The Moon Spirit's last sentence spread through Elara like it was seeping from a thin crack.
"It is not calling me. It is calling you."
Elara looked at the first body. It had no face, but it was interested in her. That interest did not feel like the gaze of something alive. It felt more like a door recognizing the right key for itself. Cold, patient, and frighteningly personal.
Kael's voice came from beside her. "What did it say?"
Before Elara answered, she swallowed the dryness in her throat. "It says it is not calling the Moon Spirit. It is calling me."
The mockery vanished from Talon's face. "Is that worse?"
The Moon Spirit spoke very low inside Elara. "Yes, because if it pulls me back, it only takes me. If it calls you, it takes your choice."
Elara asked inwardly, "How can it take my choice?"
The Moon Spirit hesitated before answering. "A vessel does not empty itself on its own. It either breaks, or the thing inside it gives up its place."
