Rebel Obsession by Donya Lynne Read Free Book Online

good as he was.” He turned toward the armoire in the corner of the room.
    “I can’t take his place.” Apostle frowned and scratched the swollen bumps on his arms.
    Bishop rummaged through the garments in the armoire one-handed, seemingly reluctant to part with his cigarette, and pulled out a shirt and pants. He tossed them haphazardly toward Apostle then walked around behind his desk.
    “Of course you can take your twin’s place. And you will.” Bishop sat down, glaring pointedly at him.
    He flipped through a file of what appeared to be photographs, hesitated, then picked one up and flicked it toward him.
    “This will be your new human form.”
    Apostle’s lip curled at the thought of doing what Bishop told him, but right now he was in no shape to argue. He picked up the picture. The man looked normal enough. Black hair, blue eyes, strong physique. Apostle imagined this guy had no trouble getting chicks.
    “What does he do?” Apostle looked up at Bishop.
    “Did,” Bishop said, standing up. “What did he do.” He slipped his cigarette between his lips, took a long draw, and blew out the smoke as he came around the desk and sat down on the front edge. He pointed with the cigarette. “Nothing. He was one of our earlier subjects. A beta tester for some experiment we ran several years ago. Here’s what he looked like when we were finished.” Bishop reached around, picked up another picture, and tossed it at Apostle.
    The picture spun and danced in the air before landing in front of him on the floor. When he picked it up, the resemblance between the two images was nonexistent. The man’s skin was mottled with what looked like bruises. He was naked and his hair had fallen out, and his emaciated body hung from the ceiling like a starved side of beef. His wrists were bound above his head with chains and cuffs.
    Apostle really didn’t care about the human, but he was curious what they’d done to him to make him look like this.
    “What did you do to him?”
    Bishop gave a flippant shrug as he inhaled on his cigarette. After exhaling a plume of grey fog, he said, “We were trying to alter humans into half-drecks to use them as foot soldiers or slaves.”
    “Soldiers?” This was news to Apostle.
    Showed how out of touch he’d been with his brother’s operation.
    Bishop nodded. “Yes. Soldiers.” A wicked smile curved his blue mouth.
    No further elaboration was given other than they had been trying to build soldiers. Did that mean that the dreck council was secretly trying to amass an army for an uprising against the vampires?
    “Are you still trying to turn humans?”
    Bishop shook his head, his smile widening. “No. We’ve found a better source than humans for our soldiers.” Those azure eyes of Bishop’s twinkled.
    Apostle bristled. This could get interesting. “What?”
    Bishop took one final draw on his cigarette then crushed it out in an ash tray behind him on the desk before turning back around, a satisfied smile on his face. “Mixed-bloods, dear brother. Mongrels. In time, we will use their own kind against the vampires. And we will destroy them for good.”
     

CHAPTER SIX
    Io was staring out the window of the Suburban when his phone beeped. He looked at the screen. It was a message from AKM Dispatch.
    “What is it?” Sev said.
    Like Io, Sev was probably hoping it was a call. It was damn slow tonight and the two simply couldn’t rock the warm and fuzzies between them.
    Io frowned at the message. “Nine-one-one from Dispatch for me to call someone, but I don’t recognize the number.”
    Sev exchanged curious glances with him, then Io punched in the number and waited. Who the heck would call him personally besides his immediate family or someone at AKM, especially while he was working?
    “Hello?” A female’s panicked voice answered, but she didn’t sound familiar.
    “This is Io from AKM. You wanted me to call you?”
    “Thank God. I need your help. Miriam’s in bad shape. I’m not