“I had spell cast on me,” Kirill growled. “Vhat is your father's excuse?”
Pan grimaced. “Fine. He was a dick. But he's still my father, and I need you to help me find his Caduceus. Not just for him either. That thing is powerful. We can't leave it in the hands of some unknown god.”
“Yes, you're right,” Odin said. “And we were just about to head to his territory when you appeared. Has Hermes opened the ward for us?”
“Yes, but I decided to escort you just in case.” Pan grimaced. “Dad isn't himself.”
“Has it gotten worse?” Odin asked.
“It comes and goes—waves of forgetfulness and straight-up stupidity.”
“I thought he was normal without the Caduceus?” I asked Odin.
Odin shook his head. “It's hard to say how the loss of such an integral tool will affect a god.”
I looked back at Pan. “It sounds as if he'll need a chaperone until we find his Caduceus.”
“And you're here,” Trevor said. “Did you leave him all alone?”
“No, my siblings are with him.”
“All of them?” Odin asked.
Pan grimaced again. “Yup.”
“Why is that an issue?” I asked.
“Dad gets around,” Pan said with a lopsided grin. He waved at himself and added, “Like father, like son.”
“Well, he is the Messenger God,” Viper said. “Getting around is kind of his thing.”
“That urge got purified in me,” Pan said. “Pure getting around.”
I rolled my eyes. “And yet, you only have one child.”
“Actually, I have four more sons—Silenus, Lynx, Krotos, and Xanthos.”
“You have . . .” I gaped at him. “Wait. Silenus? Do you mean that drunk donkey guy who hangs out with Dionysus?”
“He's a horse, not a donkey, thank you very much,” Panhuffed. “And he only gets drunk to receive prophecies.”
“He's your son? How did I not know that?”
Pan shrugged. “I raise them then set them free to live their lives as they see fit. I don't hover.”
“A horse,” Viper said. “Makes sense.”
“Why does that make sense?” Trevor asked.
“Because Pan's a faun, right?”
“That's a goat. Part goat, I mean.”
“I thought fauns were part deer?”
“How is that any closer to a horse?”
“Hey!” Pan snapped. “I'm not a faun. I just look one when I choose to. Similar, but not the same. I am simply Pan.”
