“What are you doing out here? (Gallagher)Not much. Akri is off with that red-headed demon so he said I could go play just so long as I don’t eat nothing not cooked by a human. But all my favorite places are closed so I thought I’d go find the bears myself and see if Jose, since he’s human, would make me up something good that wouldn’t make akri mad if I ate it. (Simi)”

“I miss my family. (Gallagher)I miss mine too. My mama was good people. ‘Simi,’ she would say, ‘I love you.’ Akri loves me too. See, akri even gave me hornay warmers so my horns wouldn’t get cold. You want some hornay warmers too? (Simi)I don’t have horns. (Gallagher)I could give you some real colorful ones. Akri has some black ones, but he doesn’t let other people see them. (Simi)Ash has horns? (Gallagher)Oh my, yes. They are quite lovely. Not as lovely as mine, but they are still very nice. The Simi would say she hopes you see them, but if you ever did, you’d be dead and I think the Simi would miss you. You seem very nice too. (Simi)”

“Oh, see then, the Simi is not in trouble. I just kill the Greek god and all’s fine. (Simi)You can’t kill a Greek god, Simi. It’s not allowed. (Acheron)There you go again, akri, saying no to the Simi. Don’t eat that, Simi. Don’t kill that, Simi. Stay here, Simi. Go to Katoteros, Simi, and wait for me to call you. I don’t like being told no, akri. (Simi)”

“No, Simi. No food. (Acheron)No, Simi. No food. The Simi don’t like this, akri. Katoteros is boring. There’s nothing fun there. Only old dead people who want to come back here. Bleh! (Simi)Simi...(Acheron)I hear and obey, akri. The Simi just never said she would do so quietly. (Simi)”

“Akri? Can I keep him? See, he good eating. Lots of fat on this one. (Simi)No, Simi. You can’t keep the baby. His mother would miss him. (Acheron)But he want to go home with the Simi. He said so. (Simi)No, Simi. (Acheron)No Simi, no food. Nag, nag, nag. (Simi)”

“I would like to barbecue those Olympian gods. They are very tasty. One day, I’m going to eat that redheaded goddess, too. (Simi)She doesn’t like Artemis. (Astrid)The Simi hates her, but akri says, ‘No, Simi, you can’t kill Artemis. Behave, Simi, don’t shoot fire at her, don’t make her bald, Simi.’ No, no, no. It’s all I hear. I don’t like that word. ‘No.’ It even sounds evil. The Simi tends to barbecue anyone dumb enough to say it to her. But not akri. He’s allowed to say no to me; I just don’t like it when he does. (Simi)”