Juniper Santiago - Book 2 of The Santiago Series

“What do you mean how Max got his witch?” Boris asked.

“Remember how I mentioned that my mother had two siblings? Odezzia and Oden?” Balthazar hinted.

Gail’s eyes widened. “You said she killed Oden. Do you think Oden’s spirit lives through Max?”

“Well not Max, but Millen. I can only pin it down to Max’s wolf’s name being our biggest clue so far,” Balthazar said.

“Except from what Merlin told me, Odessa took Oden’s essence while she fought with Odezzia that day,” Mama Deo pointed out.

“She did, but she released it when she was in the caves out of guilt. It must’ve then found its way to Max,” Merlin replied.

“How though? She was in the caves so many years ago, and Max isn’t even that old,” Balthazar pointed out.

“An essence doesn’t necessarily move at the speed you’d think it does. It could’ve also gone to the spirit realm and stayed there until it found a suitable host,” Merlin explained.

“Can that happen? A spirit coming back that is?” Jacob asked.

Merlin nodded. “When the spirit is a powerful one, it can have multiple lives, choosing multiple hosts over time.”

“So, our biggest theory right now is that Millen is really Oden reborn?” Boris asked.

“It would seem so, except we might need someone more experienced in this to confirm what we’re saying,” Balthazar commented.

“You mean Odezzia?” Gail asked, to which her mate nodded.

“She’s the one person who will most likely know if we’re onto something or not, and she may even be able to connect with Oden,” he elaborated.

“Do you know where she is?” Mama Deo asked Merlin.

Merlin shook his head. “She went into hiding a long time ago, and for all we know, Dessa found her and killed her too.”

“Something tells me that that isn’t the case. We just really need to work at tracking her down,” Auriela said.

“How though? This sounds to me like something we would need both Millen and Marissa for, except with the current situation we’re in, that may never happen,” Anastasia pointed out.

“And it doesn’t help our situation much that The Vaulsino hasn’t settled yet either,” Gail added.

“Wow, it sounds like you guys are going through a lot,” Zak commented.

Orion scoffed. “You don’t even know the half of it.”

“I don’t understand something though. Where did my mate go?” Aerie asked.

“He’s probably gone back to the Underworld,” Boris answered.

“The Underworld?” Aerie, Auriela, Zak and Avan asked.

Boris nodded. “There’s a bit of a situation with June right now. She was mated and married to Mateo Santiago, who I’m sure the four of you know about. Except, due to some unforeseen circumstances, she got hit on the head with a rock, woke up, and identified someone else as her mate – the King of the Underworld.”

“Roman De La Tore?” Auriela asked.

Boris nodded once again. “June is now suffering from amnesia and the only people she remembers are Max, Roman, her daughter Rose, and the Prince of Atlantis, Draxlon. Mateo’s mate mark disappeared on June, well Marissa since that’s the form she’s apparently chosen to stay in, and earlier today, Roman and Marissa mated. Max is the only link to both worlds right now since he was there when June was hit with the rock. He’s been in the Underworld trying to figure things out. He’d only been back here briefly before the four of you arrived.”

“Hold on, so what you’re saying is that Mateo Santiago is the mate to Juniper and her wolf Starlet, and Roman De La Tore is the mate to her witch Marissa?” Avan questioned.

“Correct,” Mark confirmed.

Aerie frowned. “Does that mean that I’m the mate to only Millen, or Oden and Max?”

Confusion settled on everyone when they took in her words, with Boris seemingly the most confused. “This gets more twisted by the second.”

“I’ve waited for so long to meet my mate, and this is what I get?” Aerie said lowly, but she was heard clearly by the supernatural creatures in the room.

Auriela reached out to hold her hand. “Hey, we’re going to figure this out, just like how we’re going to figure out why he left after seeing you.”

“Has anyone tried to link him?” Avan asked.

“I tried but because he’s in the Underworld, he’s shut off to us again. He, Roman and Marissa have placed a spell on the Underworld that makes it inaccessible to all supernatural creatures that aren’t demons,” Balthazar informed.

“Then send us,” Zak said.

Auriela’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Zak’s onto something. The two of us are human, so I highly doubt they’d be expecting it anyway,” Avan agreed.

“That’s insane! You’ll die!” Auriela disagreed.

Boris was thinking about it. “They wouldn’t necessarily die, but getting them there would require a favour. It wouldn’t be the first time that humans go to the Underworld without dying first.”

“He won’t agree to it,” Balthazar said, catching onto his apprentice’s thoughts.

“He’s our only hope,” Boris argued.

“And he won’t agree to it simply because you’re involved. You still haven’t apologized to him,” Balthazar countered.

“Every time I try to, he wants to kill me,” Boris reminded.

Balthazar scoffed. “You’ve never tried to apologize Boris, and you know it. The day you stop being a smartass and actually apologize, he might actually believe you.”

