Uninvited: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Novel (The Dark Skies Trilogy Book Two) Read Online Free

nod.
    “I’m serious. To anyone,” he firmly stresses. “The general public isn’t ready to know that aliens really do walk among us. And they’re certainly not ready to learn that we, as a planet, face a genuine threat in the form of the Draconian Swarm.”
    Ruby pretends to lock her lips with an imaginary key. “Your secret is safe with us.”
    Fitz pushes the door open revealing a large storeroom filled with a strange assortment of dry food goods and outdoor sporting gear. The stainless steel double doors to a big walk-in cooler take up an entire wall.
    But in the center of the room sits a table, surrounded by three adults in black military fatigues and boots. They’re pouring over maps and charts and other official looking documents.
    The weird thing is they seem to be inside a protective dome of purplish light like someone trapped them under a giant glass bowl.
    We can see the trio talking to each other, but we can’t hear a thing.
    “Whoa!” Chad says, as he and I cautiously approach the strange dome. A low static hum fills the air. “It’s like an energy field or something.”
    “We call it ‘the cone of silence.’” Fitz explains. “It’s a photon shield. You can’t hear what they’re saying. Nor could anyone else who might be trying to listen in.”
    “How do you get inside?” Ruby asks, looking sideways at the strange dome. “Or get out?”
    “Right now the defenses aren’t activated.” Fitz just walks right through the dome like he’s stepping into a bubble. From inside, he waves to us.
    Ruby winces. “Damn! I was expecting him to electrocute himself or something.”
    “He said the defenses are down,” Chad repeats.
    Fitz waves us in. Chad and I exchange looks.
    Ruby takes a big step backward. “I am not stepping through some weird alien force field.”
    “C’mon Ruby,” I say. “Fitz was fine.”
    “No way,” she spits back.
    “Okay, then.” Chad turns to me, holds out a hand and does a mock half bow. “After you, m’lady.”
    I slip my hand into his. “Thank you, kind sir.”
    Together, we step through the force field. The first contact feels like plunging into a cold swimming pool. But the cold sensation quickly fades into a warm glow.
    On the inside, Chad reacts, “Wow! That was weird. And totally amazing at the same time.”
    Inside the dome, I look back at Ruby, now alone outside of the cone of silence. I smile and try to wave her in.
    She finally gives in, shakes her head in disgust, squeezes her eyes closed and rushes forward. Once inside, she brushes herself off like she has the heebie-jeebies. “Ick! That was so creepy.”
    “So this is the princess,” A beautiful red-headed woman says kindly. “An honor to meet you.”
    “I’m not a princess. I mean, not really,” I reply. “I know my uncle used to talk about how I came from the royal family of the lost Arctic people of Ivalo, and you guys say the seven sisters are princesses, but as far as I know, my father was a general, not royalty.”
    “Actually,” Fitz corrects me. “Agent Simmons is right. It was your mother who was the general. Your father was the equivalent of a grand duke or a crown prince. It is his royal sword that you currently possess. And the lost Arctic people of Ivalo on Earth were descendants of the Lyrians.”
    My mom was a military general? I look down at BrightSky, still in the form of an umbrella, in my hand. Bad on me. Guess I assumed the general in my family was my dad. Talk about sexist.
    “Which means you really are a princess!” Ruby smiles, doing that weird excited clapping like a hummingbird thing. “That’s so amazing, your highness.”
    A tall Asian man adds, “You have to forgive us for all gawking at you, Astrid. It’s just that we’ve heard about you for years. It’s a real honor for those of us who have dedicated ourselves to the Eye in the Sky organization to finally get to see you in person. My name is Hiro Tanaka. I’m the science and tech