Carrying Fire

Carrying Fire is the second part in Lore.

## Summary

Lore, Castor, and Van arrive back at the brownstone, only to be attacked by Athena. Miles fills Lore in on what happened while she was out at Thetis House, and Van fills everyone else in on the situation regarding Wrath, the bloodlines, and his plan. Iro may know the full Agon Poem, so they need to find her.

Lore, Van, Athena, and Castor all get ready to go to the Odyssides' Ithaka House. Miles, meanwhile, leaves to meet with Van's asset in another bloodline. Using Van's drone, they survey the area, and notice that hunters (later revealed to be Kadmides) are swarming.

They also see Wrath talking with the bound Heartkeeper. Iro is in the vault of Ithaka House and Wrath finds out by a defector Odysside who is promptly killed. Wrath taunts Iro, and Lore remembers seeing the plans for the property.

There is another way in, as with most every other property they have. Van leaves to get the Odyssides trapped by Kadmides on a bus, where the others sneak in and look for Iro. They see Iro watching as Heartkeeper is killed by Wrath. Wrath spots Lore, as Castor uses his power to rupture the glass ceiling of the building.

Wrath escapes, and they take the knocked-out Iro back to the townhouse. Van texts her a location to meet up. Once there, Van and Miles, who is back, discuss the intel: the Reveler was working with Wrath, but fled at the Awakening. Castor heals Iro, and everyone (minus the still-unconscious Iro, plan the next move: to find the Reveler. They pinpoint him to the Frick collection.

Iro wakes up, and her first reaction is to attack Castor. She accuses Lore of lying about Castor's death, but Lore retorts that *Iro's family* told her that. Van shows Lore the Kadmides' tracking app, and lots of sightings turn up for Lore. Wrath has a lot of hunters gunning for Lore, they realize.

Iro says that she doesn't know the poem, but does know where it's found: the Aegis. Iro also mentions that Wrath needs Lore for his plan. They set off. A Theseide hunter tries to attack them, but Athena kills him.

They arrive, and find three dead security guards. It is assumed the Reveler killed them, and when they find him, he is aggressive. He grabs at Lore's throat through a wall, and the Reveler thinks that Athena is going to kill him. They assure him they won't. They talk, and the Reveler reveals that he didn't kill the guards. The Reveler agrees to answer some questions. Miles gets information from the Reveler by testing assumptions instead of questions when he gets his chance. They learn why the Reveler and Hermes split (because the Reveler agreed with Wrath and Hermes distrusted Wrath), why he allied with Wrath (he saw potential in his vision).

Athena's question is Lore's involvement (the final piece is Lore's, which is the aegis). The Reveler says afterward that Wrath told him to find Lore. He had trouble, because of Hermes' feather necklace. Wrath wants the aegis, and only Lore knows where it is. The Reveler notes that his efforts failed because Hermes found her first, and lived with her the years he was missing.

## Naming

The name is referencing Prometheus; Lore and Iro talk about their viewpoints on Lore's working with gods, Iro not liking it, and Lore saying that Prometheus worked with humans. Iro responds to this with the idea that humans aren't meant to carry fire.