“I left. But it didn’t feel like escape—it felt like failure. Because even with my back turned, I could still feel her. Like her stare had branded something into me I didn’t know how to burn off.” Summary: Jace tries to outrun the stare Ivy gave him—but it follows him. He feels it in the air, the quiet, his skin. No matter how many steps he takes away, her eyes are still on him in memory. Something inside him is shifting, cracking, breaking through the armor he’s built for years. He wants to stay. He wants to speak. But all he can do is hide—and wonder how long she’ll wait before she stops looking for him at all.