Chapter205:The Severing

|| Lilac’s POV || The forest smelled wrong. Not the usual crisp pine and loam of the Nightshade woodlands— this air hung thick with the cloying sweetness of moonbloom and something darker beneath it, like rotting petals left too long in water. My boots sank into the damp earth as I stepped into the clearing, each footprint filling immediately with silver-tinged water that reflected the fractured moonlight above. This is a place of endings. The thought came unbidden, sending a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with the chill. My fingers tightened around the velvet pouch in my palm, the lock of Alaric's hair inside suddenly feeling like a betrayal rather than a sacrifice. I'd taken it while he slept, my hand trembling as I'd lifted the silver scissors from my dressing table. He'd stirred but hadn't woken— his face relaxed in a way it so rarely was these days, the crease between his brows smoothed away. For a heartbeat, I'd almost put the scissors down. Then Aurora had whimpered