“What are the two of you going on about?” Gail asked them.

Boris sighed. “Many years before I met Auriela, I unknowingly had an affair with Cynthia De La Tore.”

“Roman’s mother and the former Queen of the Underworld?” Zak asked in shock.

Boris glared at him. “The very one. I didn’t know who she really was at the time, and the day I found out was the day I almost died from being scorched by the Demon King himself. Balthazar saved my life.”

“How long was this affair?” Auriela asked uncomfortably.

“Two years,” Boris admitted.

“It sounds to me like it wasn’t your fault though. You didn’t know she was married, something I assume she hid from you?” Faith questioned.

“Thank you! That’s what I’ve been saying all these years. It’s her fault. Why should I keep apologizing a million times?” Boris asked.

“Because Boris, if we hope to get anywhere, you’re going to need to, and genuinely mean it this time,” Balthazar warned.

Boris was annoyed. “Fine! I’ll apologize for something I wasn’t at fault for.”

“Babe, that’s not convincing,” Auriela told him.

“I just, I need air,” Boris murmured before walking out of the room. Auriela followed after him.

Avan looked around the room before deciding to pierce the awkwardness. “So, when is this happening?”

“The two of you seem very eager to die,” Mark joked.

“When you work for Lady Odessa, you face all kinds of different things, and you also learn a couple of things that help you deal with all things supernatural. Actually, I’m pretty sure we’re in the middle of being human and supernatural,” Zak explained.

“That actually makes sense in its own twisted way,” Faith laughed.

“My question is what are we supposed to do once we get to the Underworld?” Avan questioned.

“Ideally, you’ll look for Max and ask him to return so that we can plan the way forward,” Gail told them.

“And if he refuses?” Zak asked.

“I’m hoping we can actually rope Damien and Cynthia in to help. Maybe they can get through to their son,” Balthazar said.

Merlin raised an eyebrow. “You know that’s going to be impossible now. You remember how possessive Damien was of Cynthia once they’d sorted out their issues and mated. There’s no way Roman is going to willingly help us take his mate away from him.”

“We’re not trying to take her away from him though. What if we just roped him in to help us also? Max mentioned that the two of them aren’t getting anywhere, right? Surely, he’ll be reasonable about this,” Gail argued.

“There’s really only one way to find out how all of this will play out,” Balthazar said before teleporting himself to where he knew he’d find Damien and Cynthia.

Boris was pacing in the room while his mate stood and watched him from the door. She couldn’t believe that she was back with him. She stood for a while just watching him deep in thought.

She’d forgotten how handsome he really was.

He’d clearly been under a lot of stress because he had a beard, which she knew was rare for him. He hated it, so for him to have it was her biggest indicator that whatever was bothering him had to be great.

“Hey you,” she said softly.

He turned to face her and for a while, he didn’t say anything. Just like she had, he took a moment to take her in. She was still as beautiful as he could remember, and he found himself thanking whoever was looking out for them, that Odessa hadn’t marred her beauty in any way.

But then again, she was fine physically, so there might be more to it.

“You’re really here,” he said lowly.

Tears rushed to her eyes as she smiled, walking into the room. “I’m really here, and so are you. We’re finally together again.”

He put his arms around her, and she breathed him in. “I never stopped believing that you’d make it back to me.”

“I gave up babe. She told me she killed you,” she confessed.

“You didn’t know any better, and I don’t care. All that matters is that we’re together again. I’m never going to let you out of my sights again,” he said sternly.

“You kind of have to let me go to the bathroom by myself you know,” she joked.

He laughed. “You know what I mean.”

“I know. I might never leave your side. The life I’ve lived, I never want to be imprisoned like that again,” she whispered.

“And you’ll never be. When this whole fiasco with June is over, you and I are going to get married and tour the world for a year,” he told her.

“You really care about Juniper,” she noted.

“She’s my little sister. You know how my bond with Balthazar is. This whole thing has really taken a toll on him, especially because he’d just been reunited with her and Gail. Now he just has Gail left, and the whole thing is a mess actually,” he replied.

“Will you tell me the full story?” she asked.

He nodded. “I promise to tell you the second we have a free moment.”

She leaned on her toes and kissed him softly. “Good. I’ve missed you.”

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” he responded.

“What I didn’t miss is this stubbornness of yours,” she commented.

He sighed, already well aware of what she was referring to. “I don’t get it Ela. I did nothing wrong in this situation except have a relationship with a woman who at the time, I had no idea was married. She lied to me and her husband. What am I apologizing for?”

“We all know that you’re not wrong, but if apologizing to him helps the cause, then please just do it,” she pleaded.

“That’s just the problem here. He wants a genuine apology. I cannot give him a genuine apology for something I genuinely didn’t do. Even if I could muster up the necessary emotion, anyone would see straight through it,” he argued.

