Rhea’s Conundrum: A Witch in Space

Eccentric witch Rhea only dreamed of the stars. So how did she and her snarky cat end up in a junk-picker spaceship with sexy alien captain C’tloc?

Rhea Tanner’s mystical transport talent means she can give into her wanderlust and see the wonders of the world, both past and present. Now that her grown-up kids lead lives of their own, she meditates about one last escapade before settling down. When she opens her eyes, she’s definitely not in Kansas. She’s not even on Earth. She and her snarky familiar, a cat named Alika, are in the cargo hold of a junk-picker alien spaceship.

With only his alien pet for company, widowed C’tloc has traveled the stars collecting discarded tech he can resell on other planets. He’ll soon retire to the planet where his children live. But on his latest stop, everything starts to go wrong. His ship is dying. And now he has two otherworldly stowaways.

Rhea is surprised when her cat and an alien that looks like a tiny, winged goat can communicate with each other. She’s intrigued by the ship’s captain, who is both sweet and sexy. C’tloc is stunned to feel the mating call with Rhea, but is determined not to tie her to himself or a dying ship.

When Rhea’s amethyst pendant turns out to be the only way for her to get back to Earth, or save gentle C’tloc’s ship from certain destruction, she faces an impossible choice. Can she take a chance on a fantastical adventure with the alien she’s fallen for, in exchange for never seeing Earth or her family again?

Originally published in the Pets in Space 7 Anthology.