“Remember to set your alarm, Avery,” my mother shouted from downstairs. Despite Katherine Montgomery’s small stature, she had a loud, stern voice. I was in the middle of brushing my teeth, so I couldn’t respond to her right away. “Avery! Did you hear what I just said?”

“Yes, Mom!” I opened the bathroom door so she could hear me clearly. “I got it. I’m brushing my teeth.”

“Tomorrow is a big day. You need to be prepared in case you meet your soul mate.”

Soul mate.

I shuddered. That word alone ignited the same reaction I got from watching a horror movie alone in my bedroom at midnight. I could always turn off the movie, but there was no escaping my fate.

I was seventeen now, but I would turn eighteen on December 22. I would be attending my first Gathering to awaken my clairaudient ability. Thinking about the long procession, the formality, and the fact that I had to dress up for the occasion was exhausting. After all, there was no guarantee that your soul mate would be at the Gathering in your first year—or even your fifth or sixth. Or even at all. Sometimes a Hellenicus died still waiting to meet their soul mate. My mom came upstairs and we met in the hallway.

“Hurry up and get to sleep. Eye bags aren’t attractive.”

“Mom, relax. Maybe I won’t meet mine this year,” I said.

“But maybe you will,” she said. “I met your dad during my first Gathering. Not everyone’s so lucky to meet their soul mate at their first Gathering, but we’re the descendants of—”

“Tyche, the goddess of luck,” I said, having been reminded at least a dozen times a day. Everyone knew that it was impossible for Regulars to trace their lineage, so it drove me crazy that she insisted we were the descendants of Tyche. I had just about the worst luck in the world, which convinced me that my mom had no idea what she was talking about.

“Exactly. We’re descendants of the goddess of luck! You should know better that—”

What if she was right? What if I did meet my soul mate this year? My body instinctively shivered at the thought.