Chapter 51

Evie chases Gideon through Massacre Manor’s open office, scattering interns, pixies, and papers as she demands that Gideon stop running. Marv enters at the right moment and, at Evie’s command, tackles Gideon to the floor. Marv then reports that Valiant Guards are nearing the manor’s borders, while the Malevolent have only temporarily distracted them because the invisibility protections around the manor keep failing.

Evie stays focused on Gideon despite the rising external threat. Still covered in their father’s blood after stabbing him in the thigh and slipping in the blood while leaving the cellar, Evie demands the truth from Gideon. Trystan arrives during Evie and Gideon’s grimly comic exchange, and the office employees pretend to return to work while clearly listening.

Gideon begins explaining that he always wanted to become one of the Valiant Guards. When Gideon was twelve or thirteen, a fever awakened Gideon’s magic. Gideon’s ability was a blocking magic that could suppress other people’s magic, regardless of strength, and Gideon’s father secretly arranged training while insisting that Gideon hide the power even from Gideon’s mother.

Gideon reveals that Gideon eventually met the king, who was fascinated by Gideon’s magic and by the starlight magic that had awakened in Evie’s mother after Lyssa’s birth. The king described Evie’s mother’s magic as the power of a savior but claimed it was too much for Evie’s mother to bear alone. Gideon was persuaded that suppressing the fullness of Evie’s mother’s magic every night was safe and necessary for the kingdom.

Gideon explains that one night Gideon fell asleep early and failed to suppress Evie’s mother’s power. When Evie’s mother woke, the magic emerged at full strength, leading to the devastating event that ended Evie’s childhood. In tears, Gideon admits that Gideon believes he destroyed their mother by tampering with her magic for the kingdom and for Gideon’s dream of knighthood.