Undeniable Read Free

consorted with a warm breeze which tossed aside
the leaves and slender branches barring its way as it swept through the
surrounding trees. A multitude of shadows danced across the white clapboard
house and along the balconies wrapping around each floor.
    Like many of the mini-estates nestled on the banks of Lake
George, this one’s borders were lined with towering hemlocks that ensured
privacy. Tilting his head, he mentally scanned the interior of the house. As
far as he could sense, two of the three inhabitants slept while the third, an
adolescent male, masturbated in his bed.
    Not far from the shore, a rusty swing creaked as it swayed
beneath the lowest branch of an old weeping cherry tree. A canopy of tear-drop
leaves rustled from a sudden gust of wind.
    Unbidden, the realization that his stepbrother, Marek, would
have loved this place released the grief he’d fought so hard to control. He
took to the air and hovered for a moment above the yard that now shimmered
beneath a crimson veil from the bloody tears filling his eyes. Soon, Frank
Nostrum would share his pain. Soon, the vampire hunter would lose a piece of his heart.
    Sebastian soared across the yard and over the other hemlock
barrier, then cursed when he found his mother already waiting for him. “Don’t
you have something better to do than follow me around?”
    “You want to know about Diana? There’s no need to waste a
week of perfectly good nights. I know more about her than anyone.”
    His mother’s penchant for torturing him with tidbits of
information irked him as much now as it had when he was a child. Years of
experience, though, had taught him the benefits of hiding his impatience. He
shrugged as if he could care less that once again she had piqued his curiosity.
“I hate to admit it, but you’re right,” he said, absently caressing the tiny
silken ears of the kitten. “Watching Nostrum’s daughter for a week will be
nothing but a waste of time.”
    “Of course I’m right!”
    She spat on the ground, then groaned and slumped back
against the trunk of a pine. A frown marred her flawless brow. She pushed away
from the tree and, gripping his chin in her cold, slender fingers, stared
intently into his eyes. “Listen, Sebastian. Don’t talk to Diana. If you insist
on following her this week, keep your distance. Then give her your blood and
leave. I’d bet my fangs Diana’s the lure.”
    Her eyes shimmered. Don’t touch her, Sebastian. And, no
matter what happens, don’t drink a drop of her blood. It’s cursed. It will
infect your mind. Do you hear me? Do not drink her blood.
    At first, the fear and concern filling his mother’s eyes
revived the child who once foolishly embraced any sign of affection she cast
his way, but then he felt the tingling that signaled her attempt to control his
mind. He yanked his head and heart from her grasp. Baring his fangs, he roared
into her mind with enough force to knock down most vampires. Get the hell
out of my head!
    Olympia barely flinched. “Diana’s a whore, Sebastian. I’ve
watched her spread her legs to get her way since she was a teen. She’ll seduce
you and before you know it, you’ll be facing the dawn in her father’s pen.”
    The distant sound of car doors slamming caught his
attention. Gazing toward the yard they’d just left, he asked, “How will I know
which one is her?”
    “You’ve never seen her?” His mother stumbled back a step as
if he had slapped her. She raked the fingers of one hand through her hair and
shook her head. “But I thought…all these years…you’ve never once felt you should
see what the daughter of Lake George’s vampire hunter looks like? My God,
Sebastian, you’re our Champion. It’s your job to protect us from the likes of
Nostrum and his daughter.”
    “I protect the helpless. You, dear Mother, are far from
helpless.”
    She gaped at him. “You must have bumped into her.”
    “This new generation keeps me busy all night and leaves no
time for