"You'd think so. The past is hard to face sometimes, and they might need some convincing." She shrugs wearily. "I expect next round will see a crop of less charged offerings, anyway. Possibly more of us trying to make it on their own, even with the risk."

What does it mean to be so injured and bleed so profusely when someone's already dead? Nothing good, surely. In the spirit world that Need is used to, spirits are formed from luminous motes that can be dispersed or stolen away, sometimes to the point of the spirit's consciousness dimming, their personality releasing. But this has seemed so physical in comparison.