Free Undeniable by Doreen Orsini Page B

I’m asking you to trust me. I did dream. While I
did not discover exactly how this will end, I awoke convinced that it must run
its course without any interference.”
    Damien glared into his friend and leader’s eyes. “And what
about Olympia? Hasn’t she already interfered? Coming up with this insane
punishment? I can’t believe you agreed to it.”
    Tobias stared back for a moment, then lowered his gaze to
his hands. “She’s my daughter, Damien. I know I give in too easily to her
demands, but my guilt gets the best of me.”
    He understood his friend’s guilt. Transformed by Dracula
when Olympia was just a child, Tobias had been forced to watch from the shadows
as his daughter grew into a young woman. When Olympia fell ill shortly before
her wedding to a young lord, rather than chance losing her completely, he’d
transformed her against her will. Damien placed a hand on Tobias’ shoulder.
“Must we all pay for your guilt?”
    Tobias shoved his hand away. “I gave you a woman who loved
you, a son who grew to love and admire you.”
    “You forced me to bond with a woman I felt nothing for! And
Sebastian was already an adult. He didn’t need a father.”
    “I knew how you grieved when Angelina chose her son over
you. I feared that if you had nothing to live for, you would go over the edge
and face the dawn.” Tobias let out a weary sigh. “It made sense at the time. I
gave you my most precious possessions. My daughter and grandson.”
    “I already had something to live for, Tobias. I had Marek.”
    “And now you have Sebastian. Trust him to make the right
decision for all of us. Trust me that all this was written in the stars long
before Diana was even born.” Tobias leaned over and lifted the lid of an
antique music box. The tinny chime of a minuet filled the room. After a few
strains, he pressed down on one of the inlaid ivory butterflies. A slender
drawer slid out of the front. Tobias removed a small, yellowed scroll and
handed it to Damien.
    Damien unrolled the scroll and immediately recognized Mina’s
handwriting. “Mina wrote this? But when?”
    Abject grief filled Tobias’ eyes. “Just read it, Damien.”
    Damien sat beside his friend and held the faded poem under
the Tiffany lamp on the end table.
    When stars burst free from sunlight’s glare,
    The moon regains its throne in air
    The creatures of the night then whisper,
    Our future changed when Dracula kissed her
    The beast that once would kill for fun,
    Gave up his life so she could run
     
    God’s Angels touched by love so pure,
    Bestowed a gift of life secured
    And now his children who once were wild,
    In Mina’s Cove live meek and mild
    And blood still holds a strong attraction,
    But only when combined with passion
     
    It is foretold a woman scorned
    Shall risk it with a trusting pawn
    A rose so pure, a rose so white
    Will blind him with its brilliant light
    If two do not unite as one,
    We all will lose what we have won
     
    Damien raised the paper and breathed in Mina’s scent. It
seemed an eternity since she and Dracula set out to find more of their kind. He
wondered if Tobias had known all these years that his daughter was the woman
mentioned in the poem, if he’d given Damien to her in the hope that it would
change fate. Guilt kept his eyes from meeting his friend’s.
    “Forgive me, Tobias. If I’d known—
    “You what, Damien? Would have loved my daughter? No one can
force someone to love.” He gripped Damien’s shoulders. “We can protect
Sebastian, but we must not interfere with his feelings or his decision tonight.
Our future rests in his hands.”
     
    When the sound of Tomas’ feet hitting the ground ensured
that he and Diana were finally alone, Sebastian turned back to gaze upon the
woman he had to destroy, the woman he felt compelled to protect.
    How could he protect her? He had already failed, had allowed
Diego and Tomas to feast their eyes upon her bare breasts.
    He moved to cover her. His hand stilled. The