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{ 🔮 } · sibling bonding! . ݁ ٬٬ ࣪
DISTANCE WAS SHORTER IN THE LABYRINTH. Still, by the time Rachel got them back to Times Square, Endora felt like they'd pretty much run all the way from New Mexico. They climbed out of the Marriott basement and stood on the sidewalk in the bright summer daylight, squinting at the traffic and crowds. She couldn't decide which seemed less real ─ New York or the crystal cave where she'd watched a god die.
Percy led the way into an alley, where he could get a nice echo. Then he whistled as loud as he could, six times.
A minute later, Rachel gasped. "They're beautiful!"
A flock of pegasi descended from the sky, swooping between the skyscrapers. Blackjack was in the lead, followed by five of his white friends.
Yo, boss! He spoke in Percy's mind. You lived!
"Yeah," Percy told him. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick."
That's my specialty! Oh man, you got that Cyclops with you? Yo, Guido! How's your back holding up?
The pegasus Guido groaned and complained, but eventually he agreed to carry Tyson.
Everybody started saddling up ─ except Rachel.
"Well," she told Percy, "I guess this is it."
"Thanks, Rachel," Percy said. "We couldn't have done it without you."
"I wouldn't have missed it. I mean, except for almost dying, and Pan. . ." her voice faltered.
"He said something about your father," Percy remembered. "What did he mean?"
Rachel twisted the strap on her backpack. "My dad. . . My dad's job. He's kind of a famous businessman."
"You mean. . . you're rich?"
"Well, yeah."
"So that's how you got the chauffeur to help us? You just said your dad's name and ─ "
"Yes," Rachel cut me off. "Percy. . . my dad's a land developer. He flies all over the world, looking for tracts of undeveloped land." she took a shaky breath. "The wild. He ─ he buys it up. I hate it, but he plows it down and builds ugly subdivisions and shopping centers. And now that I've seen Pan. . . Pan's death ─ "
"Hey, you can't blame yourself for that."
"You don't know the worst of it. I-I don't like to talk about my family. I didn't want you to know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
