Luscious Craving (28 page)

“Don’t tell me,” I said. “This is Vegas.”

I began to pace the room. Chet was right. But so was I. There had to be something to make this add up. So much of the
Sher’s
casino was run by computers. Both Michael and Josh—and probably all those friends camping in Michael’s room—were skilled with computers. Were they all in on the con?

“Candace,” Chet said quietly. “What does Michael bring with him to the poker table?”

I thought for a moment. “He has a special poker chip—not from the
Sher
—that he calls his good-luck charm. And he has sunglasses to hide any tells.”

“Sunglasses?
Did you notice anything odd about them?”

“They’re heavy,” I said. “I’d say heavier than most.”

“There’s your answer!” Chet threw up his hands as if he expected me to high-five him.

“I hate to sound stupid, but, huh?”

“The table cameras,” Chet said at once. “It would be pretty easy to intercept the signals coming from the table cameras—the ones that transmit the cards the other players are holding—then redirect them wherever he wanted them to go. All that would be necessary is a receiver on the same frequency.”

“But wouldn’t the people supposed to be getting them get suspicious?”

“Anyone with a little bit of knowledge of circuitry could make it appear as if the proper receiver is still the one getting the signal, even when it’s also been redirected elsewhere.”

“So what does that have to do with the sunglasses?”

“The TV signal could be redirected from the receiver sending it to the sunglasses.”

I shook my head. “I still don’t follow. If the picture was broadcast on the sunglasses, everyone at the table could see it. They could see it better than Michael.”

“Not
on
the sunglasses.
Inside
the sunglasses.
Projected by a miniature receiver built into the frames.
Then the images would be right in front of Michael along with his own cards. He would know right away if someone was bluffing or had a legitimate hand.”

“Is it possible to do something like that?”

Chet glanced at the computer screen. “I would have to say it’s possible.”

“That has to be the answer. I suspected they had to be doing something with the cameras, but I never could have figured it out. I owe you a drink. Hell, if you’re right,
Randolph
is going to owe you a bonus!”

“Glad to help,” Chet said, as if he saved the casino from a high-tech con every day.

I turned to leave,
then
paused. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Sure.”

“How do you put up with that sound?”

“Sound?”

“That high-pitched squeal.”

His smile slipped away. He half-turned to the computer as he clicked the mouse and the images on the screen vanished. “You can hear it?”

“Are you serious? It goes through my head like a power drill. If I had to work all day with that sound, I would go mad.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I’m the one who has to,” Chet said, standing up. “If you need anything else—”

“I’ll let you know. Thanks, Chet.”

“Anytime.”

I left the IT section and went to find Al.
Finally
, I had something to tell him.

Al wasn’t in his office. A note on the door said he would be in at seven a.m. for the
preshift
briefing.
Just great
, I thought. He was probably at home, doing what celebrating he could with his wife, Miriam. And
Bibi
was no doubt wondering where the hell I was. But I couldn’t help it. What I knew couldn’t wait, but only Al could make the call about how to proceed from here on out. I made a quick call to
Bibi
, saying I wasn’t going to make it to the bar after all. Then I called Al.

Nineteen

San Francisco
, two years earlier
Ash

I let Candace precede me into her building, watching her closely. Her gaze was turned inward, as it had been since we left the house in the Berkeley Hills, the place where we had witnessed a vampire initiate her human lover into the vampire world. The rite had been exciting and erotic, riveting in its intensity. It was everything I wanted for us.

Tonight is the night
, I thought.
There will never be a better time
.

I watched Candace during the ritual. She was mesmerized by the act of utter surrender, profoundly aroused.
An arousal that had not abated during our drive home.
She was more than ready to move beyond her human possibilities. Something in her had shifted. I could feel it. She was ready to enter my world, to join me for eternity.

I was pretty damned aroused myself.

In silence, I held the door to her apartment building open for her,
then
followed her inside. Watched as she jabbed the button to summon the elevator, saw the way her fingers trembled, ever so slightly.

She knows
, I thought.
She knows this is the night of no turning back.
The night we truly consummate our love
.

With its usual annoying
ping
, the elevator arrived and the doors slid open. Candace and I stepped inside. I reached across her, to push the button for her floor, and my hand brushed against her arm. Candace’s skin was flushed with heat. Her eyes hazed with desire brought on by no more than her own thoughts. She jerked back, as if startled. And then I watched her change her mind.
Watched her desire overcome her spontaneous fear.

