Page 46 of Lunar Bound
He leaned into Eclipse. The diplomat didn't speak with human words, but he heard his voice in his head through their essence. Their whispered conversation laid bare the brutal mathematics of survival. They had about four hours before they would be forced to run. Milano's forces were drawing closer with each passing minute. Lunar felt the weight of unspoken choices pressing against him. His mission demanded a return to Zorveya. The shadow territories needed to be warned of Milano's long term plans. Yet every time he looked at Poppy, his carefully constructed logic threatened to dissolve.
She had her hands over the headphones while she looked out of the window, scanning the darkness for threats, unaware that she represented his greatest tactical vulnerability. His shadow essence reached for her unconsciously, even as his mind calculated the increasing probability that he would not be able to leave when Harris' extraction window opened.
Rowan yawned and opened her eyes. Blinking to awareness, she turned to look at Eclipse. “You’re better.”
Lunar withdrew to let them speak. He moved to be near Poppy. Before he could touch her shoulder, a sharp knock interrupted them. Poppy jerked and pulled off the headphones.
Lunar's essence immediately expanded, defensive protocols engaging as he sensed a familiar energy signature beyond the door. "Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides.”
Poppy's hand raised in warning. "Wait. How do you know it's Galaxy Brides? We should be careful. It could be a trap."
"I don't think Milano would knock on the door," Rowan reasoned.
Lunar extended his senses through the door's material, confirming the visitor's identity before opening it to reveal Harris in his partially scorched business suit.
The trainee's appearance shattered what remained of their sanctuary. "Emergency extraction protocol enacted. Location discovered. Milano forces are converging. Must depart immediately."
At least the alien’s translator finally seemed to be working.
Time had run out. They would have to choose. Now.
Harris kept talking. His huge eyes blinked rapidly. Lunar couldn't concentrate on the rambling words. His attention kept trying to focus on Poppy. She stared at him, as if waiting for him to say something. But what could he tell her? His people needed him to go. He wanted to stay.
Duty. Desire. The two behaviors did not align.
Lunar exchanged a look with Eclipse, noting how the diplomat's essence still wavered dangerously, like a candle flame flickering in the wind. Whatever Milano had done to him had fundamentally destabilized his energy.
"Transport waiting one kilometer north. Must hurry," Harris said, already backing toward the door.
Eclipse attempted to gather his essence to move, but Lunar saw him falter, his form briefly dispersing into wisps of purple-blue light before reconsolidating. Rowan immediately steadied him, her hand instinctively finding the sturdiest part of his wavering form.
"Can you make it?" Rowan asked.
Eclipse nodded in the affirmative.
Poppy gathered supplies. Lunar watched her hands, those delicate human appendages that had traced patterns through his darkness, that had somehow touched parts of his being no physical contact should reach. Even now, he felt her mark on him. She'd altered his genetic makeup.
He couldn't help analyzing her. Poppy's movements were quick but precise, grabbing only what they truly needed. Adaptable. Resourceful. Qualities he had come to admire in her species.
He pulled Harris aside while the others prepared, his shadow essence enveloping them both for privacy. "Explain the extraction parameters."
The trainee's rambling explanation confirmed what he'd suspected. The dimensional bridge Galaxy Brides used required balanced energy signatures—light, shadow, and twilight. It could not accept human lifeforms, at least not safely. Poppy would not be coming.
"Dimensional fold becomes black hole-adjacent phenomenon," Harris squeaked, his translator struggling with the concept. "Ship waiting in orbit would be... scattered. Non-recoverable."
Solar. Dani. The extraction vessel. All of them lost.
Lunar retracted his shadow essence, releasing Harris, who scurried away to check his equipment. His gaze returned to Poppy as she stuffed the last of their emergency supplies into a pack. His darkness reached for her unconsciously, like water seeking its level. He had imagined staying, finding ways to shield them both from Milano's pursuit, using his shadow-walking abilities to keep them hidden while they built something that neither of their kinds could destroy.
But now that choice was dissolving like mist in sunlight.
They slipped from the cabin into pre-dawn darkness. Lunar extended his senses outward, detecting Milano’s forces. There were three helicopter squadrons, ground vehicles on all major access roads, and energy scanners sweeping in grid patterns.
"This way," he directed, guiding them through a narrow ravine where he had detected a gap in Milano's surveillance net.
They moved in silence, Eclipse supported between Rowan and Poppy while Lunar flowed ahead and behind, sometimes splitting his essence to scout multiple routes simultaneously. The stars overhead began to fade as the first hint of dawn threatened the eastern horizon. Time slipped away with every step.
Lunar kept close to Poppy whenever possible, his darkness brushing against her arm, her shoulder, her cheek. Each contact sent ripples through his essence. Her warmth called to him with each step, making what he had to do infinitely harder.
