Flicker (Phoenix in Flames Book 6) Read online

  Phoenix in Flames series

  Book 6

  Flicker

  By Catty Diva

  Edited by Eagle Editing

  Cover by Jesh Art

  2018 Copyright by Catty Diva

  This book is a work of fiction. All contents, including names, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to persons, living or deceased, businesses, locations or events are completely coincidental.

  None of this work may be used, reproduced, exchanged or transmitted by anyone but the person the book was purchased for. Any reproductions of this book in any part or any form must be done with the express written permission of the author or not at all.

  Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

  This series is a spinoff from the 10 book series The Mating Games.

  The Mating Games series

  Book 1

  Razar

  Razar needs a mate, but on his planet, there are nine males to one female. Humans look like they are compatible, but if they find out the secrets of his kind they will refuse to send them mates.

  Lista needs money for her mother's operation or she will die. Her sister has volunteered her to be a bride for an alien. If she wins the mating game, she will be free to keep the money and return home.

  Can she outwit him or will he claim her heart before it's game over?

  Phoenix in Flames series

  Book 1

  Roar

  He’d volunteered for this mission, but why? He’d felt the need to go after the abducted female. It was almost like an obsession which made it scary. Roar was afraid to even guess what he’d do once he found her.

  Treva was hurting all over and scared. She didn’t even hold out hope anyone would come to save her. It was time to save herself. Once she got herself free, she would get to Oison somehow. There simply wasn’t a choice.

  Book 2

  Blaze

  He’d always considered Roar his best friend and they’d hung out together a lot. That was now in the past because Roar had fallen in love and it hit him hard. He was mated and it was hard to tear him from his mate’s side. Only the new priority of aiding in the lab raids had managed it, but his mate came with him. Blaze hoped he never lost himself that completely even while he was a little jealous of their obvious happiness.

  Lab born and raised, Felicity never expected to be freed. She would live and die in misery just as her mother had. When these people came and whispered they would soon be free, she didn’t believe them. When the man came and told her he planned to free her, she wanted to believe everything he said.

  Could fate finally be working in their favor to give two jaded people the chance of a lifetime?

  Book 3

  Tar

  He’d found the facility that was supplying all the labs. This would be the chance to shut it all down. His biggest problem getting the children out. That and the labs special project, Patty. He wasn’t even sure exactly what she was, but he was undeniably drawn to her.

  She was a science project that wasn’t even thought of as a person, much less a woman. Now for the first time ever, a male had made her feel like a female. Could she help him safely bring the lab down so they could leave here together? If they did, would they even be able to have a future?

  Book 4

  Pyre

  All he was doing was escorting a lady to the outskirts of the galaxy to check on a station because of some unexpected activity. He didn’t have to get involved with her and fall in love.

  Ladonna thought this new guy, Pyre, was hot. If it wasn’t for all the trouble she was expecting at the station she and Patty had just bought, she’d pursue a relationship and keep him. After all, he’d been her first. But business had to come first.

  Pyre tried to avoid Ladonna, but he was too drawn to her. Now what the hell did he do?

  Can two lovers settle a whole bunch of trouble and work things out? Only time will tell.

  Phoenix in Flames

  Book 5

  Glint

  Who is George anyway? He’s drawn to the shy female who sinks into the background so most don’t even notice her.

  George agrees to accompany Glint on a mission to assure her place on the ship permanently. Now she finds she likes him a little too much and males usually don’t even know she’s there.

  Can two people looking for love find it with each other?

  Book 6

  Flicker

  Teresa was a human caught up with aliens. She’d escaped a world on the edge of Mazlan space with critical information that earned her a place on Oison. Flicker had been assigned to her and he was handsome and courteous. That wasn’t good enough when he made her panties melt.

  Flicker was a tad irritated that he’d been out in charge of a human spy. Sure, she was beautiful and intelligent. He even felt a strong pull toward her but he wanted to get back on his ship where he could prove his worth.

  Two confused people drawn together in an unusual situation. Will love grow or get stomped to death?

  Prologue

  Teresa was beautiful, but he wondered about her sanity. Sometimes the look on her face was haunting as she stared out into nothingness. His assignment was to protect her but he wasn’t sure what from. Her information was on a need to know basis and even though her safety had been placed in his hands, apparently he didn’t need to know.

  There was something about her that called to a part deep inside of him and he worried that she might mean something to him. She wasn’t the sweet and loving kind he’d always hoped to have as a mate. Instead she was the exciting kind a male wanted to guard his back on a mission.

  The female was also the seductive type. He knew she was his, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it if anything. Goddess, he’d prayed for his mate and now she’d been sent to him. This just wasn’t what he was expecting.

