A soft sigh escaped her.
Where were the other gods now? Lore wondered. Free, or still trapped in the dark world below?
Her hands closed around one of Castor’s, needing his touch. “Will it feel the way it did in the station? Will it hurt to leave?”
“I don’t know,” Castor said, smoothing the hair back from her face. “I’m not sure what’ll happen.”
The seconds were passing too fast. Lore squeezed Castor’s hand. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she wondered what it would be like to no longer feel it.
Lore rolled up onto her toes, capturing his face between her hands and pulling him down for a kiss before it was too late.
“Are you afraid?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Just . . . worried about leaving the others.”
But it was more than that. I don’t want to go at all.
“If you could choose,” Lore began. “With everything you know . . . would you keep your power?”
He considered the question, stroking along her jaw. “No. I never wanted forever. When I was sick, I just wanted a moment more. An hour more. A day more. I wanted to wrestle with my dad, continue my training to be a healer, and to run through the city with you. . . .”
Lore closed her eyes, concentrating on the feeling of him, the sound of his voice.
“I needed the power this week, no matter what I thought of it,” Castor said. “But I still feel the way I did then, when I was a boy. Grateful for good days, when I feel strong in my body. Grateful for any time I have with you.”
Lore wrapped her arms around his center. He rested his cheek against her hair.
I don’t want to go, she thought. I don’t want to lose this, even for a moment.
She didn’t want eternity. She just wanted to hold Castor. To know that her friends were safe and nearby. To hear her city’s heartbeat, growing steadier by the day.
“Please,” Lore whispered—to the Cloudbringer himself, to whoever might have been listening. “Let us have a choice. Let it end.”
The air shifted around them, as if in answer. She felt a charge, spreading in a wild dance across her senses. A presence gathered behind them, a wall of immense, rumbling pressure. She didn’t turn around to face it.
“Please,” Lore whispered again, repeating the desperate prayer. “Let us go.”
Release us.
Wind rose, ruffling her hair. It sang an ancient song, carrying all that it had seen across lands, seas, and centuries. She drew in a sharp breath as it passed through her—a sudden warmth that spread across her soul. Lore gripped Castor tighter, but there was no pain. There was only light beyond her closed eyelids.
The pressure relented as the power shimmering inside her pulled free from her body like an unraveling thread. She drew in a sharp breath at the sensation, and again as it disappeared. The air settled and the sounds of the city rose once more.
Lore opened her eyes. “Cas . . . ?”
He opened his own. For a moment she could only stare at him in quiet wonder. His eyes were dark again without the sparks of power in his irises. They were the eyes she had seen every day as a child. They were the eyes she loved.
His mortal body was warm next to hers. She felt his heart begin to drum madly in his chest. Pure elation spread through her.
Thank you, she thought. Thank you.
Castor let out a soft, joyful laugh, his hands touching her arms, her hair, her face, as if needing to be sure it wasn’t a dream.
As the eighth day began, Lore smiled and kissed him.
GODS
DECEASED AT THE START OF THE AGON
Aphrodite—goddess of beauty, procreation, pleasure, and love
Ares—god of war, valor, brutality, and bloodlust
Dionysus—god of festivity, religious ecstasy, frenzy, theater, wine, and vegetation
Hephaestus (powers removed from the Agon)—god of fire, smiths, and stone- and metalwork
Poseidon—god of the sea, floods, drought, horses, and earthquakes
ALIVE AT THE START OF THE AGON
Artemis—goddess of the wilderness, the hunt, wild animals, childbirth, and young girls
Athena—goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war strategy; defender of cities
Hermes—god of flocks and herds, thieves, merchants, travelers, and language; guide of the dead and messenger of the Olympians
STATUS UNKNOWN AT THE START OF THE AGON
Apollo—god of prophecy, song, poetry, archery, healing, and light, as well as plagues and diseases
CURRENT NEW GODS
Heartkeeper, possessing the power of Aphrodite
The Reveler, possessing the power of Dionysus
Tidebringer, possessing the power of Poseidon
HOUSE OF PERSEUS, FOUNDER OF MYCENAE AND SLAYER OF MEDUSA
Rhea Perseous—mortal woman who became Tidebringer, the new Poseidon; distant relation to Lore
Demos Perseous—Lore’s father and the archon of the Perseides; murdered at the end of the last Agon
Helena Perseous—Lore’s mother; born into the House of Odysseus; murdered at the end of the last Agon
Melora Perseous—also known as Lore; the last mortal member of the Perseides
Olympia Perseous—Lore’s sister; murdered at the end of the last Agon
Damara Perseous—Lore’s sister; murdered at the end of the last Agon
HOUSE OF ACHILLES, HERO OF THE TROJAN WAR
Philip Achilleos—the archon of the Achillides; distant relation to Castor and Evander
Acantha Achilleos—former lioness; wife of Philip
Healer Kallias—Castor’s former healing instructor
Cleon Achilleos—Castor’s father; deceased
Phaedra Achilleos—Castor’s mother; killed during an earlier Agon
