragic loss of their parents, when they were forced to burn down their home. Alexia had been playing by the water when disaster struck. In the blink of an eye, she was pulled under.   Before any of them could reach her, she was gone. The last thing Axel had heard was her scream—a cry of terror, one that still haunted his