Bled Dry (Vegas Vampires #3)(8)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“In all fairness, the other party needs time to choose another candidate and then campaign.”

Alexis understood. She was all about fairness, being a prosecutor. When it worked in her favor. Or her husband’s. But she was tired of the endless banquets and cheesy speeches. Most nights when she wasn’t doing consulting work—daysleeping had killed her prosecutor’s career—Ethan expected her to paste on a smile and a dowdy suit and play Laura to his George. But the problem was, Laura Bush was a nice woman, and Alexis wasn’t. It taxed her patience to be pleasant to people she didn’t like.

“Well, I still think it sucks. And what’s up with you having to basically be nominated again?”

“In light of recent circumstances, it seemed wise to take another primary vote and ensure I am still the candidate with the most popular party vote.”

He was so good at talking political BS. “I’m sure you are. And by the way, what happened to Gwenna’s daughter? I got the feeling you were keeping something from Brittany.”

Ethan turned away from her—one of his lie tells—and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s probably irrelevant to Brittany’s situation.”

“What is?”

“That my niece went insane in her twenties and killed herself.”

“Do you know who Brittany’s father is?” Corbin asked Carrick, having cornered him in the casino several hours later. He had made sure Brittany was home, safely tucked in her apartment, and Ethan’s wife was swimming laps in the casino’s indoor pool, so they would not be interrupted.

Carrick looked at him sharply, before glancing back out over the casino floor. They were seated at a table in the casino’s five-star restaurant, on a balcony that jutted out slightly into the action of the floor, yet kept them above the noise. They had drinks in front of them, since a vampire could digest liquids but not solids, and a serving staff that knew to leave the owner of the establishment alone.

“Why?” Ethan asked.

“Because it would be beneficial to know if he has a particular recessive gene I have run across in both mortals and vampires.”

“So what if he does?”

Corbin tried not to feel frustrated. He realized Ethan was trying to protect Brittany, but Corbin didn’t think he could explain one hundred years of research in genetics to Ethan. “It’s complicated, but you know that vampires carry a virus for vampirism that is transmitted through saliva and blood, yes? Well, that virus lies dormant until a person is drained of blood. The virus is activated, the person feels the urge to replenish their damaged blood cells by drinking blood, and the change is complete. The question in my research has been if I can inhibit the virus even after a body has been drained, even after years of living as a vampire, and reverse its effects. In essence, return a vampire to mortality, with a dormant vampire virus. I believe the answer is yes.”

“Okay. This is shaky territory, Atelier. You know as well as I do this sort of knowledge could split the Nation into two camps. As it is, there are plenty of Impures clamoring for vampire population growth.”

“I know. And what none of them understand is that they are the very key to true vampire procreation because, statistically, a large number of them have the gene from their mother. Vampires can only mate and create a child if they or the mortal woman has the recessive gene I mentioned. Vampires without it who copulate with mortal women without it will never create a child. But what happens when a half-breed Impure, like Brittany, mates with a vampire? I have the gene, and Brittany got it from her mother. I have the active virus, Brittany has the dormant virus. If Brittany has the gene from her vampire father as well, our child gets essentially a double dose of the virus and one whole reproductive gene.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Corbin looked out at the flashing lights of the casino, thoughts troubled, self-recrimination great. He had known the facts, but he hadn’t done anything about them. He had been focused on the creation of a drug to inhibit the virus, not on reproduction. “It means that our child will be born immortal, with no need to feed on blood. Essentially, a superbaby.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Bloody hell.”

“This cannot be found out. No one can know this, or my child will be in danger, Carrick. Those who want growth, like Donatelli, they’ll want this baby. They’ll want to understand how to re-create him, how to generate a superrace, if you will, and that I cannot allow.” Corbin shifted, uneasy, angry. “You know how Brittany is, what a wonderful woman she is. This child has every chance, and every right, to have a normal life with her as his mother. That is what I want, that is what Brittany and our baby deserve, and I cannot let anyone hurt either of them.”

“You have my complete support, Atelier. I don’t want Brittany or the baby hurt, either. But I don’t know who Brittany’s father is. Only her mother knew that, and she’s been dead for fifteen years. I’m not even sure the vampire who slept with her knew there was a child. If he did, there is no evidence of it.”

“I have a DNA database of about twenty percent of known vampires. I can run Brittany through it and see if we can find a genetic match.” He would have to secure a sample from her. The night he had drawn her blood, the night they had conceived their child, he had actually left without taking the vial filled with her sample off her dresser. The whole reason for entering her apartment had been to ask her for a donation, and he had just left the blood sitting there. Utterly ridiculous.

“You have a DNA database? How the hell did you do that? Do you have my DNA?” Ethan looked outraged.

“Yes.” Corbin shrugged, feeling just a little sheepish. “It’s not difficult to collect, you know. A stray hair here or there, a glass left sitting there with saliva, skin, blood… ” He trailed off at Carrick’s expression.

“That is just wrong, Atelier. That’s stealing.”

“It is not. If you leave your DNA lying about, it becomes public property.” He wasn’t going to apologize for it. He wasn’t a criminal or an evil scientist. He was conducting his research to give vampires choices . “The point is, I know who has the gene and who doesn’t.”

Ethan shook his head, leaned forward onto the table. “But what you don’t know is that nine hundred years ago my sister gave birth to a child, just like yours will be. My sister was an Impure, though I don’t know who her father was. I do know, however, who the vampire father of her child was. And I do know that my niece gave every appearance of good health, and no sign of ever needing blood.”