Her father nodded. “The Achillides will accept you into their training, but you’ll need to start today.”

Lore threw aside her bedsheets, jumping to her feet quickly enough to make her father chuckle. He bent over her, kissing her head. She kissed him back. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Shhh,” he reminded her, pointing to Olympia.

Lore pretended to zip her lips, but she couldn’t stop grinning. She bounced on her toes.

“It won’t be like what you’ve read,” he said, smoothing her hair down. “I don’t want you to be disappointed when you arrive and see it is not Sparta.”

The hunters had adapted their training programs from those of the great Sparta, but they removed the things they didn’t like. Lore didn’t care; the only thing that mattered was that she would be able to fight like her parents did. That she would get to see the ceremonies and the archives and all the things they didn’t have in their own small family. The big mysteries she’d only ever heard stories about.

“Today?” she said, just to be sure it wasn’t a dream. “Really?”

“Really,” he said. “Now wash up and get dressed. I’ll take you there before my shift.”

Lore raced to the small dresser she shared with her sister, yanking out the top drawer. The photos there rattled, making Olympia stir and turn over. Lore glanced back at the tuft of dark hair over the bedsheet and forced herself to quietly pull out a T-shirt, her sweater, and a pair of jeans, then shut it again. She went to the bed again and pulled the covers back over Pia, making sure Bunny Bunny the doll was in reach.

Finally, she thought, excitement swelling in her until she could barely breathe. She raced out of the room, only stopping when she realized she didn’t have her shoes.

Three months earlier, her parents had sat with her at their small kitchen table and explained why she might not be able to begin her training with the other hunter children her age.

There isn’t the time for it, her mother had said. I know this is upsetting, but I also know you understand that we’re not the same as the other bloodlines. My— The House of Odysseus won’t open its doors to us after I renounced my name, and even then their school is across the sea. Your father and I will have to continue your training. Come summer, I may be able to work fewer hours, and Mrs. Osborne will be able to see to your sisters. . . .

Lore had nodded, letting the tears and ache build inside her skull until she could escape to her room. She’d cried silently into her pillow and shoved the book of myths her father had given her far beneath her bed, so she wouldn’t be able to reach for it again.

She’d fallen into a deep, deep sleep and there, her fate had come to her, shimmering. Dreams were messages from Zeus. It was important she remembered everything. She saw the edge of a shield held firm in front of her, repelling the darkness. A wing made of golden light. Bright eyes reflected in the blade of a sword.

She had kept the dream to herself. Now, it seemed, the Fates were ready for her.

Her mother was already in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Damara was nestled in a bassinet, babbling quietly to herself. She was smaller than a doll, and her skin so soft and thin that Lore was sometimes afraid touching her would leave a bruise.

She leaned over and kissed her sister softly on the head. She liked to whisper her secrets to Damara, because, unlike Pia, Damara couldn’t tell her parents what Lore said.

“I’m a little nervous,” she said softly, then tickled her until Damara cooed.

Lore laughed. “She sounds like a kitten.”

“A kitten?” Papa reached in, stroking the curve of Damara’s cheek, letting her gnaw on his thumb.

“She’s a Perseous all right,” he told them proudly. “The strength of this grip!”

“A Puuurrrrseous,” Lore said, giggling.

“Someone is excited, I see,” Mama said as she set down a bowl of oats in front of Lore. Lore breathed in the sweet smell of the cinnamon and bananas she’d mixed into it. She’d made her favorite breakfast.

“Do you want me to braid your hair?” Mama asked.

Lore nodded eagerly, letting her mother brush out her waves and carefully weave them into a plait as she quickly finished the food in front of her. Papa and Mama talked quietly about the news on the radio.

“Can we go?” Lore asked. “Can we go early?”

Her father laughed. “What do you say to your mother?”

“Oh! Thank you, Mama,” Lore said, standing on her chair to kiss her cheek. Her mother helped her down, following them to the door. She handed Lore’s father his coat, then helped Lore into her own.

“You’ve nearly outgrown this one, too,” she said, bemused. “You’ll be tall, like my mother.”

Lore could only hope. It would help her when it came to sparring and, later, hunting.

“It will feel very hard at first,” her mother told her, buttoning her up. “Take heart, and don’t be discouraged. Everything will come to you in time. You are a daughter of Perseus.”

The words stayed in Lore’s mind as she and her father made their way downtown, taking the subway farther than she’d ever gone. When they emerged from the station, the streets were as unfamiliar as they were thrilling.

Her father held her hand, resisting Lore’s attempts to tug free until they finally reached a large brick building. Her father paused a moment, checking the number, then moved his hand to her shoulder to guide her to the smaller building beside it. There, the door opened before he could raise his hand to knock.

A man met them there, glowering down at where they stood on the lower steps. His black hair was slicked down against his scalp, and Lore noted immediately that he had a face like an irritated goat.

“We are honored by your graciousness.” Her father bowed his head, reaching into the inner pocket of his coat to pull out a thick envelope. The man accepted it without a second glance. “May I present my daughter, Melora?”

“You understand the terms of this arrangement? The favor I ask of you in return?” the man said, his voice rumbling.

Lore looked between then, confused. Favor?

“I do,” her father said. “I will send all the information on Tidebringer to you.”

“By tonight.”

“Tonight,” her father agreed.

Lore’s brow furrowed. Tidebringer had caused the destruction of their family, but she didn’t like the idea of giving this man, a rival of her own house, anything.