𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑫 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 [2]

XVIII

Distance was shorter in the Labyrinth. Still, by the time Rachel got them back to Times Square, Elaine felt like they'd just ran all the entire distance 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.

Elaine couldn't decide which seemed less real—New York or the crystal cave where she'd just witnessed a god die.

Percy led the way into an alley, where he could get privacy. Then he whistled loudly five 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 silvery friends.

"Yeah," Percy said to the pegasus. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick." It still weirded Elaine out that Percy could understand what the animal said (neighed?).

Everybody started saddling up—except Rachel.

"Well," she said, "I guess this is it."

Elaine hugged her briefly. They knew she couldn't go to camp. She glanced at Annabeth, who was pretending to be very busy with her Pegasus.

"Thank you for your help, Rachel," she said. "We couldn't have completed the quest 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 recalled. "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?" He asked dumbly.

"Well, yeah."

"So that's how you got the chauffeur to help us?" Elaine asked, everything about Rachel was beginning to make sense. "You just said your dad's name and—"

"Yes," Rachel cut her off. "You guys ... 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." Percy said.

"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," Elaine said. "Rachel, you were amazing. You led us through the maze. You were so brave. That's the only thing we care about. We don't care about what your dad does."

Rachel looked at her gratefully. "Well ... if you ever feel like hanging out with a mortal again ..."

She took a black marker out of her jean pocket, the same one she'd used on Percy when she first met her, and wrote her number on the palm of her hand.