Ivy Pittaluga had always made a solemn vow to keep her distance from Percy Jackson, determined to keep her world separate from the camp hero.
However, she realizes that fate has a mischievous plan in store for her. Suddenly thrown together as unlik...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Rachel got us back to Times Square. We climbed out of the Marriott basement and stood on the sidewalk in the bright summer daylight. I had to squint to adjust my eyes to the traffic and crowds of New York.
Percy led the way into an alleyway. Then he whistled loudly five times. A minute later, a flock of pegasi appeared in the sky above us.
"They're beautiful." Rachel gasped.
The flock descended from the sky, swooping between the skyscrapers. Percy's pegasus, Blackjack, was leading. Five white pegasi followed after him.
"Yeah." Percy spoke to Blackjack. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick."
One of the pegasi trodded over to me. If I remember correctly, this one's name is Sugar. I greeted her with a smile, running my hand through it's mane. I climbed onto it with ease. Rachel just stood there, smiling faintly.
"Well, I guess this is it." Rachel said only to Percy.
Percy nodded uncomfortably, eyeing my reaction. I bit back a scowl and started to braid parts of Sugar's mane. I could see him wince. From beside me, I saw Annabeth roll her eyes from her pegasus.
"Thanks for helping." Percy said, careful with his wording.
"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?"
"My dad..." Rachel twisted the strap on her backpack. "My dad's job. He's kind of a famous businessman."
"Makes sense." I muttered under my breath.
Annabeth held back a snicker.
"You mean...you're rich?" Percy asked.
"Well, yeah."
"So thats how you got the chauffeur to help us? You just said your dad's name and -"
"Yes." Rachel cut him off. "Percy...my dad is a land developer. He flies all over the world, looking for tracts of undeveloped land. The wild. He-he buys it up. I hate it, but he plows 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."
"No. It's cool." Percy said, I shot him a raised brow. He cleared his throat. "You helped us go through the maze and that's brave. That's the only thing I'm going to judge you on. Not because of your dad."
"Well...if you ever feel like hanging out with a mortal again...you could call me or something." Rachel looked at him gratefully.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Percy sounded unenthusiastic. I mentally applauded him. Rachel knit her brows together. "As friends, right?"
