Chapter 13
Seph
Dev guided me down the hallway to a room at the end and closed the door behind us.
“What are you doing?”
He looked like he was listening for something. When he appeared satisfied, he turned to me.
“Come on,” he said quietly.
“Where are we going?” I asked, following him quickly.
He held out his hand to me. I hesitated.
“Dev?”
“Trust me,” he replied.
I took a breath and placed my hand in his. His fingers closed around me, then he tugged me towards the back of the room.
“It’s around here somewhere… Ah!”
He pressed a button and an invisible door popped open on the wall.
“What’s this?”
“Maintenance tunnel. It goes all through the compound so we can access pipes and electrical supply easily. And it also is a direct route downstairs to the cells.”
“You’re taking me to Gideon?” I asked, my pulse quickening.
“I think you’re right,” he said after a beat. “You should try — even if it gets us nowhere.”
I felt my eyes prickle. “You would do this for me?”
He shifted uncomfortably.
“I don’t like him,” Dev said. “And I don’t trust him. But I trust you .” That landed harder than it should have.
“And I won’t let him hurt you,” he added, more firmly now.
I nodded, swallowing past the tightness in my throat. “Thank you.”
Dev didn’t answer. He stepped into the narrow tunnel first, then turned back and held out his hand again—this time without hesitation. “Watch your step. It drops.”
The tunnel was cramped and dark, metal ribs pressing in on all sides. Dev moved with practiced ease, one hand braced against the wall, the other never letting go of mine. Every sound echoed too loudly—our footsteps, my breathing, the distant hum of power running through the walls.
“How do you know about this?” I whispered.
“Everyone who’s been here long enough learns the shortcuts,” he murmured.
“And how long have you been here?” I asked softly.
He cast me a small grin. “A while.”
We descended in silence. The air grew colder. He slowed as we neared the end, shoulders tightening.
“Seph,” he said quietly, stopping me with a gentle pull. “If it gets too much—tell me. Don’t push through it.”
I looked up at him. His jaw was clenched, eyes sharp with worry he wasn’t trying to hide. “I will,” I promised.
Only then did he release my hand and reach for the final hatch.
“Okay,” he said, voice low. “We’re here.”
We exited the tunnel into a long, narrow corridor. It was windowless and cold. I heard talking down one end and I paused.
Dev lifted a finger to his lips and moved ahead without a word.
I stayed back, pressed to the wall, watching.
He slipped into conversation like he belonged there—easy, confident, just enough charm to disarm without drawing attention. One of the guards laughed. The other shifted, distracted for half a second.
That was all it took.
The access card was palmed before either of them noticed.
One of them hesitated, glancing down the corridor. Dev didn’t miss it. He said something quieter this time, leaned in just enough to pull the man back in. Then both guards were nodding, already turning away, talking about taking a break.
Dev waited until they disappeared around the corner before he looked back at me and gave a small, sharp nod.
I moved quickly to him. He swiped the card and pulled the door open.
“Five minutes,” he said.
I couldn’t stop the grin that broke across my face.
“What?” he asked, already half turned away.
“You’re pretty amazing, Dev Redgrave.”
Colour climbed up his neck before he could stop it. His eyes narrowed like that would somehow fix it.
“Don’t,” he muttered.
“Don’t what?”
“Say things like that,” he said, pushing the door wider. “You’ll make it weird.”
I laughed softly and slipped past him before he could stop me. The door clicked shut behind us, sealing the corridor away.
The room was smaller than I expected. Bare concrete. One light strip buzzing overhead. And in the centre—
Gideon Quinn looked up.
He was thinner than I remembered. Not weaker. Just… sharpened. Like something honed down to a point. His eyes locked onto me instantly, and for a moment the world seemed to tilt.
“Well. I was expecting someone. Didn’t think it would be you.”
I stared at him, feeling empty.
“Hello Father.”
Gideon’s eyes looked me up and down. His gaze flicked to Dev, who stared blankly by the door. I took a seat in front of him.
“You would still call me that?” he asked me, his voice calm.
“Would you prefer I use your name, Gideon? Would that make any difference?” I asked him softly.
Gideon leaned back, like he was considering his words carefully.
“I suppose not at this point.”
His gaze assessed me critically.
“You look different.”
“Do I?” I leaned back against the chair. “I guess that makes sense. It’s what happens when you realise no one is coming to save you. You taught me that.”
