Page 44 of Lunar Bound
"What about Eclipse?" Poppy demanded. "Have you found him?"
"So-Sol-uh-Sola…" Gary stuttered. " No. I can't say more. Situation developing. Stay where you are. Harris will come when the time is right. Be ready."
The transmission cut off abruptly as the drone sparked and went dark, dropping to the floor with a sad little thunk.
"At least this one didn't explode," Poppy observed dryly.
She spoke too soon. The drone sparked and popped like a firecracker before letting off a stream of smoke.
"What do you think they mean by soon?" A wave of sadness washed over her. They were supposed to have more time.
Lunar absorbed the drone's remains into his shadow essence. "I believe soon is defined as happening after a short time."
"I know what soon means, I just don't know what they mean when they say it," Poppy insisted. "A week? A day? Hours?"
Lunar would not meet her gaze. "I would guess they mean closer to the last option. Otherwise, they would have given the time by days or weeks."
Poppy sank onto the cot, exhaustion catching up with her, but she was too emotional to rest. She buried her head in her hands and took a deep breath. Lunar's cool darkness enveloped her like a protective cloak to soothe her thoughts.
"Rest," he suggested. "I will maintain watch."
"I can't," she denied, shaking her head.
His energy came over her in waves, urging her to stop fighting the need to sleep.
"Wake me if anything changes?" Poppy mumbled. Whatever happened next, at least they weren't facing it alone.
"Of course," he whispered. "Rest."
Chapter
Fourteen
Lunar detected approaching energy signatures. The familiar twilight resonance was dangerously unstable, accompanied by Milano's pursuing aircraft.
He materialized near the window where Poppy dozed and touched her arm to wake her gently. He had used his energy to coax her to sleep. It was for the best. He had not liked the accelerated vitals he perceived when he'd touched her. Now he pulled that energy back to let her wake up. "Poppy. Something's coming."
She gave a small moan as she fought to open her eyes.
Through gaps in the curtains, he watched two forms emerge from the darkness. Eclipse and Rowan. Eclipse flickered with weakening twilight energy, while Rowan was distinctly human. His fellow Zorveyan's essence streamed behind them like Earth's aurora, but the pattern was wrong, scattered.
What had Milano done to him?
They tumbled from the air at the cabin's perimeter, Eclipse's form barely maintaining cohesion as Rowan rolled free.
"Eclipse!" Rowan's cry carried raw fear as she scrambled across the ground to reach him.
Lunar moved swiftly to them, his shadow essence stretching over to Eclipse's failing twilight energy. The damage was severe, worse than he'd anticipated. Eclipse's normally stable twilight field fluctuated wildly, threatening to dissipate completely.
"He is severely depleted," Lunar observed, carefully modulating his tone to hide his concern. He tried to infuse his energy into Eclipse. It helped steady him a little. But he'd used a lot of his reserves to calm Poppy and force her to rest.
"Help him," Rowan pleaded as helicopter searchlights swept closer.
"Inside," Lunar ordered, expanding his shadow form to help gather Eclipse's scattered essence. "The structure is shielded."
Together, they brought Eclipse into the cabin. Lunar's shadow essence cradled the failing twilight energy, providing structure where Eclipse's form threatened to dissolve completely. He'd never seen the diplomat so damaged. In fact, he couldn't remember seeing anyone on his homeworld this damaged.
"What happened to him?" Poppy demanded, locking the door. She still looked sleepy and a little disconcerted as she smoothed back her hair.
