“He turned me into a machine. Me – and Echo. He used us to kill someone. To steal her power.”
“Seph—” Dev warned quietly.
I just raised my hand to silence him. I didn’t bother wiping the tears away.
Gideon swallowed.
“I’m sure he believed he had a good reason.”
“A good reason to murder someone? A girl? Whose only crime was falling in love with the wrong man?”
I thought of Lyra. The way she had looked in those last moments on that table.
Emptied. Like a husk.
“She was a Light user, father. Did you know that?”
Silence fell hard between us.
Gideon’s jaw tightened. He looked away, just for a moment.
“Marr operates on necessity,” he said finally. “He believes outcomes justify methods.”
“That wasn’t an outcome,” I said hoarsely. “That was a choice.”
Dev shifted behind me again, restless, furious, but still holding the line.
“You handed me to him,” I whispered. “You handedusto him. And you didn’t even bother to ask what he would do.”
Gideon’s fingers curled against the arm of the chair.
“I thought distance would protect you,” he said.
I laughed, broken and sharp.
“No. You thought it would absolve you. If you gave me to him, you didn’t have to hurt me anymore. You’d be free.”
His eyes snapped back to mine.
“You think I don’t live with that?” he demanded quietly. “Do you think I wanted any of this?”
The room felt smaller. The hum in the walls grew louder, vibrating in my bones.
“God, Persephone,” he said hoarsely. “I was trying to help you — I swear. I just wanted you to have a better life. Not as a null, but a person.”
“You don’t get to claim my pain now,” I said. “Not when you chose ignorance over responsibility.”
Something in him finally gave. His shoulders sagged—not much, but enough.
“How did Marr make Echo?”
“He used your blood. Your DNA. He halved your genetic structure and inverted it.”
“Why did he do that?” I asked. “How did he even know – “
“He saw something in your blood that - enthralled him. Something rare. He won’t stop, Persephone. He’s wanted you for a long time.”
“Why didn’t you hand me over sooner?”