Gideon smiled, a hint of the old arrogance coming through. But there was something uncertain in his eyes. “I won’t stay down here forever.”
“Oh no? And where do you think you can go, Gideon? You belong to Equinox now.”
“I’m not afraid of Elliot or his pathetic army.”
“Maybe you should be.”
He leaned back in his seat. “I’m surprised he’s won you over so fast, Persephone.”
“Who says he has?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?’’
“Don’t presume to know my motives. Consider the alternative future you had planned for me.”
“Marr would have helped control your power, Persephone. I did the right thing.” Gideon lay his hands flat on the table.
“You think I’m a monster, but the truth is, I have only ever tried to help you – “
“Help me? How did you ever help me father? By locking me up? By making me feel wrong and dirty and evil my whole life?”
Gideon looked at me. “You were born different. We knew it straight away. The tests we ran were necessary.”
“I was fine until you started experimenting on me!” I yelled.
Dev stepped forward, his eyes darker than I had ever seen them. I could practically feel him vibrate with rage. I had to raise my arm to stop him.
Gideon rubbed his chin and shook his head. “You’re wrong. Your mother and I – we knew. We could tell there was something different about you. Powers didn’t work on you, even as a baby.”
He tilted his head slightly, studying me.
“When you were hurt, we couldn’t heal you. When you screamed, we couldn’t calm you. We couldn’t even charm you.”
“It’s like you were… nothing.”
The words landed like blades.
It’s like you were nothing.
A hand rested at the small of my back, anchoring me.
Dev.
I straightened my back. “I need to ask you something. About Echo.”
Dev stiffened by the door, surprise on his face.
Gideon shifted, his eyes shrewd. “What about her?”
“So, you knew about her.”
“I was told,” he said. “Yes.”
“Marr made her, didn’t he?” I leaned forward. “He made her… out of me.”
“Echo was one of Marr’s projects. She’s not human in any meaningful sense.”
“That’s not true either. She has thoughts. Feelings.”
“She’s a mutation. She would never survive outside a tank,” Gideon said. “Marr is a genius, Persephone. He understands what he is doing.”
“Did you know what he planned?” I asked, leaning over. “Do you know what he wanted to do with us?”
“I didn’t need to know the details.”
“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 handed us to 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?”
Gideon looked me straight in the eye.
“Because I thought I could fix you,” he said simply.
“And now?”
“And now I know I can’t. Because what you are is – “
“Is what?” I asked softly.
“Inevitable,” he said, closing his eyes.
“Where would he take Echo, father? Where is his base?”
“I don’t know!”
“You’re lying,” I said. “You and Marr were partners. Where would he take her?”
Gideon flinched. It was small, instinctive—but it was there.
“I don’t have coordinates,” he said carefully. “Marr doesn’t work that way. He moves around a lot. Uses fronts.”
I stood so abruptly the chair scraped against the floor.
“You knew him,” I snapped. “You knew his habits. His contingencies. Where would he go if he needed secrecy and resources and no oversight?”
Gideon’s mouth tightened. His gaze slid, just for a second, toward the far wall.
Dev noticed.
So did I.
“Father,” I said softly, “If you don’t tell me now, I will find her without you. And when I do, I won’t remember that you tried to help.”
The hum in the walls deepened. The lights flickered once.
Gideon swallowed.
“Marr always prefers to use water,” he said quietly. “It’s his element. He uses cooling systems. Isolation. Power drawn off grid.
He exhaled. “You could check the old desalination facility in Blackwater Point.”
My breath caught.
Dev straightened sharply. “That place was decommissioned years ago.”
“That’s why he chose it,” Gideon replied. “No satellites. No regular patrols. And enough infrastructure to hide a lab underground.”
He took a breath. “I don’t know if he is there. But it’s as good of a guess as any.”
I stood up, breathing deeply. “Thank you.” I nodded to Dev.
“Wait! Persephone!”
I turned back to him. “What?”
“What is going to happen to me here? No one will tell me.”
“That’s not up to me, unfortunately.” I said, my voice soft. “You’ve done some terrible things, father.”
“I only did what I had to,” he said desperately. “To protect the Light.”
“That’s the problem, father. If all you can see is the light, you will never understand the beauty of the dark.”
With that I turned and walked out.