Chosen by Blood Read Online Free PDF

Regardless of the color of our skin, you and me, we share the same DNA.” Walker jerked his thumb toward the office window. “These—these freaks are—are . . .”
    Mahone cocked a brow, amused at the blustery man’s red-faced loss for words but equally pissed at his lack of restraint. He allowed a hint of steel to edge his voice. “Don’t let the fact that we graduated the Academy together make you forget your rank, Walker. Stay civil. And shut my door. Now.”
    Licking his lips, Walker searched Mahone’s face, then quietly shut the door.
    “Freaks or not,” Mahone said a moment later, “the Others we’ve selected are half-human and they have special skills that no amount of training can duplicate.”
    “Our men are the best—”
    “No question about that. But being fully human means they have limitations. The Others aren’t aliens that just landed on Earth a decade ago. They’re citizens. They live among us openly now. Hell, some of their ancestors roamed Earth before we did.” He laughed at the irony. “We just didn’t know it.”
    “’Cause they didn’t want us to know. ’Cause they needed victims—”
    “Victims like Manson’s? Ng’s? Dahmer’s?” Mahone snorted. “Find me a species that hasn’t been tainted by bad blood and I’ll hand in my resignation right now.”
    “I’m not going to let you do this.”
    Mahone’s brows lifted at the blatant threat in Walker’s voice. Mouthy was one thing. Insubordinate something altogether different. “You might want to reconsider how you—” Mahone began, his voice low.
    A commanding knock on the door interrupted him.
    Walker spun around as Mahone got slowly to his feet.
    Knox Devereaux was early.
    Mahone couldn’t say how he knew the half-vampire/half-human was standing outside. He just did. Mahone refused to attribute his racing pulse to fear, but it pissed him off anyway.
    Mahone had known Knox for over ten years. The dharmire wasn’t as overtly hostile as Hunt, but in some ways, his calm, formal mannerisms were twice as unsettling. Probably because anyone with an ounce of intuition could sense the passion boiling just beneath his controlled façade. Mahone had picked Devereaux to lead Team Red because his strategic skill, leadership ability, and calm under pressure couldn’t be beat. Yet he knew there was so much more to the vamp. Mahone had seen for himself how dangerous the dharmire could be when his control gave way to blood lust, or straight-out lust—always for one particular woman.
    Several more knocks shook the door.
    Mahone’s gaze found Walker’s. “Team Red’s a done deal,” he snapped, hoping the decision wouldn’t turn out to be the biggest mistake of his life. “And if you threaten me again, you’ll wonder if we share the same DNA, after all.” In a louder voice, he called, “Enter.”
    The door opened and Knox Devereaux stepped inside. He was, as always, impeccably dressed. Tall and grim-faced, his dark pants, expensive black duster jacket, and polished boots made him look like a GQ outlaw.
    Yes, indeed, Mahone thought. The times had changed.
    The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness no longer applied just to humans.
    Wraiths had the right to vote. A court had just ruled that a mage’s right to practice magic was akin to one’s right to worship. And vamps, both full vampires and dharmires alike, couldn’t be denied health coverage based on “malnourishment” being a preexisting condition.
    The Others were demanding their due and making their presence known.
    Soon, they’d be protecting some of the same individuals they’d fought just years before.
    God bless the U.S. of A.
    And just to be safe, the Goddess Essenia bless them all.
    He’d done his best. By assembling Team Red, he’d either save the world or damn it. If Team Red failed, they wouldn’t know the full ramifications of doing so.
    Mahone, on the other hand, would take the knowledge straight to Hell.
    Maybe, just maybe, Knox