Basil stared at the ground, scuffing the toe of his boot against the rubble as he clasped his hands behind his back to hide their shaking. "I wasn't pretending." He bit his bottom lip until he tasted the iron of his blood. "We're about to leave. I wanted to see if you still wanted to come with us--to, you know, see this through to the end." He finally looked up at Jace, wincing at the sight of him; he had done this. It was his fault that Jace was like this. He swallowed the lump in his throat.