Sucker Bet (Vegas Vampires #4)(53)
Author: Erin McCarthy

He knew about Slash. He knew she knew Slash. What the hell did that mean?

Rushing through the lobby at vamp speed herself, she headed for the pool, and just about collided with Nate coming into the hotel through the glass double doors.

The color was back in his face, but he didn’t look good. He still had the look of a man about to lose his lunch at any given minute. There was a glaze of pain over his eyes that worried Gwenna. She wondered if his actually dying and returning to immortal life was somehow a bigger problem than she could have guessed. It had been her impression most mortals took to the change easily, but it was clear Nate wasn’t.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"Okay, let’s go to my room." She tried to take his hand, but he pulled away. Hoping it was from his nausea and nothing more, she gestured to the pool. "I guess you were called to the murder. I can’t believe there was another one already and that it’s Gregor."

Nate was quickly moving toward the elevators, but he stopped and glanced at her. "It’s amazing how all of you seem to know the victim’s identity when that information hasn’t been released. We’re going upstairs and I want some answers, Gwenna."

It was certainly time for that. She nodded. "Yes, that’s a good idea."

He said nothing else the whole way up, staring at the floor, holding his hand to his chest like he had a pain there. It made Gwenna feel horrific, guilty, appalled at what she had done, at how she had destroyed his life because she had been selfish enough to want his attentions, his affection, his normalcy. She didn’t know where to start, how to explain.

But she thought she’d scream if the silence continued so she opened the door to her suite and said, "I want to tell you about the link I found between one of the loop members and a well-known hired assassin. Well, well-known in my circles, unfortunately. I think someone hired him to do these murders. Was Gregor killed in the same way?"

Nate nodded, looking wary, sticking his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. "Why do you know about assassins?"

"Between Ethan and Roberto, I know just about everyone that matters in our world, straight or not."

He gave a brief nod, than held up his finger. "Let’s get to that in a minute. First, I want to discuss something else with you."

"What’s that?" And did she really want to know? He looked downright furious.

"Come here." Nate gestured her to him, where he was standing by her console table. She kept fresh flowers and a stack of books there under a mirror that had come with the standard decor.

Not sure what he wanted, she did it automatically, eager to make whatever was going on right. Wanting Nate to be Nate again, looking at her with tenderness and respect. This attitude she didn’t understand, didn’t like.

He shoved the vase of flowers in her hand and spun her around. "Explain that to me."

She could see out of her peripheral vision that he was pointing to the mirror, but of course, she couldn’t see his finger reflected in the glass. She couldn’t see any part of either of them, just the flowers stable and steady even as they appeared to float in the air, nothing obvious maintaining them in place.

He knew.

"You have to keep an open mind as I tell you this." Carefully, she set the flowers down and turned to him, no idea how to proceed. "You know how you asked if I believe in vampires? Well, the answer is yes because I actually am a vampire."

His jaw twitched and he stared over her shoulder before locking eyes with her. "I’m one, too, aren’t I? You made me a f**king vampire, didn’t you? Why would you do that?"

Gwenna reached for his hand, but he didn’t grip her back. "Nate, you have to understand… you were dead. That bullet went through your heart and you were dead almost instantly. And that was my fault. I was just trying to give you another chance… a choice. I’m so sorry that Roberto had you shot. I never dreamt he would do something so completely vicious."

"You should have told me you were a vampire. I thought you had some kind of eating disorder." He gave a laugh of disbelief and ran his hands through his hair. "God! This is insane. Vampires. They’re not real, they’re f**kin’ bogeymen, made-up shit. Yet I can’t see myself in the mirror and I crave blood. I drank it and it tasted so good, and now I want more. And I can feel what I think are fangs… they pop out whenever I think about blood, which has been about every second since I realized what I was drinking."

"I’m sorry." Gwenna gestured to the sofa. "Let’s sit down, let’s work through this. Ask me whatever you need to, and we’ll get everything squared away. You’ll get used to it… and I think, I hope, that being a vampire is more desirable than being dead. And there was no way I could tell you what I was initially. You would have had me committed."

Gwenna sat down but Nate made no move to. "Yeah, but why the hell did you turn me and then just leave me? I had to find out from Donatelli, your ex-husband, what exactly I am now."

Oh, no. Gwenna felt her cheeks get hot. "Roberto told you?"

"Yes. I think he totally got off on it, too. He’s not happy you turned me, because you know his plan was to whack me to get me out of your life, but he did really enjoy being the one to explain to me why I was having trouble standing. Lack of blood."

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find out like that. I thought you’d sleep through the night so I wanted to come back here for some blood bags to feed you, and I needed to check on Kelsey. When I realized that her husband potentially was on the slayers’ loop and could be responsible for the deaths, I wanted to see if she was okay and warn her." Gwenna paused, realizing her words were just tumbling out. She needed to get a grip on her emotions, slow down, not panic. Nate would understand. She just needed to be calm, not defensive. She was no longer timid Gwenna, and damn it, she had reasons for why she’d done what she had. There was justification there. And she had to remember and trust and believe that Roberto’s actions were not her fault. He had killed Nate, not her.

"Show me your fangs," Nate demanded, still standing in front of her.

Gwenna looked up at him from the sofa. "You don’t want me to do that."

"Yes, I do. I need to see."

"Nate." She tucked her hair back, miserable, wishing she had been bolder and bit him sooner, shown him her true nature during pleasure, not like this.

"Show me, Gwenna. I have to see." He looked so agitated, she realized she had to do it.

"Fine." Opening her mouth, she gave a quick flash of her fangs, not even allowing them time to fully descend.