In the memorial garden, Evie and Trystan are digging for the stained-glass window when a guard discovers them. Kingsley appears and knocks the guard unconscious with a rock, explaining he followed them overboard. As the men dig, Evie asks them to share their favorite memories of Arthur. Trystan recalls Arthur catching him trying to run away at age six and telling him how much he would be missed. Kingsley remembers Arthur as a man who created warmth and made him feel at home. They unearth the box containing the window, which is a perfect recreation of the one in the book of Rennedawn. Overjoyed, Trystan spins Evie around and kisses her, certain they can now fulfill the prophecy. He leaves to meet the others while Evie helps Kingsley refill the hole. Evie’s suspicion is aroused when Kingsley mentions a detail about a past employment opportunity she never told anyone about. Just as Clare and Tatianna arrive shouting that Kingsley is the traitor, he grabs Evie and holds a blade to her throat. Trystan reappears, revealing he suspected Kingsley and says, “Took you long enough” (289).

Blade meets Becky’s brothers Roland, Reid, and Raphael in the courtyard. Roland reports that the poison is weakening Marv despite his treatment. Fate is present with the adult guvres, Lulu and Fergus, and states she cannot interfere to make them stay, as it would violate her principles and cause her to disappear. Becky, showing compassion for the creatures, orders Lyssa to bring out the baby guvres. The family joyfully reunites, and Fergus performs a celebratory flight. The moment is shattered when a spear, bearing Benedict’s emblem, strikes Fergus, causing him to fall from the sky.

Trystan confronts Kingsley, who admits he has been working with Benedict for eight months to prevent the prophecy’s fulfillment. Kingsley claims the curse is necessary to save Rennedawn. Evie ends the standoff by pressing herself against his knife, causing him to drop it in horror. Malcolm arrives, warning they must escape before Benedict can no longer be stalled. An ally named Lord Fowler lands a flying machine to aid their escape. Kingsley pleads with Trystan, insisting the curse must happen to heal the kingdom. Before leaving, Trystan hugs Kingsley, telling him they will be waiting for him at home when he realizes Benedict is using him. As the machine lifts off, Kingsley reveals he has stolen the key from Trystan’s pocket. He gives it to Benedict.

After Fergus is struck by a spear, Gideon finds five Valiant Guards preparing to fire another. Enraged, Gideon attacks them with his sword. He is nearly overpowered when Keeley intervenes, killing several guards. Gideon duels with the last one, a captain he once admired, and kills him, declaring himself a Malevolent Guard. His victory is cut short when Keeley screams and he loses consciousness.

After the group lands in a nearby forest, Trystan discovers the key is missing. He sends the others back to the manor with the stained-glass window while he and Evie head for the capital. As they walk, a low rumbling signals the approach of an angry mob looking for Evie. They flee into the woods, and Trystan presses Evie against a tree and kisses her passionately. He explains to her that Benedict could enact the curse at sunrise, midday, or sunset, and they need the key immediately. They emerge into a field of glowing dandelions, a place Evie recognizes with a sense of dread. Benedict appears, telling them the “fun is just beginning” (301).

Upon seeing Benedict, Evie’s dark magic erupts, freezing everyone in the vicinity, including Trystan. Trystan uses his own light-based magic to break free and calm Evie, helping her regain control. Benedict taunts them, revealing he knew they would come. The sliver of light from the dandelions coalesces into Destiny. Benedict threatens that, if Evie doesn’t help enact the curse, Rennedawn will perish and her brother will die. Guards then drag a wounded and poisoned Gideon into the meadow.

Gideon is suffering from the same poison as Marv, and Keeley is also being held captive. Griffin protests the king’s brutality, but Evie scoffs at his concern. Evie confronts Benedict, who gives her a choice: She can enact the curse and receive a cure for Gideon or let him die. Gideon urges her not to comply. Benedict reveals he needs the respective powers of all three Sage children. Destiny explains that the curse is not a new plan but a “correction” to her original story, which she claims the characters have “ruined” with their choices. Trystan shields Evie, shocking everyone by telling Benedict he will remain by Evie’s side “like her husband.” As Destiny begins the ritual with the book of Rennedawn and a memory flower containing Lyssa’s magic, Gideon refuses to offer his blood and charges at Benedict, only to be run through with a sword.

Horrified, Evie rushes to her brother Gideon’s side as he collapses. Trystan warns her not to remove the sword in his stomach. Benedict explains that the poison and the wound can only be cured in the cursed version of Rennedawn. With no other way to save him, Evie agrees to enact the curse. She shares a desperate kiss with Trystan, asking him to find her in the new world. Griffin releases her chains, and she offers her dark magic to the book of Rennedawn. Destiny instructs her to recite an incantation, which she does. Gideon then adds his shielding magic. As the curse begins, Trystan tells Evie to remember their past. A magical force explodes from the book. As Evie and Trystan run toward each other, the curse consumes them just before their hands can touch.

Two weeks later, in a cursed reality, Prince Trystan Benedict Martin pursues a runaway carriage, seeking to capture the villainous woman who has been tormenting the kingdom. He finds the carriage crashed and empty, only to be confronted by the woman herself, who holds a knife to his nose. He is stunned by her beauty, which contradicts the “unsightly” wanted posters. She teases him about his princely duties, and he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her, unable to act on his duty to arrest her. He discovers she has hung his Valiant Guards upside down from tree branches by their toenails. When he tackles her to prevent her escape, he finds himself unwilling to harm her. He is left bewildered by his instincts to protect the woman he is supposed to destroy.

Evie, now known as The Wicked Woman, is captured by a brutish Valiant Guard captain named Meenka, who handles her roughly. Prince Trystan, enraged, orders Meenka to release her. When Meenka insults Evie, Trystan strikes him unconscious. He gently helps Evie to her feet, and she is compelled to touch his cheek. Overcome by a strange connection, Trystan unlocks her magic-suppressing chains just as more guards arrive. He quickly shoves her behind a tree, telling the guards she escaped. As he rides away, Evie finds he has slipped her a white key with purple flowers. Her guvre, Fergus, arrives to fly her back to Massacre Manor. Evie smiles, eagerly anticipating her next encounter with Prince Trystan.

Two weeks before the curse, Winnifred is living again with her abusive employer, Amara. After Amara berates and slaps her, Winnifred is reminded that Maverine committed the crime that led to her own mother being turned to stone. Bolstered by this realization, Winnifred quits. Amara attacks her, declaring Winnifred will never be allowed to leave. At that moment, Kingsley enters the room, calmly murders Amara by stabbing her through the heart, and then offers the stunned Winnifred a job.