Juniper Santiago - Book 2 of The Santiago Series

Zak and Avan were enjoying their time in the Underworld. It’s not every day where humans get to explore the Underworld, much less with the permission of the King himself. Roman had told them that they could check things out, and that should anyone question their presence, they could refer them to him.

They were keen to talk to Max though. They could only imagine that Aerie was anxious to meet her mate, and their sole mission was to get that to happen as quickly as possible. They just hadn’t seen the witch, which was beginning to frustrate them a little.

Max was with the twins and Roman, trying to figure out why the twins wouldn’t stop crying. They’d randomly started crying, and everyone had tried to get them to stop, but nothing was working, magic included. Marissa had still not woken up, and Max was tempted to take the twins to their father in hopes of a solution.

He just knew that it wasn’t an option, or at least not yet.

It would be the absolute last resort.

“Can’t we just wake her up?” Roman groaned, rubbing his temples. The twins’ cries were even worse because of everyone’s enhanced hearing.

“No, we can’t. We don’t know what the situation is with Star, and therefore we don’t know why they’re taking so long to get up. If we wake them up, we may be disrupting something and it could have dire consequences. We need to figure this out on our own,” Max replied.

Roman shot him a look. “We both know that we’re not going to figure anything out. These kids have a frequency of their own and none of us are tuned to it.”

“What’s with all the crying?” Avan asked as he and Zak walked into the room.

“The twins,” Roman replied, pointing to the babies.

Zak and Avan walked towards them, and when the twins laid eyes on them, they stopped crying. Max and Roman couldn’t believe it as the human men each grabbed a twin. They smiled at them and the twins simultaneously giggled.

“You have got to be kidding me! The humans were the answer this whole time?” Roman questioned.

“What did you people do to these poor kids?” Zak asked.

“What did we do to them?” Max asked in disbelief.

The men recognized him and beamed once they did. “Max! We found you!”

“Uh, yes?” Max said unsurely.

“You need to come back with us. Your mate is waiting for you and it was very rude of you to leave in the way that you did,” Zak scolded.

Max laughed a little. “Are you really reprimanding me right now?”

“Who else will? By the looks of things, people let you get away with doing whatever you want, but we won’t have that; not where Aerie is concerned. She saved us and she deserves better,” Avan said confidently.

Roman was amused as he watched Max scowl in confusion. “Do you have any idea just who you’re talking to?”

“Maximillan, otherwise known as Max or Millen. Your wolf’s name is Oden. You’re Juniper’s best friend and Aerie’s mate,” Zak sassed.

“Funny,” Max said, deadpan.

“I thought so too. Look, we were brought here to get you back there. All you need to do is come back with us and all shall be fine,” Zak told him.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of busy with a situation here,” Max replied, indicating to the twins.

Avan frowned. “A situation more important than your mate?”

“These babies are just as important. You witnessed for yourselves the madness we’re dealing with. I’m still trying to understand how the two of you are the two people they respond to,” Max told them.

“Ok and? We’re still not understanding why you’re not going back to your mate,” Zak pointed out.

Roman once again laughed to himself as he could see Max growing increasingly frustrated with the humans. “Would you consider staying here while he goes?”

“You want us to stay?” Avan asked in bewilderment.

“They respond to you for reasons we don’t know, and at this point in time, I’m willing to take peace in whichever form it comes until my mate wakes up,” Roman argued.

“The Queen of the Underworld right?” Zak questioned, to which Roman nodded.

“Why aren’t you taking these babies to Mateo again?” Avan asked.

Max raised an eyebrow. “How do you know about that?”

“Oh, we were fully briefed before coming here. We know what’s what, just like how we know that you have no clue what you’re doing down here and are instead hiding from Aerie for whatever reason,” Zak told him.

“I am not hiding. I have important things to do!” Max snapped.

“Mhmm, sure. If you say it enough times, I’m sure it will become the truth,” Avan mocked.

Max growled lowly and Roman knew he needed to intervene. “Guys, cool it. We’re handling this situation as best as we can.”

“If this is your best, then I really don’t want to know what your worst is,” Zak jabbed.

Max’s hair immediately caught fire as he once again growled; not that the human men were intimidated as they instead laughed.

“The two of you just really want to die,” Roman sighed.

“We’ll stay here with you and help with the kids if Max promises to go back and be with Aerie,” Avan bargained.

“Why is it so important to you that I do?” Max asked.