Her desire to be mine.

She took a single step forward, and then she was in my arms.

There was nothing tentative about her now. Her mouth was ravenous and eager on mine. I slid my hand down her body, felt the way her legs parted. I rubbed between them, stroking her need, and felt her legs clamp tight around my hand, urging me on.

Candace’s body was one sinuous motion of need. Her lust for me, for all that I could bring her, a siren’s call. With one impetuous motion, she threw back her head, exposing her throat.
Our bodies sliding against each other in the most elemental rhythm of all.
I saw the way her pulse danced like lightning across her throat, placed my lips against that throb of life, and bit down.
Past flesh, past muscle, seeking the greatest treasure of all: blood.

Candace’s body strained up toward mine. I heard her make a single, startled sound. And then we were moving again, our passion so primal no power on earth could stop it now. Her blood was warm and thick inside my mouth, pulsing through my veins as I took it into myself. Made it mine. I stroked against her, urging her body to one last, human climax. I was unbearably aroused now.
My lover’s body wrapped and shuddering around mine.
Her blood in my mouth, in my throat, in my cock.

This is what it means, Candace
, I thought.
What it truly means to make you mine. We will be joined forever, now and forever
.

One love.
One lust.
One blood.

I felt her body begin to tremble, the way her knees went weak. In another moment, her body would cool in the circle of my arms. And then, before she was gone from this world completely, she would feed on me, as a human, for one last time. At that moment, I would finish what we both so longed for. I would end her mortal life and make her a vampire.

Her knees gave way then, and I knew the time had come. Tightening my grip upon her throat, I tried to hold her up. And then, from across an impossible distance, I heard her speak impossible words.

“Ash.
Stop. No.”

I tightened the grip of my teeth, of my arms, my denial a feral growl in my throat. And suddenly, she was fighting a desperate battle to save her human life. Even as I felt the elevator shudder to a stop, Candace worked her arms up against my chest, put her palms flat against it, and literally tore
herself
out of my arms.

I heard a sickening, tearing sound.
Felt her flesh rend as she pulled her body from my mouth.
The impetus propelled her back, out the open elevator doors. She hit the wall of the apartment hallway with a sharp, wet
smack
,
then
began to slide down. Blood streamed from the open wound at her throat. Her eyes gazed straight into mine. In them, I saw not one trace of passion, not one trace of love. There was only fear and pain and horror.

Do it, Ash
, my mind was screaming.
Go after her. Finish what you have started
. Either that, or end her entirely. Those were my only choices.

I couldn’t move. I had made a promise. Never to take Candace against her will. In that moment, standing in the elevator watching the woman I loved gaze at me with terror in her eyes, I understood the truth. I would not go back on that promise. Literally could not.

Because I truly loved her.

This is the true power
, I realized suddenly. Not what was being offered by the
Board.
That was a parody, an exercise in self-gratification. Real power was what quivered in the air between Candace and me.

I would not betray. I would protect.
Because I truly loved.

I heard a second
ping
, and the elevator doors began to close. The last thing I saw was Candace, sitting in the hallway in her apartment building in a pool of her own blood. And then the doors were closed and both of us were lost.

Twenty

Las Vegas
, present
Candace

“This had better be good,” Al said. After reaching him and convincing him to come back in, I had suggested we meet where the whole mess with Michael began: Ma’s Original Diner. This time, I opted for a booth.
Less chance of eavesdroppers.

“It’s good,” I said.
Even if it did make me feel lousy.
Quickly, I relayed what I had discovered, what Chet had added, and the suspicions that were the result.

“Well, at least there’s good news
and
bad news this time,” Al commented sourly. “The bad news is you’re an idiot—sleeping with the guy. I ought to kick your ass straight into next week and you know it. The good news is
,
you were sleeping with the guy. If you hadn’t been, you might never have known he was lying.”

Right on both counts
, I thought. “So we pull him, right?”

Al shook his head. “Wrong. Chet has a good point. Lying about your name is not a crime. Hell, in Vegas it’s practically a requirement. Unless there’s a real Michael Pressman somewhere, it’s not even identity theft, though that might be an angle worth exploring. What we need is to catch this guy in the act. That means we’ve got to let him stay right where he is. At least when he’s in the tournament we can keep an eye on him.”