Lore

Back at the safe house, Iro arrives. She apologizes for turning on Lore and promises she’s now firmly on their side. Van arrives, relieved to see Lore, and Lore realizes these people are the family that were waiting for her to notice them “the whole time she‘d been chasing the past” (407). Van also notices Athena is missing, and Lore tells the entire story—about how Gil was Hermes and Athena tricked her.

Iro informs the group that Wrath and the rest of the Kadmides are at the Waldorf Astoria. The purpose of Tidebringer’s flood was to force large groups of people to gather in a few specific locations, likely to be sacrificed. Many of the city’s main disaster shelters were ruined in the flood and bigger places, like Grand Central Station, are housing people. With this information, Miles realizes why the Kadmides are at the Waldorf Astoria, and that “we only have until tomorrow to stop them” (411).

Miles believes Wrath chose the Waldorf Astoria because of Track Sixty-One—a special subway built for Franklin Delano Roosevelt to travel from the hotel to Grand Central Station so people wouldn’t see he couldn’t walk. Iro and Van will gather the remaining Odysseides and Achillides to slow down Wrath’s forces. Lore will use the aegis as bait to draw Wrath and Athena into battle with one another, figuring the group can then “take care of whoever emerges from it alive” (414). If they’re successful, they just need to keep Castor alive for another day, and then they’ll have until the next Agon to work out what the poem means.

Lore dreams of the Underworld, where she sees all the gods, except Apollo. Unsure what it means, she wakes to find Van watching a sleeping Miles with longing. Van and Lore separate from the sleeping group to talk about the past and Lore’s dream. Lore receives a text from Iro, confirming the attack, and the group prepares to pass the time. Miles makes a run for supplies, bringing back armor, noise-cancelling headphones (to block out Wrath’s persuasive powers), and a few other things for Lore and Castor to use, everyone knowing that, in the end, “It may not be enough” (421).

The group heads out, not saying their goodbyes until the last minute. Miles kisses Van, surprising everyone, and the group splits: Miles to Grand Central Station; Van to meet up with Iro, and Lore and Castor to confront Wrath. Castor and Lore head down into the subway. They work their way down the track and right into an ambush. Lore holds up the aegis, using its terror to catch the hunters off guard. Castor engages the hunters in battle, both with weapons and his godly power, and Lore makes a run for it through the tunnel “until Castor’s presence no longer burned at her back” (426).

Lore runs through the tunnels until she’s beneath the Waldorf Astoria. Sure enough, Wrath is on Track Sixty-One. He’s dressed for battle, the skin of the Nemean lion draped over his shoulders, which means “Wrath’s plan was happening now” (429), not at sunset as Iro’s source said. Lore tries to text her friends, but she has no cell service.

Belen is there, trying to reason with Wrath about why “she” chose to help him. Lore thinks the “she” refers to her, but it’s Athena, who watches from the shadows. Athena joins Wrath and Belen, stroking Wrath’s ego by telling him she’s finally found someone worthy of being king of existence. Athena reminds Wrath that “all great ventures must begin with a sacrifice” (431), and Wrath kills Belen. Wrath soaks his hand in Belen’s blood, leaves a bloody handprint on the tank-like vehicle beside him on the train track, and calls Lore out of hiding.