𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 16

Sixteen
ꕤ

A Thief Gives Us A Hand

Here's my definition of not fun. Fly a pegasus toward an out-of-control helicopter. If Guido had been any less of a fancy flier, we would've been chopped to confetti.

  I could hear Rachel screaming inside. For some reason, she hadn't fallen asleep, but I could see the pilot slumped over the controls, pitching back and forth as the helicopter wobbled toward the side of an office building.

  "Ideas?" I asked Annabeth.

  "You're going to have to take Guido and get out," she said.

  "What are you going to do?"

  In response, she said, "Hyah!" and Guido went into a nosedive.

  "Duck!" Annabeth yelled.

  We passed so close to the rotors I felt the force of the blades ripping at my hair and letting my dyed roots out. We zipped along the side of the helicopter, and Annabeth grabbed the door.

  That's when things went wrong.

  Guido's wing slammed against the helicopter. He plummeted straight down with me on his back, leaving Annabeth dangling from the side of the aircraft. I was so terrified I could barely think, but as Guido spiraled I caught a glimpse of Rachel pulling Annabeth inside the copter.

  "Hang in there!" I yelled at Guido.

  "My wing," he moaned. "It's busted."

  "You can do it!" I desperately tried to remember what Silena used to tell us in pegasus-riding lessons.

  "Just relax the wing. Extend it and glide. Like a leaf."

  We fell like a rock—straight toward the pavement three hundred feet below. At the last moment Guido extended his wings. I saw the faces of centaurs gaping up at us. Then we pulled out of our dive, sailed fifty feet, and tumbled onto the pavement—pegasus over demigod.

  "Ow!" Guido moaned. "My legs. My head. My wings."

  Chiron galloped over with his medical pouch and began working on the pegasus.

  I got to my feet. When I looked up, my heart crawled into my throat. The helicopter was only a few seconds away from slamming into the side of the building.

  Then miraculously the helicopter righted itself. It spun in a circle and hovered. Very slowly, it began to descend.

  It seemed to take forever, but finally the helicopter thudded to a landing in the middle of Fifth Avenue. I looked through the windshield and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Annabeth was at the controls.

I ran forward as the rotors spun to a stop. Rachel opened the side door and dragged out the pilot.

  Rachel was still dressed like she was on vacation, in beach shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals. Her hair was tangled and her face was green from the helicopter ride.

  Annabeth climbed out last.

  I stared at her in awe. "I didn't know you could fly a helicopter."

  "Neither did I," she said. "My dad's crazy into aviation. Plus, Daedalus had some notes on flying machines. I just took my best guess on the controls."

  "You saved my life," Rachel said.

  Annabeth flexed her bad shoulder. "Yeah, well ... let's not make a habit of it. What are you doing here, Dare? Don't you know better than to fly into a war zone?"