Alcippe stepped in front of her. “She challenged me.”

Bubbe shrugged. “Perhaps, but the truth she wants is mine to tell.” Then she kept moving, enigmatic and frustrating as ever.

I followed Bubbe into the gym, the other Amazons, Mother, and Alcippe filed in too. Bubbe had already taken position at the far end, near the stage. Leaving me the space by the door. Alcippe took center court. Mother and the other Amazons formed two lines flanking us. Normally there would have been a circle of Amazons surrounding us, but in the rectangular space available, the lines made more sense. Plus, the rite normally would have been performed outside-the walls of the gym more than made up for the lack of Amazons completing the customary circle.

Alcippe waved her hand. The doors slammed shut behind us. I sensed they wouldn’t open until we were through.

My grandmother stood the full length of the basketball court away. Her arms at her sides, she looked completely at peace-like she hadn’t just twisted my challenge, forced herself into the position I’d meant for Alcippe.

Why had she done it? Frustrated, I stalked forward, got to the center before hitting an invisible wall of power. I cursed and turned to face Alcippe. “This isn’t what I asked for. I didn’t challenge Bubbe. I challenged you.”

“I didn’t hear a name, only a request. A request I answered.” Bubbe didn’t even bother to look at me as she spoke, concentrated instead on folding the arms of her sleeves up past her wrists.

I wanted to scream, could feel it growing inside me. I did not want to fight Bubbe, but her cold indifference to what she had done was infuriating me, and she knew it. Damn her. She was pushing my buttons, trying to get me to forget myself.

I took a deep breath and adjusted my own sleeves, pulling them down until they brushed the top knuckle of my thumb.

The Amazons stood like stone statues beside us. No one except me seemed concerned that Bubbe had twisted the rite as she had. Fine. I’d fight my grandmother. And I’d try to beat her. Get whatever truth I could from her, even if it was just why she had stepped in to protect Alcippe.

That was certainly a question that was burning inside me.

Alcippe raised her arms, lifted the wall, and I faced my grandmother in a way I never had before. I waited, thinking the entire thing might be a put-on show, a way to make me see the light-or the light as my grandmother saw it.

As I stared at her, she looked different, old, frail. Bubbe never looked old, not really. I frowned. I couldn’t do this. I started to turn, to tell Alcippe it was over, I’d admit defeat and give up whatever truth they wanted. As I moved, color flashed from the end of the room-Bubbe moving her arms. Suddenly I was surrounded by eleven of the twelve Amazon telioses: bull, lion, stag, fish, dog, hawk, serpent, hare, leopard, boar, and bear. Each as real as the wolf outside had been, and each just as deadly.

I looked at Bubbe, surprised. I’d been the one to issue the challenge, meaning she got to choose the battle, but I hadn’t expected this.

“Never underestimate, devochka moya.” She slid her gaze to the first telios-a bull. Hereford by the looks of him. You never could tell with Bubbe; she liked to mix old with new. For whatever reason, I got a bull known more for burgers than fighting.

Might have been some kind of insult. The thought had barely formed before he started trotting forward, horns high and ears erect.

At three thousand pounds it didn’t matter what he was bred for, he was damn intimidating.

My bullfighting experience was pretty much limited to one rodeo I attended back in my Amazon days. And I wasn’t the one fighting him, my designated one-night stand had been-well, riding him, actually. Still, it was all the experience I had to go on.

I rubbed my palms on my jeans.

“Mel.” Mother broke ranks long enough to slide her sword across the gym floor. I watched it twirl in circles, like some crazy game spinner. Where would it stop? Whose move?

Lucky me. It was mine.

The bull lowered his head and snorted. I somersaulted across the floor, stopping next to the sword, and picked it up with both hands. It took a minute for my arms to adjust to the feel of it. It wasn’t heavy, not like some movies and fantasy novels would have you believe, but I wasn’t used to it. Swords were never my thing.

The bull seemed to sense that. He charged.

I tried to position the sword, to pierce the animal in the neck where I calculated I would do the most damage with the least effort, but my movements were awkward and I stumbled. As the creature pounded toward me, sense won out over looking good or doing things right. I deserted the sword and leapt out of his path. I could smell the sweat on his body, feel the air move as he raced past.

I let out a ragged breath, my knees crumpling beneath me.

Telios. Why telios? The rite of truth could be fought any way-with magic, hand-to-hand combat-hell, as far as I knew, two hearth-keepers could stage a bake-off. And my grandmother, who I’d thought carried at least some fondness for me, chose the Amazon telioses embodied. I was glad Artemis hadn’t had a fondness for dragons.

My breathing still labored, I pressed my fingers into the floor to keep from tumbling and looked at Bubbe. Her face was calm, almost unlined. All appearances of frailty and old age were gone.

The old fake-I should have known better. The beginnings of anger pushed me to a stand. Her gaze behind me, Bubbe twitched a brow. I turned, but too late. The bull stampeded, his head down. There was no time to dodge, no time to think. On instinct, I murmured a prayer and blew out a breath. His steps slowed, his head lowered further-as if he were pushing against a wall instead of charging across the open gym floor.

I blew harder. He slowed more until finally he seemed to lose all steam, slowed to a stop, then stood there, head hanging and his body colored dark with sweat.

I placed my hand over my heart, felt the thumping inside my chest, then picked up the sword and strode forward. Staring my grandmother in the eye, I stabbed the weapon through his neck, severing his spinal cord. The telios shimmered and vanished, back to nothingness…air. The sword clattered to the ground.

I’d felt the muscle as I’d shoved the sword into his neck, felt the heat of his body and his breath. He had been real…but now he was gone. Air…nothing but air. Only my grandmother could do that. No sooner had the thought come than the bull reappeared-just as solid and intimidating as he had been originally.

I bent to retrieve the sword and did my best to hide the sinking feeling in my core. I weighed the weapon and my options. Obviously, in my grandmother’s rule book I hadn’t bested the bull. I took a step toward him, hoping some new idea would come to me before he gored me in the stomach, but he seemed uninterested in me, frozen, in fact. I frowned and began moving in a circle, pivoting slowly on one foot to study each animal for movement.

Behind me another telios came to life. I recognized the feeling now, a kind of tingle, like something was creeping up on me-which it was.

I supposed I should have been grateful Bubbe was launching the creatures at me one at a time rather than releasing them in some kind of Amazon blood orgy but, as I turned, I saw the gaping jaws of a lion as he yawned into life. No words of thanks sprang to mind-just a few well-worn curses.

I didn’t bother reaching for the sword. I knew nothing about fighting a lion, but doubted holding a sword would provide me with much advantage.

Again Mother came to the rescue, sliding a shield and spear across the floor. I was thinking something big and loaded with bullets would be a lot more practical, but Amazons didn’t do firearms. Besides, pulling a trigger probably wouldn’t teach whatever lesson my grandmother had gone to so much trouble to relay to me.