“Because he’s a perfect angel, is he?” Damien clenched his fists.
She met his gaze steadily, her eyebrows narrowing. Instead of replying she turned her head to the side and the outline of another armchair appeared, he briefly wondered how it was she could conjure them up. “Sit down,” she demanded. He didn’t want to, but there was something in her voice—it was that same tone she’d use on her children when they were little, when they were in trouble. “Damien,” she sighed once he situated himself. “I always loved you, I will always love you, and you know that. But what you did when you were alive—”
“It was none of your concern!” he interrupted.
She frowned. “Oh, but I think it was. You were trying to kill your brother. You were hurting innocents; you killed Katheryn Meyers and Ignacio Ortiz.”
“And they’re happy together in the afterlife… who cares?” he spat bitterly. He had seen Katheryn and Ignacio when they were called into his stupid brother’s little dream. Apparently the Fates had made it their duty to help the world through his brother’s dreams. Damien had thought that, being dead, he’d never see his brother again. If he was honest with himself he never really minded. After all, why would he want to see his brother after Antonio had killed him? Before that, though, when he crept into his twin’s dreams, he only wanted to mess with him, to watch him smothered in guilt because it brought Damien pure satisfaction.
“And they’ll never get the chance to see their daughter again, will they?”
“Just like you’ll never get to see your sons again.” Their verbal slings were getting tiresome. He just wanted her to change the subject, talk about something else and move on to sulking in the dreary Otherworld.
“I wasn’t murdered, Damien.” She touched his arm lightly. For a moment he thought her hand would pass through his arm but it remained sturdy and solidly placed on it, sending warm tingles up to his shoulder. “I died in childbirth; it was an accident. Their life was stolen from them—by you.”
Damien said nothing. What could he say? She was right, of course; she was his mother, she always was. But it wasn’t like he had been going around, stealing the life of other people’s parent’s because he didn’t have a mother. He had killed Katheryn and Ignacio because they had interfered with his plan.
“Ah, your plan,” his mother said. Damien stared at her. Had she been reading his mind? “Tell me, how did your plan work out for you?”
He thought for a moment. He had planned to create a blood serum for years, in memory of Esperanza; his Soul Mate. He had wanted to create a serum that would help a sick vampire come in to full terms with their powers. That had been the purpose of the Blood Drug when he first started the project.
Everything had gone wrong.
He hadn’t meant for everything to turn upside down on him. It hadn’t been his intention at all. He had only been thinking of Esperanza.
Esperanza’s death hurt him beyond imagining. She had been the only girl he ever loved. It mattered little to him that she was a sickling. While everyone else looked down on her for the uncontrollable, he cherished her.
It hadn’t been her fault she was sick! Natural Born vampires were supposed to be the stronger race but she had been like a weak human. There had been something wrong with her genetic makeup, scrambling her insides making her suffer all of the time.
When she died of illness it nearly killed him too. But he rose from her ashes with determination. The determination to make sure no one else went through the pain that she did. So he began to work on the serum that would enhance a vampire’s powers.
He hadn’t predicted the way it would spiral out of control. The Blood Drug was supposed to be meant for good. It wasn’t supposed to change vampires into monstrosities. It was supposed to make everything better.
But he guessed that didn’t matter anymore. He was dead and whatever he had started in the land of the living would remain there now.
“My plan had its faults.”
“I’d say that it was more than faulty…”
He waved that off with a flick of his hand and leaned back in the chair but couldn’t find comfort.
“I know you loved her…”
Damien looked at his mother, startled. Was she talking about Esperanza? And how had she known? It’s not like he’d told anyone in his family about her. He hadn’t been embarrassed of her, he just knew that it would cause problems with his father; problems that he had wanted to avoid.
“You were happier, but I saw that you were sad too. It was because she was a sickling, wasn’t she? Once in a while a vampire will be born with a poor immune system and the chances of survival are not very high.”
He nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. He knew the odds, he had studied the numbers. He didn’t need her telling him. “I did love her,” he said simply.
She nodded. “I could tell. Such a pity I never met her. I would have liked to.”
He stared at her. “She would have loved you. I’m sure of it. But I couldn’t introduce you to her. I just couldn’t…”
His mother stared at him for a moment and then turned her attention at the white space ahead of her. Like she was looking beyond what she was seeing. And maybe she was, he couldn’t be sure. “You were worried about your father not accepting your Soul Mate because of who she was. A sickling wasn’t someone your father had planned out for you. But I can tell you this: he only wanted you to be happy.”
He looked at her incredulously. His father wanted him to be happy? He highly doubted that. He shook his head. “My father worried only about his happiness and his reputation.”
His mother looked at him again, this time with tears in her eyes, falling down her cheeks. “That is not true. He wanted your happiness; he just knew not how to express himself. It was why he pushed you so much. He wanted you to be the best you could be.”
Damien scoffed. “He wanted what was best for him and his company. Since Carlos and Antonio refused to have any part in the family business, he chose me. Because I was the perfect lapdog and also a fool for doing his bidding.”
“A fool, indeed, for not doing what made you happy.”
But hadn’t he done what made him happy? He had wanted people to come into terms with their full vampire powers so they wouldn’t die like Esperanza did. Hadn’t he accomplished that? Hadn’t he been happy with the results? Hadn’t he been? It all seemed distant now and it mattered little.
