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I 038. I
𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔
❝ shield ❞
DISTANCE WAS SHORTER IN THE LABYRINTH. Still, by the time Rachel got them back to Times Square, Ariadne 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.
Percy led the way into an alley, where he could get a nice echo. The Percy whistled as loud as he could, 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 white friends.
"Yeah," Percy told him. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick
The pegasus Girdo groaned and complained, but eventually he agreed to carry Tyson. Everybody started straddling up—except Rachel.
"Well," she told Percy, "I guess this is it."
Percy nodded uncomfortably. Ariadne knew she couldn't go to camp. He glanced at then brunette and blonde, who were pretending to be very busy with their pegasi.
"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 him 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"
"No," Percy said. "It's cool. Look, Rachel, you did awesome. You led us through the maze. You were so brave. That's the only thing I'm going to judge on. I don't care what your dad does."
