Bled Dry (Vegas Vampires #3)(7)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Ethan’s face hardened. “My mother was raped when my father and I were away at war. Gwenna is seventeen years younger than me, and when I became a vampire and eventually came home, I realized that her biological father had been a vampire, because I could sense her vampire blood. Unfortunately, by that time my father was dead, as were all my other siblings. It was just Gwenna, who was seventeen, and my mother in our castle. I had some issues to the north I needed to resolve, and against my better judgment I left the two of them there, with several of my vampire friends to watch over them. At that time, these were friends I trusted, who had shown me the way of the vampire, and they were staying with me. They assured me they would oversee my mother and sister’s safety. By the time I returned ten months later, they were gone, one of them having betrayed me by seducing my innocent sister, who had just given birth to his child the day before. She bled to death moments before I arrived, and I found my mother with her body. My mother, who had buried everyone she had ever loved, and who assumed I was dead up north, given certain erroneous reports my betrayer had fed to her.”

Ethan had been a warrior, Brittany knew that. But the way he stood now, fists clenched, jaw tight, she realized it wouldn’t take much to strip away the civilized veneer of the British politician and discover that man inside him, who had fought for the safety of his family with his bare hands. It was a little intimidating at the same time it was comforting. Even if Corbin bolted, Ethan had her back because he considered her his sister now.

“So you turned Gwenna?” she asked carefully, her heart filled with compassion for him.

“Yes. I brought her back, though she was never the same as she’d been before. She was quiet, reserved, frightened. But she loved her daughter, and it was very worth it to me. My niece was born healthy and remained so.”

Brittany sensed there was more to the story, but Ethan wasn’t going to divulge it. It had obviously cost him a lot to talk about his mother and sister, and Brittany felt for him, for his pain, for his very long past and all that heartache. Squeezing his hand, she said, “Thanks for telling me, Ethan. That makes me feel better. Is there anything I should know… was the baby normal? No fangs or anything?”

“No fangs. Completely normal, and she was very strong and athletic. Tough both in body and character. She wound up becoming a warrior.” Ethan smiled and glanced over at Alexis. “A bit like your sister, in fact.”

“So I should plan on being a soccer mom then.” It sounded so much better when she thought in normal, everyday terms. She would have an athletic, aggressive child. She could deal with that. After all, she’d lived with Alex for twenty years. “I really appreciate you telling me this, Ethan.”

“You’re welcome.” He kissed the top of her head in a brotherly fashion that pleased her. “Everything will be fine, Brit.”

“Thanks. Alright, I’m going to head home. Corbin is coming over to discuss ‘ze situation,’” she said in an attempt at his French accent.

She blew them both a kiss. “Love you. Talk to you later.”

Alexis looked at Ethan with a hearty dose of suspicion after her sister had left the apartment. Swinging her legs over the arm of the chair, she narrowed her eyes. “Alright, Carrick, what did you leave out of that story?”

“Some details.” Ethan had his back to her, closing the blinds to the patio door.

“What details?” Alexis didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Tell me the truth or I will seriously kick your ass. Who was the father of Gwenna’s baby?”

Ethan’s fist tightened on the blind cord and his jaw clenched. “Donatelli.”

“What? I thought they got married like three hundred years later.” Alexis was surprised. The way Ethan had made it sound, Gwenna had been seduced and abandoned, not lived happily almost ever after with the guy.

“They did get married in the fifteenth century, four hundred years after their original relationship. Gwenna was reclusive and I shunned Donatelli after his betrayal. He didn’t even know she had been turned, and I admit, when they crossed paths inadvertently on a trip we took to Italy, I was surprised he even remembered her. Most womanizers don’t recall all their conquests, especially not after so many years. But not only did he remember, he claimed that he, too, had been betrayed, that he had been forced to leave her, and that he had returned to search for her the following year, only to hear that she had died. Thank God the villagers had been told she died of a fever, because we didn’t want anyone to know about the baby, at Gwenna’s request. She was ashamed of her actions. But I blamed Donatelli, not her. I still do. He should have known better. And I blame myself for leaving in the first place. But when they met again, Donatelli fed Gwenna lie after lie, and she fell for it, sneaking around with him without my knowledge, and after a few months she up and married the bastard. It took her three hundred years to gather the courage to divorce the sorry sot.”

“Oh, yikes. It’s bad enough we all make mistakes with our first shot at love, but three hundred years?” The very thought of being stuck to her high school boyfriend, Bart Winslow, and his fart jokes, for all eternity made Alexis shudder. “Gwenna must be terrified to date.” And she felt a little guilty for not reaching out to her sister-in-law more. Stuck in that nasty old castle in England, beating herself up for picking a crappy guy—like who hasn’t?—with no one to talk to… Gwenna needed some girlfriends to hang with. Vampire girlfriends like herself and Kelsey. And Cara, if she ever came back from Seamus’s farm in Ireland.

“Maybe you should invite Gwenna to visit us. Or maybe we could go visit her.”

“That’s a thoughtful idea.” Ethan looked surprised.

What? She couldn’t be thoughtful without shocking people? Asshole. “I’m not a total bitch. I would like to get to know your sister better.”

“We can’t go over there until after the election, and I doubt she would visit. Coming here for the wedding was difficult for her.”

“I can’t believe the election got bumped back to February just because Donatelli dropped out. I think they should just give it to you.” Alexis still couldn’t believe Donatelli had just agreed to resign his campaign for the presidency. Granted, Ethan and Seamus had promised to kill him if he didn’t drop out, but Alexis would have thought Donatelli would weasel around them somehow. Or at least try to. So far, he’d kept his distance, though.