“Hermes smiled. "I knew a boy once ... oh, younger than you by far. A mere baby, really."Here we go again, George said. Always talking about himself.Quiet! Martha snapped. Do you want to get set on vibrate?Hermes ignored them. "One night, when this boy's mother wasn't watching, he sneaked out of their cave and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollo.""Did he get blasted to tiny pieces?" I asked."Hmm ... no. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollo an instrument he'd invented-a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry."So what's the moral?""The moral?" Hermes asked. "Goodness, you act like it's a fable. It's a true story. Does truth have a moral?""Um ...""How about this: stealing is not always bad?""I don't think my mom would like that moral."Rats are delicious, suggested George.What does that have to do with the story? Martha demanded.Nothing, George said. But I'm hungry."I've got it," Hermes said. "Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. How's that?”

“It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the internet-""You invented the internet?"It was my idea, Martha said.Rats are delicious, George said."It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the internet, not the rats. But that's not the point.”

“You two should really get a room," Apollo said from out of nowhere."My poor eyes..."I groaned. Even in his true identity, he still had impeccable timing."Gods," Aiden spat. He pulled back, casting Apollo a disgusted look over my head. "Do you get off on sneaking up on us?""You probably don't want to know what I get off on.”

“Well, I'll just toss these cake samples if we're not going to use them," said Hermes, vanishing with the cakes."Apollo?" Hera clutched at his golden breastplate. "Apollo, we can still have a party, right? When was it going to be? I'll act surprised, I promise. I will!""Sorry, Hera...the fun just seems to have gone out of it now.”

“I gotta say"—Apollo broke the silence—"these kids did okay." He cleared his throat and began to recite: "Heroes win laurels—"Um, yes, first class," Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry.”

“Alex fainted—""I didn't faint," I grumbled, feeling my cheeks flush.Aiden's lip curved up on one side. "Okay. She was suddenly not walking or talking anymore. During that time, she saw Seth. Apparently he used Hermes to pull her in.""Hermes?" Apollo hissed—actually hissed like an angry lion. "That little, punk-ass bitch."My brows rose.”