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chapter thirty-five ( the battle of the labyrinth ) ❝ her perilous twin! ❞
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We made it back to New York━running as fast as we could. As soon as we were in a deserted alleyway Percy whistled as loud as he could five times. A minute later, a flock of pegasi descended from the sky, swooping between the skyscrapers. Blackjack was in the lead, followed by six of his white friends.
Blackjack must have said something because Percy replied, "Yeah, I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick!"
They touched down, and we all started to saddle up. I had a beautiful pegasus by the name of Blueberry, but there was much time to gaze in awe at his beauty. As soon as I fixed the saddle, I climbed on, my heart racing. Rachel watched us, a little awkward.
"Well," she told Percy, "I guess this is it."
He nodded, uncomfortable. He glanced back at me, and I pretended to be very busy with my pegasus. "Thanks, Rachel," he 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," said Percy. "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 undevelopmed land," she took a shaky breath. "The wild. He━he buys it up. I hate it, but he ploughs it down and builds ugly subdivisions and shopping centres. 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 were awesome. You led us through the maze. You were so brave. That's the only thing I'm going to judge you on. I don't care what your dad does."
Rachel looked at him gratefully. "Well ... if you ever feel like hanging out with a mortal again ... you could call me or something."
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Percy frowned, and glanced back at me. "I mean ... I'd like that."
