Page 44 of Ulfar

“What?” Ulfar asks with a grin.

“Nothing,” I say, and for the first time in forever, I crack a smile.

Djorn kneels down next to my father, pulling out a med-kit and hooking sensors to his body with quick, practiced efficiency.

“Is he...” I’m almost afraid to ask. But if he was actually dead, then Djorn wouldn’t be doing all of this, right?

“Not dead,” Djorn says, his words short and clipped. He’s too focused on the task at hand. “Hurt, bad, but not dead.”

That’s a small relief but only barely dampens the panic. “Is he going to be okay?” My voice breaks, and Ulfar pulls me even closer.

“Not sure. Doing my best. Let me work.”

I choke out one more sob and turn back to Ulfar. He holds both of my hands and presses a kiss to my forehead. “You heard him. Let him work.”

“But...”

“He’s a damn good field medic. We’ll get him stabilized and in a stasis pod back on the ship. His body will do the rest.”

Right. Ship. Everything is happening so fast. Moving so fast. After over a month of a drug-induced haze, everything’s finally come to a head. Ulfar is here, and I’m in his arms, and I’m alive, and Atraxia is finished, and...

“Where are the others?” I ask, ideas and questions finally beginning to filter back in. “Djorn, and you...did anyone else come?”

He nods. “The whole gang. Soren, Rathgar, Orri, Djorn, and me.”

The gravity of his statement isn’t lost on me. Five of the planet’s most powerful and decorated warlords, teaming up to track down a single human female. Me.

“Why did you...” I whisper. The guilt is too much. I don’t deserve this, not after everything I put them through.

But Ulfar won’t hear of it. He shushes me quietly and kisses away my tears. “There’s something I wanted to tell you back at the lake. Something I should have said back then, but I guess I wasn’t brave enough to do so.”

My heart thuds once, painfully, waiting for an answer. “What?”

“I love you, Sarah.” His gaze, soft and warm, envelops me and fills me up from the inside out. Even the little one seems to take notice. There’s a faint but distinct fluttering deep in my belly and I gasp, pressing a hand over my navel. “Let all the stars be our witness, but you are my heart-mate, and I will never let anything happen to you again. No matter where you are, I’ll always come for you. Always.” He rests his forehead against mine, and the energy flowing off of him melds and mixes with mine, crystalizing in the center of my chest. “Will you be mine, Sarah? Now and forever?”

At this moment, it doesn’t matter if the entire world is burning around us. I have him, and he has me. As long as we’re together, there’s nothing we can’t face. “Yes.” I kiss his neck. “Yes.” I kiss his chin. “Yes,” I say the final time, leaning up to claim his lips in a fervent, passionate kiss.

“I’m yours.”

“Let’s get you out of here,” he mumbles, hefting me into his arms. This time, it’s not at all like being dragged along by cuffs and chains. He cradles me tenderly, lovingly, and for the first time since I left the planet, I feel safe.

* * *

Back aboard the starship,Ulfar and the rest of his battle brothers stand on the bridge and start running the pre-flight checks. Before we boarded, Djorn bandaged up my father and applied a reagent to his wound to stem the bleeding.

The downside? The treatment put his entire body to sleep, essentially. Some kind of space coma. It’s better than letting him die, but he’s going to be in the stasis pod for some time, Djorn says. At least until we can get him to a proper medical center.

Speaking of which...

“Where are we headed?” Djorn turns to me, fingers poised over the navigation panel.

I look around. “Me?”

He nods.

“What about Soren?” I point out.

“This is about you.” His voice is firm, unwavering, but with a kindness I don’t often see with the others. At least, not in public. “You’ve been through hell and back at the hands of those Syndicate bitches. What happens next is your choice.”

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