Free The Dark Side by M. J. Scott Page A

case. She figured Tate being dead was good enough, problem solved.
    “Try hard, dear.” She hung up leaving me feeling even guiltier. I knew she worried that something else might happen to me if I kept working on the investigation and didn’t understand why I couldn’t go back to being just an accountant.
    She didn’t know what kept me working with the Taskforce.
    She didn’t know about the anti-vaccines that Tate had been involved with, the ones designed to not only reverse immunity to the vamp virus, but ensure that victims would turn if bitten without having to drink the vamp’s blood. And also ensure that anyone they bit would turn as well. She didn’t know because I couldn’t tell her. The existence of the anti-vaccines was pretty tightly wrapped up in layers of government classification.
    Tate had tried to use the vaccine on me. Dan had saved me by biting me, gambling on the fact that lycanthropy was more contagious than vampirism.
    We still didn’t know whether he’d succeeded because that was true or whether he’d just gotten lucky or whether Tate’s drug had also reversed my were vaccinations. The doctors had been unable to tell once the lycanthropy had taken hold and started working on my DNA.
    But no matter why I’d changed, the implications for the vamp population were pretty scary if the anti-vaccines worked. The truce between the races held at the moment because humans had some faith in the vaccines to protect them and because they far outnumbered vamps and weres. If the vamp population suddenly exploded and humans realized one bite could result in them developing a hankering for O positive fresh from the jugular, then everything would change.
    And I doubted it would be for the better.
    Vampires weren’t my favorite people in the world but I didn’t want fear of vamps to extend to fear of weres. After all, I was one now. As was Dan. If Dan and I actually did walk down the aisle, it was almost certain our kids would be weres too.
    I didn’t want my children to grow up being feared and hunted.
    We had to track down Tate’s finances and hope the trail would lead us to Dr. Smith and whoever the hell else was behind this lunacy.
    All while keeping my aunt happy, not annoying Esteban, and making it through another memorial service.
    Simple.
    The thought made me laugh. I wasn’t even sure I knew what simple was anymore.
    Sighing, I buzzed Jase. If I was going to have any chance of making it to Caldwell and back into Aunt Bug’s good books by Friday evening, then I needed to do some schedule reshuffling.
    “What’s up?” Jase slid into the chair on the far side of my desk.
    I jumped. Pens and paper went flying. I hadn’t noticed him come in. That was happening more and more lately. Whatever Jase was doing with Marco, it seemed to be strengthening his vamp talents. Or maybe just making him more relaxed about using them.
    I told myself it made no difference but it still freaked me out occasionally when he did something really vampy like suddenly appear in a room.
    “I need to move some things around. I have to leave early on Friday.” I concentrated on picking up the pens I’d scattered and trying to remember exactly what meetings and client deadlines were in my schedule.
    “And?” Jase leaned back in the chair, blue eyes nailing me. He never had to take notes. He had an annoyingly good memory.
    “And what? This is the part where you tell me what appointments I can move.” I didn’t look at him. His question had nothing to do with the schedule. He wanted to know what had happened at Maelstrom.
    “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
    I looked up. He was frowning. I debated not telling him about Esteban for a moment. It would be nice to have one person in my life who wasn’t mad at me.
    But I had to tell him. Firstly, because with Dan
persona non grata
as far as access to Esteban’s records were concerned, I’d need help and secondly, because Jase’s psychic abilities were