High Stakes (Vegas Vampires #1)(53)
Author: Erin McCarthy

"Hey, I’m staying out of that discussion. I just think Brittany needs to know who she is."

"Who am I?"

"Drop it, Carrick."

Ethan knew that Alexis was worried about losing Brittany , that it was safer to keep her sister in the dark, but the truth was, she was putting Brittany in jeopardy.

"Alexis." He willed her to understand. He could leak his thoughts to Brittany , but Alexis would kill him. Never even consider changing her mind about moving in with him. Wouldn’t even give him the six weeks she’d promised.

"You’re scaring me," Brittany said, her pulse beating rapidly in her neck. The scarf twisted nervously in her hand.

Alexis looked tortured. "Damn it, I’m sorry, don’t be scared. It’s just that Ethan has wondered about your biological father."

"What about him?"

"Well Ethan thinks he might have been a vampire." Alexis grabbed her sister’s hand and squeezed it. "But that’s just speculation."

"How could that be possible?" Brittany stared at Alexis, then him. "I didn’t think vampires could reproduce."

"Only with a mortal woman.The resulting child is a genetic blend not immortal, but very healthy, and destined to live to a hundred years old or so. They don’t need blood to survive, but they exhibit some other vampire traits—burning easily in the sun, athletic, ability to read people’s thoughts." Ethan wasn’t sure there was a delicate way to relay the news, so he just laid it all out for Brittany to deal with at once. "I can sense your vampire blood. I know you’re one of us."

Alexis snorted. "You are only guessing."

But Brittany didn’t seem to have Alexis’s doubts. She shook her head, looking thoughtful. "It’s weird but I believe you. It’s like I just know you’re right. I always knew there was something different about me.And Corbin Corbin told me that my blood was a link between mortal and vampire, and a way for him to isolate gene mutation in vampires. I didn’t know he meant because I had DNA from both " She rubbed her hand over the bottom of her mouth.

Alexis looked tortured. "Brit, I wasn’t sure if I should tell you Ethan just told me and I didn’t know if it was true or not. But this isn’t a big deal, sweetie, I promise. You’re still you."

Brittany smiled at Alexis. "I know that, Alex. It’s okay, really. I’m fine and I’m glad you told me. It doesn’t really change anything, but it explains a lot." She looked back at Ethan. "Do you know who my father is?"

"No." He shook his head. "But Seamus is looking into it. I owe you an apology, Brittany . I encouraged you to come to The Ava because I knew you were an Impure and I wanted political leverage with minority Impures heading into my campaign. It wasn’t fair to you, but it was always my intention to tell you when I thought you were ready to hear the news, and I wouldn’t have influenced you to do anything you didn’t want to."

In fact, just thinking about it, he felt like a first-class cad. Out loud, it sounded much ruder than when he and Seamus had been strategizing.

Just one more reason he was starting to regret he’d agreed to run for reelection. He was getting tired of the entire political process, and the manipulations it required.

But Brittany Baldizzi was a forgiving sort of woman. She patted his hand. "It’sokay, Ethan. I stayed because I knew you were vampires and I wanted to save you from hell, you know. I’m not sure anymore if you all really are damned, but I do like that Corbin can offer vampires an alternative. They have a choice to be vam pire or mortal."

Ethan agreed to a certain extent. Part of the reason he’d supported Atelier’s research was because it kept him close athand, and also because he hadn’t really thought the Frenchman would ever be successful. But if he were successful, Ethan cautiously felt that it could be very positive for vampires who were turned against their will or older vampires who were ready to die. But it would have to be very controlled, very guarded. Hell, it was an ethical nightmare, and despite his thousand years of life, he wasn’t even sure where he stood on the issue.

Did a vampire have a right to choose or was he bound to this earth by his Dark Gift? There were rarevampires who were successful in suicide attempts, and Ethan had always sympathized for their depression or despair, but he wasn’t sure if he thought he had the right to take his own life.

It was a very complex, emotional issue, and if necessary, Ethan would be prepared to deal with it, but he had hoped they were years from it being relevant.

"Atelier’s research is an explosive issue, Brittany. If you associate with him, you will be caught in a huge controversy if he succeeds in finding a way to reverse a turning. There has beentalk, too, that Atelier knows how to clone vampires."

"Jesus," Alexis said, her normally golden skinbleached, show- ingfreckles Ethan hadn’t realized she’d had.

"If he does, he would never do it. Corbin’s research is focused on what he calls the cure to vampirism."

Alexis sat heavily on the bed next to him. "Brit, why the hell didn’t you marry an accountant like I told you to? This Corbin sounds a little scary."

"Oh, he’s not at all," Brittany said warmly. "He’s very sweet, with the cutest little accent, and this sort of proper outrage when he thinks I’m being unladylike."

Uh-oh.That sounded like the serious beginnings of an infatuation. And they’d already been intimate, Ethan was certain. The bites proved it.

Alexis seemed to sense it, too. She looked liked she’d been chewing on nails. Ethan rubbed her back. She turned to him.

"So what happened to you? Did you really fall off the balcony? You don’t look hurt." She sounded accusatory, like she’d prefer if he were laid up with casts and IV tubing.

Ethan cleared his throat. "I dropped something over the edge and I didn’t want it to land on someone’s head and kill them, so I jumped for it. I couldn’t stop myself, so I hit the sidewalk with my wrists and nose. No big deal."

"Then why did Seamus call me?" She sounded exasperated, but at the same time, she massaged both his wrists, like she was comforting him and reassuring herself he was okay. Alexis cared way more than she was probably willing to admit.

That thought eradicated the last of his discomfort with the way their discussion had ended that morning. Alexis just needed time. And he had plenty of that.

"Because I didn’t want you to see it on the news.Because I was in a bit of pain and wanted to see your beautiful face to ease my suffering."

She rolled her eyes.

Brittany laughed.

Ethan dropped a smacking kiss on her lips and held her when she tried to wriggle away. "I love you," he said.