Page 48 of Lunar Bound
Poppy stepped closer to him. He felt her hope forming through their connection. "Are you sure about this? Your home?—"
"Will never accept my true nature," Lunar interrupted. "Here, in darkness and in light, I am myself."
She reached to touch his face. He felt his energy automatically going toward her. “This is all I could ever want. I promise, we’ll find a way to live where you’ll be safe. Whatever it takes, as long as we’re together.”
The familiar threat of the helicopter sounded over the desert.
“Dammit. Why can’t they just leave us alone?” Poppy frowned.
Lunar called out a warning to make sure Eclipse heard the threat.
Harris panicked even more. "Four minutes to extraction. Not enough time to relocate!"
"We need to mask our position," Poppy looked around helplessly. "We need something to slow them down."
Eclipse tried to expand his energy and instantly contracted back within himself. He was nowhere near optimal health. He could barely keep his energy together, let alone fight.
Lunar placed a hand on her arm to calm her. "I will create a diversion. My shadow-walking abilities allow me to move undetected."
"No," Poppy protested. "It's too dangerous."
"I am most suited to the task," Lunar insisted. "I have chosen this planet. I must begin defending it.”
"Three minutes!" Harris cried.
The helicopter grew louder. Searchlights swept the distance.
As Lunar started to leave, Harris suddenly let out a distressed chirp, stopping him. The extraction devices flickered erratically.
"Problem. Big problem," Harris exclaimed. "Extraction field unstable. Energy matrix destabilizing!"
“What did you touch?” Lunar demanded. The configurations were worse than before. Whoever rode the bridge to the ship would be in for a painful journey.
Harris gestured helplessly.
“What’s wrong?” Poppy asked.
Lunar felt his world crumbling. He wanted so badly to stay with her. To sweep her away into the night and never look back.
Eclipse attempted to expand his energy but immediately retracted in pain. His body temporarily dispersed before trying to regain cohesion.
“He can’t do it,” Lunar whispered.
“Let’s run. All of us,” Poppy said. “If it’s not safe…”
“I’m sorry.” Lunar touched her cheek.
“Lunar, wait—” Poppy began.
"Stop, you're not strong enough," Lunar ordered Eclipse, who was trying again to expand his energy. A look of understanding passed between them. They both understood the problem. "I can stabilize it with my shadow energy. I'll have to go up."
"But you wanted to stay," Eclipse said.
"As do you if given the choice," Lunar replied. He felt Eclipse’s bond to Rowan. "But one of us must go. Your essence is too depleted for the journey. The council needs to know about Milano's technology."
"Can't Harris adjust it?" Poppy asked desperately.
Harris shook his head. "No. No. No."
