Page 5 of Dark Flame

“No need,” came the booming voice over the truck’s Bluetooth.

“Holy fucking hell, Spook! I swear I’m going to beat you to death for that one!” Nat’s eyes were huge in surprise, and Flip grinned.

“Sorry, brother, but I just can’t help it. I put the coordinates in your GPS, but just follow my truck, and I’ll lead the way.”

“Got it,” he said, smiling.

Spook was probably his best friend in the whole world and had been for almost ten years. Their friendship, like all the others, started with their gifts. Spook’s abilities were on a completely different level, and, given to a lesser man, would certainly have killed him.

There had been several years when they both struggled with their gifts and kept their distance, but somehow, they always seemed to reconnect. Now, they were connected permanently as part of the team that included Kane, Aislinn, Adam, and Fiona.

“That’s pretty scary,” said Nat, staring at the speakers as if Spook might materialize at any moment.

“Yea, but he’s damned sure useful in a hostile situation.”

Flip thought back to all the times Spook saved their asses, and they didn’t even know it. No one seemed to be able to pinpoint how or why things always turned in their favor, but it didn’t take long being around Spook to fully understand.

“How so?” asked Nat.

If the last two weeks taught her anything, it was that this team, Kane, Adam, Aislinn, Fiona, Flip, and Spook, was a tight team. The men served together in the military, and the women complimented their skills perfectly.

“When we were in Afghanistan on my first tour, my team was pinned down. There was no way we were making it out of there alive. The enemy was coming at us from all sides, and we were running out of ammo fast. I couldn’t get a signal on comms to call for help. The radio seemed to be jammed. Later we thought it might have been tampered with, but I wanted to at least text my parents and tell them I loved them. I figured when someone found us, when the phone hit service, they would know I was thinking of them.”

“That’s so sad,” she said, looking at him. Reaching for his big bear paw, she lay her tiny fingers on top of his large, rough hands. Flip could only look down and smile.

“It is, but it ends well,” he grinned. “Spook saw… or heard… or read… hell, I don’t know, but he got the text message and knew something was wrong. He triangulated our position and got us help. He saved our asses. It wasn’t until I got back to base that I knew what had happened. Even then, I wasn’t sure how he knew. I just knew that some guy named Spook had sent in air support for us.”

“How did you figure it out?” she asked as the truck in front of them took a left turn onto a small dirt road.

“I didn’t figure it out, really, at least not right away. It just seemed whenever we were in trouble, Spook was sending help our way. I knew something was up, but I didn’t know what, and I damned sure didn’t know how. If I’m being honest, I didn’t give a shit why or how. I was just happy that he was on our team.”

“That’s pretty incredible.”

“Thank you, beautiful Nadine.”

The voice of Spook filtered into the truck once more, and Nat smiled at the invisible being. Flip rolled his eyes, clenching his jaw tighter.

“I will kill you,” said Flip into the communication device through clenched teeth.

Nadine laughed a girlish laugh and reached out, touching the back of Flip’s hand. He looked down at the neatly trimmed nails and long thin fingers.

“Are you jealous?” asked Nat shyly.

“I-I don’t know. Do I have a right to be? Should I be?” he asked, flustered for words.

“You have no need to be jealous, and as for whether or not you have a right, you haven’t asked me yet, have you?” she said, smiling. Her cheeks lit up with a bright cherry blush, and she smiled into her lap.

“Asked you what?” said Flip, suddenly feeling uncertain and very young.

“Don’t be obtuse, Flip. You haven’t asked me on a date or to dinner or even if I would check the box ‘do you like me yes or no.’ Maybe if you did, you’d know the answer.”

The truck pulled to a stop, and Flip inhaled deeply. He was gathering his courage to say something to Nadine. Turning in his seat, he opened his mouth. Just as he was about to speak, Spook opened the door and held out a hand.

“Hello, beautiful!” he said, smiling. His shock of auburn hair flopped in his eyes, the tanned, muscular arms stretching out toward her. Where Flip was all bulk and mass, Spook was lean muscle and long limbs.

“Spook,” said Flip through gritted teeth, “you are seriously testing our friendship.”

“Well then, asshole, you should hurry up and let the lady know how you feel.”

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