She wrapped her arm around her belly and roared with laughter.

“Madness suits you.” I smiled and offered a helping hand.

Her fingers laced through mine, and I pulled her upright.

She stood, smoothing out her wrinkled cotton shirt and trousers, then finger-combed her matted, blond locks. “I have a god working on my ship.” Her chuckling receded. “I’m hired on a mission ordered by Zeus, Apollo, and Poseidon.” She shook her head. “And I’m sailing to drop you off on an island to kill sea creatures you are technically related to and save your mother, a muse, from her imprisonment.” She bent to retrieve the blanket from the floor and tossed it back on her bed. “I need a drink.”

Lou walked to a large tantalus displaying four decanters and over a dozen liquor glasses. A thin layer of dust covered the outside. Gold-plated hunting dogs decorated the oak “cave of liqueur.” She pulled out a key from the drawer below it and unlocked the door. Brown alcohol sloshed back and forth as she gripped the neck of the bottle and popped the top with her thumb. She reached back in for two glasses, setting them on the table. “Brandy?”

“Sure.”

Lou poured three fingers of the amber spirit and threw back the contents in one, large gulp. She made herself a second glass and then one for me.

She leaned forward, handing me my drink. “Do I even want to know how you stopped The Black Hollow?”

I stepped back, giving her some space as I took my own sip. She seemed a heartbeat away from either fainting again or losing her mind completely. “That depends. Do you think you can stay upright while I tell you?”

She dismissed my question with the flick of her hand, then downed another drink. “Tell me. I’m battened down.”

“Hermes…”

“Can we just call him Smitter for now?” she asked, refilling her cup.

I paused, unsure if I should caution her consumption. At this rate, she’d be dead asleep again within the hour. I doubted Lou could hold her liquor like a three-hundred-pound man, yet that’s how she continued to drink. I thought it best to keep my mouth shut until she started to sway.

“Smitter has the ability to come and go as he pleases, as you saw.”

She wagged her head in understanding.