Elias Pov.
It was snowing again.
The kind of snow that falls slow, soft, quiet. The kind that makes the world feel like it’s holding its breath.
I stood in the west corridor, watching Ivy through the window. She was in the courtyard, boots crunching through the fresh powder, scarf pulled up to her nose. Kiernan’s scarf. The one he swore he didn’t care she stole.
She looked peaceful, even though I knew she wasn’t. Ivy never really rested. Not fully. Not with everything going on. Not with Selena still whispering behind walls. Not with Magnus lurking in the shadows of our world.
Still, she tried.
And I loved her for that.
I didn’t say it out loud—not yet. Not even to myself, most days. But I felt it. In the way my chest ached when she smiled. In the way I caught myself memorizing her l
