Across the area, the Vârcolac stopped, turning to face the direction of the mountains.
“LILY!” Kallum’s cry was agonized, terror filling his soul as he opened his mind to connect with his sister.
He heard Liam cry out beside him, Karn swearing loudly and yelling something he couldn’t understand. He was vaguely aware of Liam falling to the ground, clutching at his head. Karn was rushing to him as he rolled over to his side, three Praetorians following closely.
“Make it stop! Make it stop!” The redheaded Vârcolac writhed in agony as emotions cascaded over him, assaulting him from every direction. The sound of his cries was almost as heart breaking as the screaming going on inside Kallum’s mind.
“Elina, help Liam now!” Kallum bit out the order, his mind focused on his sister, as one by one, the others joined him in their mental link, feeling Lily’s terror as she fell. He spared a fraction of a second looking back at his friend, wishing he could help in some way but knowing Lily needed him more.
“Karn, get the others back from him. He’s overloaded. Elina’s on her way.” He turned and began to speed away from the compound.
“Where the fuck are you going? What’s going on?” Karn roared after the departing figure, signaling men to follow the Vârcolac though he knew they had no hope of keeping up with him. But Kallum was already out of earshot and it was Liam who answered him.
“Lily’s dying,” he sobbed, anguish in his voice. “Lily’s dying…”
Karn’s heart stopped for a handful of beats and then he was roaring at the other Praetorians. “Find her! Protect the Vârcolac!” He couldn’t leave Liam unprotected to find out what had happened to Lily, and Kallum had said Elina was on her way to help her cousin, so he had to stay at the compound.
Kallum heard Liam’s words resounding in his mind and denial raged through his soul. “No!” he screamed, speeding through the trees towards his sister’s last known location, knowing he was too far away to do anything but refusing to believe he was losing her. Within his mind he heard his mother screaming and the roar his father let out as they realised what was happening.
“No! Save her, Kal. Save her!” His mother’s pleas broke his heart and sent an added burst of speed pulsing through him.
“Lily. Lily.” He sent to her repeatedly, willing her to respond as he raced up the mountainside. Resounding screams filled his mind as everyone cried out to his sister. It was too late, he knew it was, and yet he kept running, faster and faster.
*****
Time seemed to move in slow motion, Lily’s fall from the mountain taking an eternity. Mac was in her head, crying out to her. She could feel his grief; feel his heart breaking as she fell slowly through the air. Kallum called to her, Dara and Cassia, her parents, Elina, Rafe and Annie. They were all there in her mind, reaching out in terror but all she could hear clearly was Mac.
“Live!” One word called repeatedly. She wanted to live for him but surely even a Vârcolac couldn’t survive a fall from this height. Even if she did, she would lose the baby.
“I’m sorry. So sorry.”
Why was it taking so long to fall? Each second seemed to last an hour, drawing out the terror in her heart, the anguish of listening to all the emotions crowding her mind. Was it cowardly to want oblivion? Lily collided with an overhanging rock, banging her head hard. The impact hurt, blood beginning to flow from her head, blurring her vision as dizziness over took her. Her vision swam sickeningly then darkness descended.
“Lily! Stay with me, Lily, please, stay with me!” Mac’s anguished cry was the last thing she heard.
*****
Kothari snarled, rage suffusing him as he connected telepathically with Lily. He was with her as she plummeted down the mountain, so close and yet he felt as if he was so far away. He had been halfway up the mountain, still in panther form, when he heard her scream and looked up to see the disaster playing out above him.
Linked with his fellow Vârcolac, he could hear them screaming to their friend, the sound of Dara’s agonised crying more than he could stand. If there was one thing on the planet that he just wouldn’t tolerate, it was knowing she was hurting. He had a split second to act, to co-ordinate his timing. He would have done it for Lily regardless, but he was more motivated to succeed because his angel was weeping. He had to be in time. He just had to!
Lily’s chaotic thoughts suddenly disappeared from his mind and fear pulsed through his body, his and everyone joined with him. He knew she hadn’t reached the bottom yet because she hadn’t passed him. He could still see her above him and a little to to the left.
Mac was screaming from above, his words echoing in the valley. Kothari had never heard such pain from someone before, couldn’t begin to imagine how much Mackenzie’s heart was breaking being powerless to save his mate. He put on a burst of speed, sighting an outcropping on the other side and just beneath him. If he timed this right…
Lily’s form was limp as it neared, moving at incredible speed. Could he do it? He had no idea, but he was the closest so he had to try. He tensed, waited for a beat of five and then sprang forward. His body slammed hard into Lily, pushing her sideways with a speed almost as fast as her descent downwards. They both spun fast towards the outcropping. It looked like they might make it.
Kothari shifted in mid-air, wrapping one arm around Lily as soon as he did, the other reaching for the bushes on the small ledge. He caught them and twisted his body, slamming into the rock face with his back, dangling precariously. He was able to take the brunt of the impact as Lily groaned, consciousness beginning to return. Blood was pouring from a deep wound in her head, her face a mask of red.
She hung limp in his grasp, their combined weight too much for the feeble roots on the ledge. They began to come away, causing Kothari to hiss loudly. “Move, Lily! Grab the ledge. These bushes can’t support both our weight.”