  Chapter 1

  Going Home

  Teresa was finally going home to get her mother after five years working with a group of mercenaries. They had finally gotten that big score and her bank account was flush. She’d saved every bit of cash she could knowing her mother wasn’t getting any younger and that life on Earth in the unprotected areas was rough.

  Praying to every deity she knew of, she only wanted her mother to be safe and secure. Contacting people on Earth wasn’t easy and was only getting worse. It had been a year or a little more since their last contact. Her mother had been alright, or at least she’d insisted she was. Now as the ship landed, she got out and looked around at what used to be her home.

  This place was a dump. How had it gotten so bad in the five years since she’d left? The house looked like a strong wind would blow it over. She knocked on the door waiting to see her mother’s familiar face when it opened. Instead there was a man that looked half drunk and not clean at all. A smell rose from him that was disagreeable to say the least.

  “Is Rose home?” She asked.

  “No, Rose isn’t here. Who are you?”

  “I’m Teresa, her daughter.”

  “Please, come in. I have some things to tell you.”

  She was distrustful to say the least, but this man was her only clue to where her mother was. That was the only reason she stepped into the house. This house had been her home for many years but it wasn’t the same anymore. It had always been clean, her mother was obsessive about that. That had changed completely.

  The house was now a disaster. It was filthy and the house smelled like the man or he smelled like it. “Have a seat please.” He motioned to chair that didn’t look too bad. “I’m sorry to tell you your mother died.”

  “Who are you?” Ho
w could he know that and why was he living here?

  “I am Pettigrew Wilson. Your mom and I got married so I’m your step dad. We had several months together and she got sick. Something was going around hitting women as usual and it hit her hard. I wanted her to stay home and rest, try to recover, you know? She refused to do what was best for her and she just went fast.”

  “Why didn’t you contact me?”

  “It’s been hard to get messages out. Life is getting harder around here. I’m real sorry she’s gone, but there was nothing I could do. If you’ll stay tonight, I’ll take you to her grave in the morning.”

  The man was almost believable. Enough so that she worried it was her unwillingness to believe her mother was gone even though she was that made her doubt him. “Okay, is my old room in decent shape?”

  “Should be. No one goes in it.” He replied.

  It was hard to believe her mom had taken up with a guy like this, but she knew it was also hard to be alone all the time. Tomorrow she would figure things out. Right now she was tired and the trip had been long. As she settled in to her room, probably the cleanest one in the house, she regretted not having any weapons on her. She comforted herself with the fact that she herself was a weapon.

  At sixteen, with false papers, she’d enrolled in Earth’s military. Moving up through the ranks steadily, she’d learned a lot. When the military had crashed along with most of the government, she’d gone off on her own and eventually joined a mercenary squad hoping to save enough money to rescue her mother. That had been her only goal in life so what did she have now?

  Once she finally fell asleep. It turned into a deeper sleep than she’d ever known. It was strange because she felt like she was floating and moving. Different scents filled her nose and she wanted to wake, but she just couldn’t. When she stopped moving, she settled in to a deep sleep that made her feel like hours had passed.

  “Did you give her too much, you idiot?” A harsh voice accused.

  “I followed the dosing suggested on the bottle. Maybe you supplier gave her something more than we told him to? After all. He’s so drunk most of the time he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Another voice answered.

  “Not so drunk that he didn’t try to soak me on her price. Of course she’s younger and lovelier that I anticipated. It doesn’t matter anymore. He won’t be collecting his pay. Our dealing with him has concluded.” The first voice observed.

  “Strahan, what the hell did you do?” Number two asked.

  “Nothing you wouldn’t have if you could have. That poison rotgut we got off that last ship we captured, I let him have his pay out of that. Fool was so excited to get the whiskey he never had it checked out. He drank a whole bottle in front of me and before he passed out he gave me his banking information so I could deposit the rest of what we owed him.” Strahan admitted.

  “He was a good supplier. Now when we deliver something to Earth we won’t be picking up any surprises. Captain will be mad.”

  “Kale, you’re not a thinker. Cap is surprised every time we return and that guy is still alive. He’s so excited about breaking this female in, he’s not even thinking straight. I’ve got it all under control, believe me. Let’s get some work done and come back to check on her in a little while.”

  Shit! That asshole had sold her to slavers or pirates. The two males who had been in here with her were gone so it was time for to get up and escape. It hurt a bit when she sat up. Her head and her body ached from the residue of whatever drugs they’d used on her. The room was empty and because she was small, they’d left her unrestrained.

  That was a mistake that would cost them dearly. Looking around, she saw a computer and turned it on. It was password protected, but she was in in ten minutes or less. The files she went through were interesting and something the Mazlans would like to look at. She looked around finding an information stick and she downloaded the files onto it.

