The Wolf Within Read Free Page A

one night. Including my parents, my little sister and my best friend.
    I shivered again. It didn’t matter how scary Tate was, or what going after him might do to my life, I couldn’t pass up the chance to bring him down.

Chapter Two
     
     
    “There’s coffee on your desk,” Jase said as I walked into the office the next day around midday. I didn’t bother to take off my sunglasses, despite the fact the UV screens made the lighting dim compared to the blaze of summer sun outside. Tate and bad memories had made sleep elusive, and I’d had about three too many glasses of red wine in an attempt to chase them away. So now I’d be dealing with Daniel and with a hangover. Not one of my finest plans.
    “Thanks.” Maybe caffeine would help. “Do we have aspirin?”
    Jase reached into his drawer and tossed me a bottle. I managed to catch it, just. He’d obviously slowed down his throw in deference to my condition. Though how he knew what my condition was before I walked in the door was something I didn’t want to think too hard about.
    Jase was a mere baby vamp. He’d turned voluntarily three years ago when he found out he had pancreatic cancer. He’d only been twenty. Not ready to die. Most people who’ve been vaccinated and then try deliberately to turn have limited success. Which is kind of the point of the vaccines in the first place, to make being turned, voluntarily or not, difficult. Some don’t change, some die, some become vamps with lesser powers (but on the plus side they get higher tolerance of sun and reduced need for the red stuff), a few start off weaker and gradually strengthen as they age (if they survive that long).
    Of course some people who get the vaccine are turned by it, which is why it’s not terribly popular yet. Even the lycanthropy one—which is somewhat more reliable—occasionally changes someone.
    One day they’ll make both vaccines more effective and then the vamps will have some thinking to do. At the moment they do okay. The law-abiding ones drink the manufactured blood or have willing donors and humans generally leave them alone unless they’re thrill seeking or looking to be turned.) What will happen when the vaccinations become more effective and the pool of potential new vamps starts to shrink is anyone’s guess.
    Werewolves don’t have the same problem. They don’t rely on humans for food. Plus wolves can be born as well as made.
    But when it came to choosing to turn, Jase had won the lottery, at least from his perspective. He had the full suite of vamp powers. Including, as much as he tried to hide it from me, what I was starting to suspect was a pretty impressive psychic ability. It was kind of spooky to think my PA had the potential to become some sort of vamp leader if he chose. But that was something I didn’t have the headspace to think about right now.
    For now, I could just about manage to focus on the fact that he made great coffee. I gulped down the mug he’d left on my desk, willing the caffeine to kick my brain into gear. I took another swallow to take the aspirin and then drained the cup. After a few minutes my headache had receded a little. Not quite enough though. I wandered back out for a refill.
    “Rough night?” Jase asked.
    I pushed my sunglasses up onto my forehead. “Now why would you think that?”
    “Ash, if you don’t want to deal with Daniel or Tate then pull out of this. You don’t need the money.”
    No, but I did need the chance at revenge. “It’s not about money.”
    “I know,” Jase said. “That’s what worries me.”
    “I’m human but that doesn’t mean I’m fragile,” I pointed out. “And I’ll be safe. It’s not like accountants go out in the field.”
    “Just make sure you don’t.”
    “I’ll be surrounded by FBI agents. Taskforce agents, if you want to get picky. I’ll be fine.”
    Jase muttered something that sounded like “you’ll need more than a taskforce,” but I ignored him and returned to my office