I scramble blindly through the turnstile with the Furies’ shrieks for vengeance in my ears. Oh gods, no. The other Houses don’t know that my House still exists. They think we went extinct. My only hope is that I’m not caught. I can’t get caught—or killed.
Two trains are pulling into the station, side by side on opposite tracks. One train is going uptown and the other is going downtown. I throw myself onto the uptown train and watch the doors, willing them to hurry up and close. At the very edge of my sight I can see the Furies. They blink in and out of view as I turn to look at them. Their long black hair is matted with ashes and their faces are streaked with gore as they weep tears of blood. They whisper the names of the dead and call to me, begging me to murder my enemy and avenge my House. I back up against the windows opposite the door and spin around.
In the other train, looking at me through the window, is the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen. He has golden hair and bright blue eyes. His skin seems to glow softly, like he carries the sun inside him. One of his paint-stained hands is clutching his chest, like he just got punched, and the other is pressed flat against the glass of the window. I raise my hand and press it against my window, mirroring him. He looks so confused. Stunned. Like he’s just seen a ghost.
My enemy. Ajax.
The screams of the Furies rise to a fever pitch and the two trains pull out of the station, tearing us apart.