  Computers were so fast these days it took mere minutes. While it was downloading, she looked for weapons, clothing, and food. She found a little of everything. A ping told her the computer was done. It was time to get the hell out of here before they came back. The door was locked, but it was a simple lock on the knob. That took her seconds to unlock.

  Carefully, just to be sure not to get caught, she looked around and down the hall both ways. Where the smaller ships were stored is where she needed to go and that was down, two decks below. An elevator was the quickest way, but the stairs would be less crowded. Finding them, she ducked in just as someone went past.

  Hopping over the rail. She dropped half a floor down in case anyone entered the stairwell. It was a relief they didn’t. Once she was at the bottom, she slipped out right where smaller ships were stored. They had a scout ship, one that was armed with the latest and greatest equipment. It was actually illegal to have one since it was only good for military purposes.

  That was what she was taking out of here. She’d worked with similar ships and knew them well. No one had set the alarm or any of the protective devices that it came equipped with. Getting into its computer system was a snap.

  As soon as she was in, she used it to connect with the main ship and override its systems. Her ship was on and ready to go as the door began to open. Her new ship was faster than she had imagined and they were on the way to freedom. The ship would try to shoot her down, but their weapons were offline. Right now, she had a ship worth a fortune and information that could buy her a new life. It was good to be her.

  Chapter 2

  Need to Know

  Flicker was having an average day and those were good. On days like today, no one died or was overworked. Nothing bad happened but the tradeoff was nothing good happened either. The day was the kind most of his career would be made of, if he was lucky.

  There was nothing wrong with some excitement and he knew with everything that was going on it couldn’t be avoided for long anyway. He would just enjoy these boring days while they traveled to their destination because once they arrived, they didn’t know what would happen.

  He was part of the group of Phoenix that had started signing up in the Mazlan military in the last few years. They had an alliance that was good for both their people. Before, his people had kept to themselves and stayed away from others. He’s seen and done more since he’d been enlisted than he had in the hundred or so years he’d been alive before.

  His job was just exciting enough to hold his interest most days without being overwhelming. Everyone he’d talked to assured him that was good. Too much excitement was bad. They were headed to Orion, a station at the edge of Mazlan space. Nothing ever happened there. They were picking up a female that he would be in charge of showing around.

  Little had been said about her except she was Teresa Smith recently of Earth. His guess? She was a bride for one of the Mazlans and she had run away from Earth so she would be able to mate. The lives of those on Earth now were getting more complicated by the day. Their destination was getting nearer and they would make it there tomorrow.

  Teresa would board and be confined to her rooms so he could get a few hours of leave on the station. He’s go shopping and hit a bar to relax then head back to the ship to settle in with his charge. No one had given him any idea how she looked or what she was like. It was rare to know so little because it made it hard to identify a person.

  His shift was finally over and he went to the fancy suite where he had a room. Teresa would have the other room. There was a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and they each had a bathroom of their own. This was a suite like an ambassador might have. Sometimes a third room was added because the rooms could be locked off separately.

  He suspected the food would be good since she’d been given this suite and a personal guard, him. What he didn’t know for sure was why. Who was this female mating that gave her the best suite onboard and a personal guard? It just didn’t make sense and no one else on board seemed to have any of the facts not even the captain.

&nbs
p; As Flicker snuggled into his covers in bed, his mind was trying to solve the mystery of Teresa Smith. Was that even her name? Everyone knew about Smith, but some people really had that last name. It bothered him that Razar had refused to tell him any facts about the female. If he hadn’t been so secretive, it wouldn’t have become this big deal. The crew even had bets going about what she looked like and why she was coming on board.

  The thing about why she would be there is that they might never know the reason if she wasn’t going to meet her mate. At some point in the middle of trying to figure things out, he fell asleep. When he woke he was one step closer to meeting his charge and no closer to knowing who she was or why she would be there.

  Once he was up, he got ready and went to the bridge. The station was just out of sight and the ship was slowing down as it got closer. “Good morning, Captain.”

  “Morning, Flicker. We got a new order. You can still go visit the station, but your girl is flying a ship onboard and you won’t see her until you get back.” The captain informed.

  “What kind of ship?”

  “One of the latest scout ships, or so I was told. It’s one that comes with a wide array of weaponry. Only half a dozen guys onboard might be able to fly it.”

  “Who the hell is she?” He asked.

  “I don’t know and I’m not sure I want to know.” The captain said. “If you want to have any time on the station, you’d best go now. Your companion is coming onboard right now.”

  Flicker looked at the growing speck that was the scout ship about to enter the bay. What in the hell was Razar getting them into? No, he wasn’t going to let this ruin his break. He had six hours to kick back and relax on the station and he was going to do just that. It wasn’t easy, but he went to Bay 2 and got on the shuttle getting ready to leave for the station.