“Like we said, she deserves a great mate, and it’s not hard to see that she was really looking forward to meeting you, even if you did disappoint her. We still think you need to go and start afresh with her,” Zak explained.

Max raised an eyebrow. “Huh! And the two of you have nowhere else to be now that you’re willingly staying here and what not?”

Zak shrugged. “We were looking to run away from Lady Odessa’s place anyway. We didn’t have a plan for what we’d be doing, so really this is a blessing in disguise for us.”

“Speaking of, are we supposed to just trust that the two of you won’t turn on us?” Roman questioned.

“Are you not the same person who told us that you couldn’t detect any malicious intent from us?” Avan asked, confused.

“That doesn’t mean you weren’t trained to deceive,” Roman argued.

Zak chuckled. “Yeah, the training isn’t that great. You’re just going to have to trust us. We’re not loyalists to Lady Odessa’s causes. We needed a place to lay low for a while and that place happened to offer us a lot more than what we were looking for, so we took it. We’re beyond grateful for all that we ended up learning there, but that’s it. We’re not particularly attached to anything on the supernatural front.”

“Except my mate,” Max stated irritably.

“Aren’t you just touchy?” Avan taunted.

Max growled. “Of course, I am! She’s my mate!”

“Then why are you still here?” Zak asked amusedly.

“Fine!” Max snapped before disappearing before their very eyes.

“Took him long enough,” Avan chuckled.

Roman couldn’t help but join in laughing as he shook his head. “The two of you are something else.”

“Thank you,” the men replied.

“I’m going to check on Marissa. Should anything happen to the twins, you’re dealing with Mateo Santiago,” Roman warned them.

“We might happen to fear him a little, so you can be sure that they’re in good hands,” Avan admitted.

Roman made a face. “Mateo is the person you happen to fear above all of us?”

“Have you seen his beast? I feel like your question suggests that you haven’t,” Avan commented.

“And that’s just the beast alone without it doing anything,” Zak emphasized.

While the two men were only saying what they felt was true, they unknowingly bothered the Demon King with their words. He couldn’t understand how they feared Mateo but not him, and for the first time since he’d met his mate, he found himself comparing himself to the Alpha wolf.

He was a King, so surely, he had to be more powerful than the wolf – right?

He thought back to the words he’d said to his father, and he realized that he really didn’t know if Mateo could possibly be more powerful than him. With Max having mentioned that the man had power he wasn’t even aware of, Roman couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same situation as what his parents had revealed to him.

Did Mateo just need a nudge in the right direction to realize his true power?

He wasn’t sure how he felt about Mateo having power, and not because he was jealous. He was more concerned about the temperamental wolf starting a war to get his mate back. He could only imagine that the war hadn’t been started simply because Mateo probably believed he didn’t have enough power to take on the Demon King.

The truth being revealed to him would only prove to be more dangerous than anything.

By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, Zak and Avan were no longer paying attention to him and were instead entertaining the twins. With the distraction in play, he slipped out of the room and headed towards his chambers to check on his mate.

***

“Star.”

Nothing.

“Star.”

Nothing.

“Starlet!”

“I’m here woman. You can stop nagging me.”

“I thought you were dead.”

“It’s going to take a lot to kill us June. This magic is hell, but for as long as we have our link to our mates, we’re still in this,” Star replied.

“We’re still linked to them? I thought their mark disappeared from our body,” June questioned.

“It did, but a physical mark isn’t all that binds us. Our souls are one, therefore we are still linked despite the lack of a physical mark,” Star explained.

“In that case, why can’t we reach them? Can they at least feel us?” June asked.

“We can’t reach them because of this magic, but my bond with Zeus is still there. He can feel me, but his connection to Mateo isn’t that strong because of Mateo’s emotions. Your link to him is the same for the same reasons,” Star elaborated.

“So, what you’re saying is that we can’t reach them because Mateo isn’t thinking straight?” June asked.

“Yes and no. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s also the gist of it. With the babies born, we can only hope that that gives him some kind of motivation. I can only imagine that the news will reach him somehow. We just need to wait things out,” Star responded.

June sighed. “This is so weird, being imprisoned in my own body like this. Is there no way we can reach Marissa?”

“She sees us as a threat right now. There’s some other dark magic at play here obviously, but it’s also her insecurities that are making that magic stronger,” Star pointed out.

“Dark magic? Where is it coming from?” June questioned.

