|| Lilac's POV ||

The next few days passed in a blur, each one blending into the next like watercolors on a canvas. Elara and I spent hours hunched over dusty old books, our fingers tracing faded ink as we searched for clues about the Nightshades. The library was quiet, the air thick with the scent of aged paper and the weight of unanswered questions. We found little— just fragments of their customs, rituals, and vague mentions of their power. Nothing concrete, nothing that could ...