❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒳. 𝒵𝑜𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒸𝓎 𝐻𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝐻𝑒𝓇𝓂𝑒𝓈

𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 right next to the duo was a guy in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and a sly smile. Zoe recognized him but she couldn't figure out where she had seen him before.

Zoe's first thought was that he must've been taking a midnight jog down the beach and strayed inside the camp borders. That wasn't supposed to happen. Regular mortals couldn't enter the valley. But maybe with the tree's magic weakening he'd managed to slip in. But in the middle of the night? And there was nothing around except farmland and state preserves. Where would this guy have jogged from?

Zoe's mind raced as she tried to figure out where she knew him from.

"May I join you?" he asked. "I haven't sat down in ages."

Zoe nodded as Percy said, "Uh, sure."

The jogger smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?"

He sat at the other end of the blanket, popped a soda and took a drink. "Ah...that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at—"

A cell phone went off in his pocket.

The jogger sighed. He pulled out his phone and my eyes got big, because it glowed with a bluish light. When he extended the antenna, two creatures began writhing around it—green snakes, no bigger than earthworms.

The jogger didn't seem to notice. He checked his LCD display and cursed. "I've got to take this. Just a sec..." Then into the phone: "Hello?"

He listened. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear.

"Yeah," the jogger said. "Listen—I know, but...I don't care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver, if he doesn't have a tracking number, we can't locate his package. ...A gift to humankind, great...You know how many of those we deliver—Oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Eris in customer service. I gotta go."

That's when it clicked. Hermes. God of travelers, thieves, messengers and so many other things, it was hard to keep track.

He hung up. "Sorry. The overnight express business is just booming. Now, as I was saying —"

"You have snakes on your phone." Percy stated, dumbfounded.

"What? Oh, they don't bite. Say hello, George and Martha."

Hello, George and Martha, a raspy male voice said inside Zoe's head.

Don't be sarcastic, said a female voice.

Why not? George demanded. I do all the real work.

"Oh, let's not go into that again!" The god slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Now, where were we...Ah, yes. Peace and quiet."

He crossed his ankles and stared up at the stars. "Been a long time since I've gotten to relax. Ever since the telegraph—rush, rush, rush. Do either of you have a favorite constellation?"

Percy said, "Uh, I like Hercules."

"Why?"

"Well...because he had rotten luck. Even worse than mine. It makes me feel better."

Hermes chuckled. "Not because he was strong and famous and all that?"

"No."

"You're an interesting young man. And you, Zoe?"

"I don't have a favorite. There are too many to choose from."

"Understandable. So, Percy, what now?"

Before he could answer, Martha the snake's muffled voice came from his pocket: I have Demeter on line two.