Page 116 of Owned By Two

I still didn’t open my eyes.

Maybe this was what death felt like, I thought. Maybe it ended abruptly like that, without any obvious seam between normal life and death.

“Good job,” Blor said.

I opened my eyes to see Blor slapping Uhti on the shoulder.

Uhti smiled back and I realized I hadn’t ever seen them interact in a friendly way like that before.

I supposed that would all change when they discovered I had slept with them both… and recently too.

Blor fell into the seat beside mine and took my hands in his once more.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I don’t know… Am I okay?” I said. “Did we get away?”

“Yes.”

I sighed with relief and fell into Blor’s waiting arms. “Then I’m great. I can’t believe you came back to save me. Both of you. I thought… I thought…”

Blor ran a finger down my cheek. “That we would leave you there? Never. There were just some… things we needed to take care of before we came to rescue you. And you can thank Uhti for that.”

Uhti turned in the pilot seat and saluted to me.

He smiled and I felt warm inside, as if I was filled with golden light.

I smiled between Uhti and Blor and felt that this was somehowright.

That this was what true happiness felt like.

Being surrounded by those you loved.

Despite all his wealth, there was nothing my father could ever give me that could compare to this.

The moment was interrupted when a light on the control panel blinked.

Uhti glanced at it out of the corner of his eye.

His expression froze and he frowned.

He turned to the panel and began pressing buttons.

The shuttle shuddered as if it had been struck by another missile.

“Are they back?” Blor said, getting up and approaching Uhti.

“No,” he said. “It’s not them. It’s the ship. It was damaged and… It’s the core. It’s going to explode!”

The blood drained from my face as I had yet another item to add to the list of things on my bumpy ride.

“Can we get home before it does?” Blor asked.

Uhti shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. We need to find somewhere to land. And I meanright now.”

* * *

That somewhere turnedout to be Rigel 12, a tiny planet around a sun known as Gargantua due to its huge size.

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