Lilith.
She was there.
Curled up on the moss-covered ground in the center of the clearing, her nightgown torn and dirty, her hair tangled around her face, her bare feet scratched and bleeding. She was lying on her side with her knees pulled up to her chest, perfectly still except for the slow rise and fall of her breathing.
Asleep.
Just sleeping.
And completely alone.
Kael shifted before he consciously decided to do it. The transformation ripped through him fast and brutal, and then Nicholas was standing naked in the clearing with his heart slamming against his ribs. He ran to her and dropped to his knees beside her, his hands immediately going to her face, her throat, checking for injuries, checking her pulse.
"Lilith," he said, his voice rough. "Lilith, wake up."
She didn't respond.
Sebastian and Lucian shifted behind him and were at his side in seconds, both of them just as naked and just as frantic.
