Lore

by Alexandra Bracken

  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

  Wrath, possessing the power of Ares

  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.