Free Uninvited: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Novel (The Dark Skies Trilogy Book Two) by Lysa Daley Page A

a big fat lie. Instead, as it turns out, he's a former intergalactic soldier and weapons master from the Arcturus star system.
    “What’s he doing here?” Ruby asks.
    “I have no idea,” I reply, watching Jax walk toward us with his head tipped low and his eyes blazing. “Oh jeez, here he comes.”
    “Does he look pissed?” Ruby asks.
    He has good reason to be upset with me. Probably because I pretty much ditched him a day and a half ago. Though, he shouldn’t take it too personally. Leaving him to save my uncle had nothing to do with Jax.
    I take a moment to study his face. Huh? He doesn’t look angry at all.
    In fact, his entire appearance is different. Official or something. Clean cut and neat. Relaxed, even. Gone are the baggy jeans, flannel, and the shaggy black hair. Instead, he’s wearing what almost looks like a uniform; olive green pants with a black T-shirt and black boots.
    “Hey, you finally made it,” he says as Ruby rolls down the window. “We heard there was some trouble back at the state line at a gas station or a convenient shop. Horlocks tracked you that far. We weren't sure how that came out.”
    Ruby and I exchange looks, and I say, “We made it out of that one okay.”
    “And then Astrid turned the truck invisible.”
    Jax turns toward me, arching an eyebrow, and I explain, “I found the secret panel.”
    “Didn’t know it had a cloaking program,” he says, looking through the window into the backseat a dark shadow across his face, “How’s your uncle doing?”
    “Not good,” I say. “His fever is getting worse. Please tell me there’s a hospital here for him?”
    He nods. “You’ve come to the right place.” Jax opens the driver side door. “I’ll take it from here.”
    Ruby pops out and into the backseat as Jax gets in the car.
    “Oh hey, Tom,” Jax smiles at the cat who loudly purrs in reply. One of Jax’ few redeeming qualities is that animals adore him.
    He turns the truck around and about a quarter of a mile back down the dirt road, he pulls a hard left onto an almost imperceptible turn-off.
    Off the road, there’s an old stone wall that rises ten feet high. Almost hidden. There’s an arch built into the wall spanning the road. It’s not wide enough for two cars to pass each other. But heavy wooden gates stand open, and we pass through emerging on the other side of the barrier of trees quickly arriving on the edge of a small village with one road straight down the center.
    “Where are we?” I ask, taking in the strange mix of old and new.
    “Welcome to the Village of Saint Benedicts,” Jax says.
    “We thought this place was abandoned?” I ask.
    “That’s what we say to keep the tourists away,” Jax winks.
    We pass two brick buildings covered in ivy that each stands three stories tall. They look like apartment buildings. Next to that stands a big behemoth of an aluminum structure that doesn’t really fit in. It’s probably some sort of gymnasium or sports center.
    Meanwhile, Ruby is focused on the modern glass structure with a massive metal domed roof jutting up towards the sky. “Whoa! Is that what I think it is?”
    “If you were thinking it's the most powerful telescope in the western hemisphere, you’d be correct,” Jax tells us.
    “So this is the actual “Eye in the Sky”?” Ruby asks.
    “Yes, ma'am. There are several comparable observatories around the planet,” Jax explains. “Believe it or not, this is one of our smaller facilities. Still, that makes this the third most powerful telescope on the planet.”
    “Really? Cause I’ve seen photos of those crazy huge telescopes that stand by themselves out in the desert,” Ruby say. “This one looks puny compared to those.”
    “Telescopes are only as powerful as their lenses. Yes, it's true there are physically larger telescopes, but none of them have a lens as powerful as this.”
    “Let me guess,” I begin. “A little friendly alien technology.”
    “You’re catching on,” Jax