“I have no idea, but it’s ancient. It’s playing on Marissa’s fears and insecurities, which makes me curious about something,” Star commented.

“Well, don’t keep me on tenterhooks here,” June said impatiently.

“It’s not like you’re going anywhere, so calm down. Anyway, while it’s obvious that there’s something major going on here, I have a feeling that it’s not something new. Marissa’s fears and insecurities stem from the past, except what I’m not connecting is the possibility since she’s only known Roman for a few weeks,” Star shared.

“Hold on! Are you saying that this could have something to do with like a past life?” June asked.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It wouldn’t be all too surprising if it turned out to be true anyway. There’s a lot we don’t know about ourselves, but given the power associated with us, I wouldn’t be too shocked to find out that whatever is going on goes way back. Unfortunately, for as long as we’re trapped, there’s no real way of knowing the truth since I doubt Marissa would tell us if any of what I’m guessing is true,” Star sighed.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t,” Marissa joined them.

They were both shocked since it was the first time she was addressing them since Scandinavia. “You’re talking to us now?”

“You need to forget about the wolf and making it out of here. This is my body and my life now. You’re never leaving,” Marissa declared.

“So, what? You’re going to deal with us annoying you forever?” June asked.

“I will find a way to shut you up forever,” Marissa corrected.

June scoffed. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“There’s something you’re not telling us. You can’t just go from being one of us, to wanting nothing to do with us,” Star argued.

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” Marissa lied.

“And you can’t lie to us, but it’s ok. Sooner or later you’ll realize that you need us,” June told her.

Out of annoyance, she shut them out before she opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around the room and found that she was in hers and Roman’s chambers and she was dressed differently. She tried to remember how she could’ve arrived there, until it finally hit her.

The twins.

A wave of revulsion passed through her as she thought about them. They were pure in all their glory, that much was clear, but it’s their connection to Juniper and Starlet that threw her off.

Aside from the fact that their magic tampered with the magic at play.

She was well aware of the presence of a darker magic around them, something she wasn’t sure if Max picked up on or not. She was sure that Roman hadn’t sensed it yet without a doubt.

She herself wasn’t sure how to handle it. The magic is one that she feared because she knew where it came from. Star wasn’t far off in saying that her fears and insecurities came from the past, because they did.

They came from a past that she remembered, but that her mate didn’t seem to have any clue on.

She remembered her life as Marionessa, the first Demon Queen, and she remembered all that came with it. She also remembered what kind of person her mate was, and how he was so different now to what he was then.

She remembered that day like it was yesterday.

Keeping Star and June imprisoned wasn’t something she was doing for fun or to save herself only, but she was doing it to save them all. She knew that Star didn’t remember the past, and for as long as she didn’t, she would work to keep her from remembering.

She didn’t want her sister to experience the grief she’d suffered from losing her children.

It was the only thing that made her fight to make sure that the twins lived, despite whatever feelings she has towards them. Her sister’s heart had been broken all those years ago when she lost her children, and she could remember that her relationship with Zeumatero was never the same again.

Until she understood what was going on, she would willingly come across as the villain for as long as her sister’s emotions were spared.

Roman walked into the room to find her staring off at nothing. He wasn’t sure if to approach her simply because her eyes were glowing red. When the eyes of a demon glow in that manner, they are usually thinking of something that has angered them greatly.

He wasn’t sure whether to interrupt her trail of thought or not.

“Love?” he risked it by calling.

She turned to face him before the glowing went away. “What is it?”

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“I’m fine Roman. Where are those children?” she questioned.

Knowing better, Roman responded. “They’re safe somewhere in the castle.”

“I want them nowhere near me,” she informed.

“You can’t say that. They need their mother for the first few weeks at least,” he argued.

“I am not their mother,” she said darkly, surprising him.

“You’re not, but their mother is within you. They need her,” he said, standing his ground.

She cocked her head to the side. “Are you not hearing me? I’m going nowhere near them.”

“You don’t seem to be hearing me either. The twins need their mother,” he insisted.

“What makes you think you can force me to do this?” she asked.

“No one is forcing you to do anything. I’m simply saying that I know there’s something you’re hiding from me. Get over it and help with the twins. They need their mother,” Roman snapped.

She was left feeling confused when he walked out, shutting down any possible comeback she had. Roman had always been so gentle with her, so she couldn’t understand where the sudden change in behaviour was coming from.