Castor Achilleos—Lore’s closest childhood friend and former training partner
Evander Achilleos—Castor’s distant cousin; messenger of the Achillides
Orestes Achilleos—member of Lore and Castor’s training class
HOUSE OF KADMOS, FOUNDER OF THEBES AND SLAYER OF THE SERPENT
Aristos Kadmou—former archon of the Kadmides who became Wrath, the new Ares
Belen Kadmou—son of Aristos; born out of wedlock
HOUSE OF ODYSSEUS, THE CUNNING KING OF ITHAKA
Iolas Odysseos—Iro’s father and former archon of the Odysseides who became Heartkeeper, the new Aphrodite; after ascending, his position as archon was inherited by a distant male relation
Dorcas Odysseos—Iro’s mother who mysteriously vanished; a close friend of Lore’s mother during her life
Iro Odysseos—Lore’s friend and former training partner
HOUSE OF HERAKLES, HERO OF THE TWELVE LABORS
Iason Herakliou—murdered the rest of his bloodline when he became the Reveler, the new Dionysus
OTHER HOUSES
The House of Bellerophon, slayer of the Chimera and rider of Pegasus (extinct bloodline)
The House of Jason, leader of the Argonauts who recovered the Golden Fleece (extinct bloodline)
The House of Meleager, prince of Calydon and slayer of the Calydonian boar (extinct bloodline)
The House of Theseus, king of Athens and slayer of the Minotaur
MY INTRODUCTION TO GREEK mythology came through a battered copy of D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, which my siblings and I inherited from our mom, who was eager to start introducing our Greek heritage to us. I’ve been blessed with a big Greek family that is everything the hunters in this book are not: incredibly loving, supportive, funny, and always ready with a vast collection of family legends. I would like to start by thanking all of them.
In addition to my family’s input on the Greek in this book, I owe a huge amount of gratitude to Brendon Zatirka and Kiki Hatzopoulou for helping me double-check usage and spelling, and for being all-around heroes of the highest order when it came to answering my many questions. They, along with
Katalina Edwards and Joel Christensen, were kind enough to also weigh in on transliterations from the original Greek and discuss the different ways of approaching the names of the bloodlines. (If you speak any version of the language, you may notice that I’ve leaned toward using the Romanized names for the sake of reader clarity, but I’ve tried to preserve some of the language’s “purity,” so to speak, whenever possible.)
This book also benefited greatly from the writings of Mary Beard and Christine Downing, both of whom helped me refine my own view of Athena and many of the myths discussed in this story, as well as the translation work done by Richmond Lattimore, Emily Wilson, Samuel Butler, Robert Fagles, and Hugh G. Evelyn-White. My fellow Greek mythology fans will see I’ve made some calls on which versions of the myths I wanted to use (for instance, having the aegis be a shield rather than a breastplate of sorts)—believe me when I say they were all tough calls and were ultimately made to help tell this story.
Lore and I were lucky enough to have a number of brilliant editorial minds weighing in on this story. Thank you to Laura Schreiber, Hannah Allaman, Marissa Grossman, and Rachel Stark for helping me figure out how best to tell this story. I’d also like to give a special thank-you to Kieran Viola for all of her help.
I feel so much gratitude to Ashil Lee for their wonderful and detailed feedback, which helped me come at this story from a more sensitive and nuanced angle, and added greatly to my own understanding.
To Emily Meehan, Seale Ballenger, Melissa Lee, Augusta Harris, Dina Sherman, LaToya Maitland, Holly Nagel, Elke Villa, Andrew Sansone, Sean Weigold, Jennifer Chan, Guy Cunningham, Meredith Jones, Dan Kaufman, Sara Liebling, Shane Jacobson, Alexandra Sheckler, Kim Greenberg, and the entire sales team: Thank you for all of your hard work and your devotion to giving books the best lives they can possibly have. Marci Senders: This cover is beautiful beyond words. I’d also like to thank Billelis for the incredibly eye-catching (pun intended) cover art and Keith Robinson for the gorgeous interior art.
I’m sending a big thank-you to Merrilee Heifetz for being in my corner, Rebecca Eskildsen, and the foreign rights team at Writers House for helping this book find readers across the world.
I can’t begin to describe how grateful I am to my incredible friend Anna Jarzab for believing in this story and for helping me brainstorm it. Thank you to Susan Dennard for always being game to weigh in when I need another trusted opinion, and for your limitless compassion. Finally, thank you to Erin Bowman, Leigh Bardugo, Victoria Aveyard, and Amie Kaufman for being a chorus of supportive voices!
ALEXANDRA BRACKEN is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Darkest Minds series and the Passenger series. Born and raised in Arizona, she moved east to study history and English at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. After working in publishing for several years, she now writes full-time. Her work is available across the world in over fifteen languages and has been adapted for the big screen. Visit her online at www.alexandrabracken.com and on Twitter and Instagram @alexbracken.