“Please just promise me that you’ll at least try,” she said.

He shrugged. “I promise.”

Damien and Cynthia jumped at the intrusion of their unexpected guest. They were having breakfast out on the porch of their hired bungalow. The last thing they expected was to be interrupted, much less found.

“Balthazar?” Damien said, confused.

“Greetings to you both. I know that you’re on your world tour and what not, but I need your help with something that is of extreme importance,” Balthazar told them.

“What is it?” Cynthia asked, instantly concerned.

“Are the two of you aware that your son has found his mate?” Balthazar asked them.

Their eyes widened. “What? When?”

“I thought so. You must’ve both disconnected from the supernatural world, your realm especially,” Balthazar commented.

“Why would he not link or call us?” Cynthia asked.

“It’s an incredibly long story, but I guess you need to know before I continue with why I’m here,” Balthazar said before letting them in on everything.

The former Demon King and Queen were astonished to say the least. Damien was especially taken back by what he was hearing. As King, he’d heard and dealt with some strange things before, but what his old friend was telling him was definitely a story for the books.

“So, what you’re telling us is that your daughter and our son are mates, except she’s also mated to someone else? The most powerful werewolf Alpha?” Cynthia questioned.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, except his mate mark on her disappeared, hence how she and Roman were able to mate,” Balthazar replied.

Damien leaned forward. “I hear all that you’ve told us, but I fail to see how we can be of assistance in the matter.”

“It would seem that from her memory loss, Marissa has become extremely protective of your realm, and together with your son and Millen, the three of them have managed to keep all supernatural creatures, save for demons, out of the Underworld,” Balthazar informed.

“That’s an abuse of power and sounds nothing like what Roman would do,” Cynthia argued.

Damien sighed knowingly. “To protect his mate, he would.”

“You expect me to believe that our son is honestly abusing his power like this, in the name of a mate he’s only known for weeks?” Cynthia asked unconvincingly.

“When I first met you, I would’ve moved the earth if you asked me to. Besides, I did the exact same thing when we finally mated,” Damien confessed.

“What?” she whispered.

“It’s true. I was so afraid that now that the supernatural world knew of our mating, you’d be in danger and someone would come and take you away from me. This, what Roman is doing, is simply his demon being protective of his mate,” Damien replied.

Despite her shocked state, Cynthia knew that they had to address why Balthazar had truly come to them. “So, what happens now?”

“As you can imagine, it’s going to be hard to reach your son, but we have a plan that doesn’t entirely involve him, though I would love your help where he’s concerned too,” Balthazar stated.

“What is it that you need from us old friend?” Damien asked him.

“I need you to grant passage to two humans into the Underworld. As you both know, only the two of you can surpass the spell placed on your realm, and at this very point in time, only the two of you can make it possible for the humans to survive the journey there,” Balthazar explained.

“And what about where our son is concerned? What would you have us do in that regard?” Cynthia questioned.

“We aren’t trying to take Marissa away from him, which is what it will seem like if we approach him. All that we’re simply trying to do is understand how my daughter has two mates, and how we can ensure that each of her mates get who they are mated to. I don’t know if I’m making any sense,” Balthazar sighed.

“You’re making enough sense old friend. You’re asking us to make him see that only as a united unit will we be able to figure out what is happening,” Damien elaborated, to which Balthazar nodded.

“There’s only one problem in what you’re requesting of us, and I’m confident that it’s a problem you’ve already identified,” Cynthia pointed out.

Balthazar nodded. “My daughter’s unwillingness to cooperate.”

“It sounds to me like she’s adopted her Demon Queen side, and with the memory loss in play, I don’t see how you’re going to manage to get her on board with anything,” she added.

Damien stood up. “Which is why we need to make sure that we do a good enough job with convincing our son to do what is right. With him on our side, then he will work at convincing his mate of everything else that we need him to.”

Balthazar stood up and Cynthia followed too. “Thank you both for agreeing to do this.”

“Of course. We’d do anything for an old friend who has helped us so much in the past,” Cynthia said happily.

“There might just be one obstacle to this,” Balthazar warned.

He didn’t give them a chance to ask questions as he grabbed their hands and teleported them back to Rome. They arrived just as Boris and Auriela were walking back into the lounge, and immediately Damien released a low growl. Everyone else had already cleared the lounge, save for Gail, Aerie, Zak and Avan, so it was just the nine of them.

“No,” he growled.

Cynthia gasped. “Boris.”

She hadn’t seen him since that fateful day all those years ago.

“Hello Cynthia, Damien,” Boris said nonchalantly.

“I refuse to help you if he’s involved in this,” Damien growled.

“This doesn’t even have anything to do with me,” Boris said irritatingly.

Auriela squeezed his hand. “Calm down babe.”