Roman himself left the room feeling odd as he walked away from the room. There was something nagging at him, and it had caused him to snap at the one person he hadn’t intended to snap at. He had merely gone to check on her, and yet he found that her attitude was actually irritating him.

He knew that he needed to figure out what had changed, and fast, before he found himself in trouble with his already temperamental mate.

Somewhere else in the castle, Draxlon clutched his chest and Rose rushed over to him. “Drax! What’s wrong?”

“We need to get out of here,” he panted.

“We can’t leave the twins,” she reminded.

He put his hands on her shoulders, breathless as his purple eyes shimmered. “Rose, we need to leave now. We need to go back to the sea.”

“You know I can’t go there,” she argued.

He took her hand in his. “Trust me on this. We need to leave. The twins will be fine, but this place is no longer safe for you and I.”

She didn’t even know what he meant by that, but the look in his eyes was enough to convince her.

“Ok, I trust you,” she whispered before he teleported them to Atlantis.

***

I walked into the room and my brother was standing at the window, staring outside. We’d been at his place for a couple of hours now, and he’d given me time to gather my thoughts. I still hadn’t done so because there was just too much to think about.

As I watched him staring outside, I was left wondering about where his mate was. He hadn’t once mentioned Saelone, which I found strange. We already knew that by some twist of fate, my mate and Marionessa were one, which left me confused about where Saelone was, and where Marionessa’s body was.

“I don’t know where she is, but wherever she is, she’s been imprisoned by him. I can feel it,” he suddenly commented.

“Imprisoned how?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but I know Dess is behind it. I don’t know what happened for us to disappear, but I know we didn’t disappear with her. Given the situation with Marionessa and Stalaenys, I can only imagine that they disappeared with us too. I don’t know about Draex and Isisily,” he explained.

I raised an eyebrow. “And what about Marionessa’s body?”

“There I’m clueless. I think Romaen might know if he got his memories back, but for now, I can’t even say I know where we would start looking for answers,” he replied.

“We could always go back and ask my family,” I suggested.

They all became my family too when I married my mate.

“Yeah, that’s not happening. At this point in time, you’re the only person I trust. He can influence anyone and you know it. The fact that your mate’s father is Dess’ son is a bit of a tricky situation,” he said.

I scowled. “How so?”

“We know for sure that Dess works for him. We also know that she ended up kidnapping her own son’s mate, as well as his prodigy’s mate. We don’t know about the kind of magic at play in that place,” he responded.

“That makes no sense,” I commented.

“Maybe not, but that isn’t my only concern here. Tero, your mate is a direct descendant of Dess. Has she ever exhibited any signs of darkness?” he questioned.

I shook my head. “She’s saved me from it instead.”

“Do you mean figuratively or literally?” he asked.

“Both. I was poisoned not so long ago, and she saved my life while giving me up. I learnt that my memories of her went away, and she couldn’t tell me who she really was, but she found a way around the whole thing,” I said, smiling to myself.

Thinking about what Juniper had done for me had me falling in love with her all over again. I knew from the moment I met her that she would always have a special place not only in my heart, but in my life as well.

She fought to stay in my life, even when she’d been warned against doing so.

Falling in love with her again only proved to me just how strong our love is. While she looked like Marissa, I know it was her the whole time. Only she could find a loophole around something like that.

Which is also why I hadn’t prematurely gone to war with anyone.

It obviously took me a while to calm down from losing her, but once I did, I realized that I needed to not only fight for her in a sensible way, but to also trust her to fight for herself. She probably thinks it’s impossible right now, but I believe in her.

“Wait, you were poisoned? When was this? Do you know who did it?” my brother questioned.

I sighed. “It was a couple of months back, and I didn’t even know. I died, and June had to give me up to bring me back. It’s a whole story that I was told by the elders since they helped her to save my life, but apparently no one knows who did it. However, granted the information that’s recently come to light, I’m going to go with our common enemy.”

“Fuck! Do you think he’s found a host?” he asked.

“He’s had a lot of time to do so, but also, I don’t know of anyone strong enough to hold him. So, really, I have no idea. We’ll have to wait to face him again so that we can know for sure,” I replied.

“Fair enough! I’ll send out some people to sniff around,” he said.

I nodded. “So, what’s the plan now?”

A slow smirk adorned his face. “Now, we prepare to take back what’s ours so that we can prepare for war.”

Something tells me things are about to get interesting.