“Though your brothers refused to follow in the path of your father he still loved them, did he not? You just chose to follow in his path and it is what made him push you. Yet he loved you as well. Please don’t doubt that.”
But had his father truly loved him? Damien searched his memories for a sign that this was true. There had been yelling between them, yes, lots of arguments. But had there been love? Or was the purely a business partnership between the two? He could hardly remember.
“He loved you, Damien,” his mother said firmly.
And the statement, coming out of her mouth, made him want to believe that it was true. And then he found it, that memory he was looking for that would prove such a love existed. It hadn’t been in words, no, for his father wasn’t a man to express himself in words, but in action. With simple squeezes of the shoulder, encouraging smiles and lastly, tears.
The scene was playing out before him, like he was at a movie theatre. A screen had materialized in front of them and showed him images. He turned to his mother, slightly startled, only to find that she was gazing intently at it. He focused his attention on the images as well.
His father was weeping.
Damien wanted to gasp. Never before had he seen his father weep. The man had been his hero, practically indestructible, hard. He never imagined that he would break down the way he had on the screen.
Marco Santiago was sitting on a bed, holding a picture of himself and Damien in his hands, tears falling onto their faces, blurring the image. And that little scene was all that Damien needed to believe that what
his mother said was true.
His father had loved him and he had been too blind to see the truth.
The screen faded and Damien put his head in his hands, feeling his heart release. “He loved me,” he whispered. “My father truly did love me.”
His mother’s hand touched his shoulder. “He did love you, more than anything.”
Damien began to cry. “I’ve ruined everything, mamá.” He sobbed. “I’ve done nothing but ruin the lives of others.” All at once the sadness hit him down to his soul. The clarity of his words, the truthfulness behind them was like a blow to his chest, a wound that couldn’t heal.
He had taken the lives of others into his own hands and meddled with it how he saw fit. He had killed mercilessly, lied, and he had ruined. And Damien felt guilty. He never thought he’d feel guilty about the things that he’d done but, seeing his father weep, it brought him crashing down.
She rubbed his back in circular motions.
“I deserve this punishment for all of the wrong I’ve caused.”
“Oh Damien.” His mother sighed. “A wrong can always be made right.”
He took his hands away and looked at her; tears were shining in her eyes as well. “What are you talking about?”
She smiled, though it wasn’t as sad this time. “I mean: amends.”
He raised a brow at her. “Amends?”
She nodded. “I cannot tell you how or what to say, that part you must figure out on your own. But amends will help ease your soul and the soul of others. And…” She leaned closer to him, smiling genuinely. “Between you and me, the Otherworld looks kindly upon those who repent.”
Damien smiled at his mother. She might have been right, he wasn’t sure. And he couldn’t just go around making amends because his punishment would be lightened or whatever. He had some serious making up to do for all of the wrong he had committed. He hadn’t only wronged Esmeralda and Antonio, he had wronged so many people before and while some of them he couldn’t apologize to he would settle for those he could.
As much as he’d like to stay with his mother, he had work to do. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I must go now,” he said softly and then he stood up, staring at the beyond; perhaps, with practice, he could see what his mother was able to see as well. When he turned to ask her if he’d be able to, he realized, with a start, that she was gone.
Damien felt sadness in his chest for a brief moment before turning back. He’d start with apologizing to Katheryn and Ignacio, if he were to ever find them in this Otherworld. He stared blankly ahead of him and then squared his shoulders and began to walk.
He had no idea where he would start, so he walked. There was no path to guide him, no one to point out the signs, so he figured he’d have to do that himself. He went through the Otherworld, feeling, perhaps, better than he had in years. And besides, he thought with a smile on his face, he wasn’t sure where the Otherworld would take him.
He could only hope that his journey would take him far.
To the beyond.
About the Author
Aleera Anaya Ceres is an Irish-Mexican mix who enjoys reading, writing, art, and heavy fangirling. When she’s not dreaming up stories about mermaids, she’s daydreaming about all sorts of fantasy creatures. A proud Slytherin from Kansas, she currently lives in Tlaxcala, Mexico with her husband and son.
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Also by Aleera Anaya Ceres
Reverse Harem Series
Royal Secrets
Secrets Among the Tides
Whispers Beneath the Deep
Caresses Between the Sand
Death Beyond the Waves
The Hybrid Trilogy
Braving the Beasts
Escaping the Beasts
Freeing the Beasts
Royal Lies
Slave to Ice & Shadows
Princess in Frost Castles
Queen of Frozen War
Origins of the Six series
Academy of Six
Control of Five
Destruction of Two
Wrath of One
A Daughter of Triton series
Triton’s Academy
Triton’s Prophecy
Triton’s Legacy
Dr. Hyde’s Prison for the Rare
Escaping Hallow Hill Academy
Surviving Hallow Hill
Paranormal Romance Series
Deep Sea Chronicles
Fall in Deep
Siren Queen
The Blood Novels
Love Bites
Blood Drug
My Master
Last Hope
Young Adult standalone
The Last Mermaid
Young Adult series
The Witch Games Trilogy
The Witch Games
My Master Page 23