Crusader (Battle Born Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

that I hitchhiked all the way to Dad’s lab.”
    “Hitch hiked? I’m unfamiliar with the term.”
    More proof that he wasn’t human. “I asked complete strangers for a ride in their cars. It used to be a common practice, but it’s no longer safe. Too many whack jobs running around out there.”
    He nodded, but she wasn’t sure he understood. “What happened at the lab?”
    “That’s when I saw the first one, the first Rodyte.”
    “Male or female?”
    “Male.”
    “Other than his eyes, was there anything remarkable about his appearance?”
    He kept each question conversational. It just felt natural to respond. “He had blue streaks in his hair, but the man who attacked me didn’t. Maybe the blue streaks were cosmetic.”
    Bandar shook his head. “The vast majority of Rodytes have dark hair, but only organic or pureblood Rodytes have the highlights. Generally the highlights match the phitons in their eyes, which come in a variety of colors by the way.”
    “ Phitons ? Do you mean the glowy rings in their eyes?”
    “Yes, though the rings don’t always glow. Generally that’s a sign of elevated emotion or the access of a magic ability.”
    “Good to know.” Magic ability? Rodytes could work magic? She shook away the distraction. She’d never understand all this if she didn’t focus on one thing at a time. “The three I’ve seen all had blue rings in their eyes and all three were glowing.”
    “Tell me about the third one.”
    Ashley hesitated. Her encounter with the female Rodyte led to sixteen years of humiliation and self-doubt. Did she really want to reveal such a hurtful incident to a complete stranger? He watched her silently, obviously waiting for her answer. Now that she could see him clearly, she was even more convinced he wasn’t human. He was too big, too intense, too damn savage. He’d been nothing but kind to her, but menace simmered just below the surface of his calm exterior.
    “You might not even realize what you know,” he coaxed. “Every detail is important.”
    Pausing long enough to unwrap another piece of candy, she decided to tell him the entire story. “She was actually the second one I saw. The man tonight was the third.” Ashley put the chocolate in her mouth before it melted on her fingers and went to work unwrapping the next one. “I knew my mother wouldn’t believe what I’d seen at the lab, so I never mentioned it to her. Besides, I was only thirteen. I didn’t want to admit I’d hitchhiked all the way to the lab.” She shivered. “I was damn lucky I made it there and back safely. It was a really stupid thing to do.”
    “Was the female also at your father’s lab?”
    “Oh no, she was in my father’s bed—on top of him to be exact.” The silky-sweet taste coating her mouth didn’t make the memories any easier to bear. She’d been old enough to understand sex, but she’d never actually seen two people going at it. Up close and personal, and one of the participants had been her father. She shuddered, the image still amazingly clear after all these years. “Mom and I returned early from a shopping spree and we walked in on Dad and the Rodyte woman. She grabbed her clothes and ran from the room while my parents started screaming at each other. I was too horrified to look at my father, so my gaze just sort of stuck to his lover. Her long black hair was streaked with blue and the rings in her eyes were so bright her entire gaze glowed like sapphires.” She’d also been strikingly attractive, just like all the other Rodytes Ashley had seen.
    Just like Bandar.
    “Did your mother see her?”
    Ashley shook her head. “All she saw was a naked woman having sex with her husband. I told her what I’d seen a few days later, even admitted what I’d seen at the lab. She didn’t believe me, thought it was my mind’s way of dealing with the shock of seeing my father’s infidelity firsthand.”
    “What about your father? How did he react when you told him what