Crusader (Battle Born Book 1) Read Online Free

you and your friend had knives that transformed into swords then back into knives. Nifty trick. Care to explain how it works?”
    He crossed his arms over his chest, drawing her attention to his snug gray T-shirt, and the muscular torso beneath. When had he changed clothes and what had he done with his black…jumpsuit? “What’s your relationship to Daniel Kane?”
    The question only reinforced her suspicion that the three most bizarre situations in her life were connected. Her father had been present the first two times she’d seen a person with blue-ringed eyes. “What’s this about?”
    “According to public records, Daniel Kane owns this property. You obviously live here. How are you connected to him?”
    She was dying to know more about the mysterious people who seemed determined to disrupt her life, but one fact remained unavoidable. When she’d seen her attacker’s face, he’d tried to kill her. Aliens or not, these people didn’t want the general public to know they existed. “You’re eight months too late. Daniel Kane is dead.”
    He remained at her bedside tense and silent. She still couldn’t see his face and it was driving her crazy. Curiosity shoved aside caution and she reached for the lamp on her nightstand. Her fingers found the switch but he whipped out his arm and grabbed her wrist.
    “Don’t. It’s better if you don’t see me.”
    “Why?” Her father’s death had been ruled a suicide, but she’d always thought it was murder. If this man was connected to the others, maybe he could help her find the truth. “I’ll help you, if you help me. But I need to see your eyes.”
    “My eyes? What do my eyes have to do with anything?” He sounded almost convincing.
    “Your friend grabbed me from behind.”
    “He’s not my friend.”
    She went on as if he hadn’t spoken, needing to say it all before she lost her nerve. Or before common sense took over. “I don’t think he meant to kill me, until I saw his face.”
    “How did you see his face if he was behind you?”
    “There’s a mirror over the couch. He noticed me looking at him and that’s when he turned violent.”
    He was silent for a moment then spoke in a low rumble. “What makes you think I won’t react the same way?”
    “If you’d wanted me dead, I’d be dead.” He didn’t argue, so she pushed a little further. “I’ve seen your kind before.”
    “My kind?” He chuckled. “FBI agents?”
    She tried to sound calm and assertive, but her hands trembled. “People with bright blue rings in their eyes. My father was involved with them.”
    Without responding to her claim, he said, “The man who attacked you was after information. If you have Daniel Kane’s research or have access to it, the man who attacked you will return.”
    Would she never be free of that stupid research project? It had wrecked her parents’ marriage, made her mother doubt Ashley’s sanity, and likely cost her father his life. Exasperation built inside her soul and set her body in motion. She turned her back on the stranger and crawled off the other side of the bed.
    “There’s nothing here to find.” She grabbed her jeans off the chair and pulled them on, each movement revealing her agitation. “I’ll just leave and let that bastard figure it out for himself.”
    The stranger moved around the bed and slowly approached her, keeping the light from the hallway at his back. “If he’s convinced you can lead him to the research, there’s nowhere you can hide.”
    She zipped up her jeans then turned to face him and her surroundings blurred. Her knees buckled then strong hands grasped her arms, keeping her on her feet, barely. She looked up into the stranger’s face and her heart dropped into her stomach. They were perpendicular to the light from the hallway and she could finally see his face. His features remained in high relief, but his eyes gleamed in the semidarkness, his common brown eyes.
    “You’re human,” she murmured as she