“I see you’ve found your mate. Does she know of your treacherous past?” Damien spat.

Boris snapped. “I’ve apologized to you a million times over Damien, to the point where I wonder if you and your darling wife over there actually truly discussed the fact that she lied to the both of us, and yet I’m the one you still want to kill.”

Damien froze, while Cynthia stood there, panicking. While she wasn’t aware that Boris had tried to apologize for what she knew was her fault, it terrified her to think of taking her husband back to that dark time in their relationship.

Boris was right – they’d never addressed it.

It was a case of them knowing that it had happened, and they were well aware of the consequences of it, but they never went into it in-depth other than her telling him that the only reason why she did it was to forget him.

“How many times have you apologized?” Cynthia asked Boris. Damien’s demon growled in annoyance at her for even speaking to him.

“I’ve even lost count and I’ve also grown tired of almost dying every time I come into contact with him,” Boris responded.

Cynthia sighed and touched her husband’s shoulder. “Damien, I know that this is the one thing in our relationship that would very easily trigger your demon into losing control, but I’m begging you to not let that happen at what I’m about to say.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Damien mumbled.

“But you have to. He was never at fault love, and deep down, you know it. I know that it took us a long time for us to get here, and for you to truly forgive me, but this just made me realize that perhaps you haven’t fully forgiven me if after all these years, you still blame him for the affair,” she said calmly.

Damien turned slowly to face his wife. “He doesn’t get to ruin my marriage again. We are in a good place Cynthia. Don’t make him tarnish my view of you.”

She smiled sadly, reaching out to cup his cheek. “You know very well that I tarnished my own view of me in your eyes. He didn’t know that I was married, and you cannot hold this against him forever.”

“And what? I’m supposed to hold it against you?” he asked lowly.

Auriela nervously stepped forward. “If I may, I don’t think you should hold it against anyone.”

“And you speak on behalf of your mate?” Damien asked irritatingly.

“No actually, I speak on behalf of myself. It took a long time for Boris and I to find each other, and while I only found out about this affair just minutes ago, I already knew that before he met me, Boris was a completely different man. Now, I’m not saying he wouldn’t have had the affair with Cynthia if he’d known she were married, but that’s only because that’s a man I didn’t know. The man I know now wouldn’t even blink in her direction. Now, where Cynthia is involved, I’d like to think that only the two of you know your history well enough. If you can look her in the eyes right now and see the same woman who would cheat on you, then you have not forgiven her, but if you see the woman you remarried and mated, who clearly loves you wholeheartedly, then you have to let it all go,” Auriela advised.

Damien looked at the young oracle before him, before his eyes shifted to her mate, and finally landed on his own mate. She was never good at hiding her emotions from him, and that moment was no different.

He could see everything she was feeling in them – the turmoil, the panic, the pain, the hurt, the regret and most of all, the love. He kept Auriela’s words in mind as he continued to stare at his wife, until he realized that she was right.

The woman standing before him was not the same woman who cheated on him.

On that night in the tower, while they hadn’t discussed the affair in detail, they did talk about what led to the crumbling of their relationship, and he could distinctly remember how he had a huge role to play in how she ended up making the decisions that she had.

He had hurt her, and so she’d hurt him back.

He knew deep inside that it was a cycle that didn’t need to be repeated. They were happy now, with a son they were both proud of, and he needed them now more than ever. In order for anyone to succeed, he knew he’d have to accept responsibility for his role in the whole situation.

“I forgive you, the both of you,” he said after a while.

“And what about yourself? Do you forgive yourself?” Auriela asked him.

From the look in her eyes, he knew she’d seen something about his past life. “I do.”

Cynthia knew what she had to do as she turned to face her former lover. “I’m sorry for everything I put you through Boris. It was selfish of me to bring you into this, and now that I’ve learnt about all you went through to get my husband to forgive you for something that wasn’t your fault, I’m sorry about that too. I know your mate just said she doesn’t know the type of man you were then, but I do. I know that you wouldn’t have dared to look my way if you knew I was married. You’re an honourable man, and I’m truly sorry.”

“I forgave you a long time ago Cynthia. I needed to for my own peace. Besides, I figured with a mate like Damien, he’d probably punish you long enough,” Boris replied.

He didn’t know the truth behind his words since the true story of Damien and Cynthia’s relationship is known to few.

“It seems to me like all is well now,” Gail commented.

Zak let out a low whistle. “That was intense.”

“Behave,” Auriela scolded him.

“Are these the humans?” Damien asked Balthazar.

“Yes, they are. They are dear friends of Auriela’s, Boris’ mate,” Balthazar responded.

“Are the two of you ready? Do you know what you need to do?” Cynthia asked them.

They nodded. “We’re aware of our mission.”

“Well then, let’s get you to the Underworld.”