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Waterskiing and cupcakes. I decided not to scream, because if Hecate was scary enough to keep all the other gods away from me, she was scary with a capital SCARE.

“Andyourquest is…worthy of my time.”

“Absolutely! Your task shall be—”

“Hold on.” In the back of my mind, a red light flashed…a warning, a memory? Something Eudora had told me. Oh, right…

“My counselor told me I need to request dual credit before I undertake a quest,” I said. “So, like, if I have to do favors for any other gods along the way, they can write me recommendation letters too.”

Hecate spread her arms generously. “That’s no problem!”

“Great.”

“Because no other gods will be involved in what I’m asking you to do, so it won’t matter!”

She beamed like she was waiting for a thank-you.

“What’s the quest?” I grumbled.

“Pet-sitting.”

“Excuse me?”

“Pet-sitting! Starting tonight through Friday evening, you will stay at my house and watch my animals. As you know, this is an important time of year for me.”

“Because…Oh, Friday. Halloween.”

It made sense that the goddess of creepy stuff would have that date circled on her calendar. The only problem was, my friends and I already had plans for Friday.

“Alas…” Hecate sighed. “My sacred days used to happen at the end ofeverymonth. I would travel the world collecting gifts that my worshippers left for me on their doorsteps. Over the past few centuries, the offerings have been slim. But at the end of October, people still remember me! So I must travel the world and make my presence known. While I’m gone, you must watch my hellhound and polecat.”

There was a lot to unpack in that statement. My big takeaway was that Hecate was going trick-or-treating. She seemed to believe that Halloween had been created just for her.

On the one hand, that was some god-level narcissism.

On the other hand, who was I to stand between a goddess and her Tootsie Rolls?

“So, these pets…” I said. “I know a little about hellhounds. But polecats…do they eat polecat chow? Anything I should know?”

Hecate chuckled. “Many things. But we’ll go over that later.”

She produced a black business card, which she slid across the table. Written on the front, in glistening red like fresh blood, was an address:THE MANSE, GRAMERCY PARK WEST.

“Arrive at sunset,” she said. “Then I will go over the rules for keeping my pets healthy and happy.”

“Sunset…tonight.”

She frowned. “Do you have water in your ears? Yes. Tonight. You may bring those friends of yours…Anna and Groverbeth.”

Close enough, I thought.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said, because what choice did I have? But I must not have sounded very excited.

Hecate rose from her desk. “Percy Jackson, I am offering you the chance for a recommendation letter fromme: a major goddess, the Torch Bearer—”

“The Star Walker, yeah, I get it. It’s just that I’ll have to move a few things around on my schedule.…”

Hecate lifted her arms. Darkness spread from the folds of her dress, filling the room with an inky fog. “This will be an easy assignment, Percy Jackson. If you succeed, I will be grateful. If you fail me, however…”