---
Closer to the fractured edge of what had once been the domain, Lilith materialized in a sudden ripple of dark crimson light.
"Nick. Find your brother and leave this place with him quickly," she said without preamble, voice low, urgent, edged with something dangerously close to desperation.
"Why, Mum? What's wrong?" Nick asked. A deep frown carved itself between his brows as he studied her face, the unusual restlessness in her posture, the faint tremor in hands that were normally stone-steady.
"Just listen to me. I'm trying to save your life," Lilith answered.
Genuine concern etched every sharp line of her features; fear, a rare, unwelcome guest, flickered briefly in her dark eyes.
"I don't know what's going on, but I don't want to leave," Nick replied stubbornly.
His gaze drifted inexorably back toward the center of the devastation, drawn like iron to a magnet.
