This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xxii. shadows come out to play

DISTANCE WAS SHORTER IN THE LABYRINTH. Still, by the time Rachel got them back to Times Square, Naomi 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.

Naomi couldn't quite decide which seemed less real—New York or the crystal cave where she'd watched a god die.

Percy led the way into an alley, then he whistled sharply 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 four of his friends.

Percy and Rachel walked off to say goodbye. Naomi ignored the ill-timed twist in her stomach.

"We're supposed to fly?" Nico asked, his face paler than usual (which was a feat—Naomi wondered how much of a vitamin D deficiency he had going on). "No way."

"It's the quickest way to camp," Naomi said.

"Won't Zeus strike me out of the sky or something?"

"He hasn't struck Percy yet, and he flies with Blackjack all the time," she told him.

"What if two of his illegal nephews puts him over the edge?"

"Technically, only Percy's illegal," Naomi pointed out. "You were born before the oath."

Nico scowled at her. "I doubt Zeus'll care about a technicality."

Naomi sighed. "You can ride with me."

"So Zeus can kill you, too?"

She rolled her eyes. "Can you not be a pessimist for one second?"

"I'm a son of Hades, it comes with the territory," Nico countered.

"You've only known he was your dad for a few months, I doubt you know that much about the 'territory'," Naomi said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Get on the pegasus."

"You're not the boss of me," Nico argued.

"Yeah, well, you're twelve and I'm sixteen, so I have authority," she said.

"That's not how it works!"

"That's exactly how it works, now get on the pegasus!"

Nico scowled at her, grumbling under his breath in a language Naomi didn't understand. Despite his protests, though, he followed her to one of the horses—Porkpie, if Naomi remembered correctly.

The pegasus let Naomi pet his snout, but as soon as Nico got close, it shied away from him.

"See!" Nico said. "Even he doesn't want me flying!"

"What's wrong?" Percy asked. Rachel was nowhere in sight—Naomi guessed she'd left to go home. 

She felt a little bad about the relief she felt, but she pushed it away.

"Porkpie's being a bit difficult," Naomi explained.

"Go without me!" Nico said. "I don't want to go back to that camp anyway."

"Nico," Percy said, "we need your help."

He folded his arms and scowled.

Naomi sighed. She put her arm on his shoulder, a tiny bit surprised when he didn't brush it off.

"Nico," she said. "Please."

Nico scowled at her, but it didn't last. "Fine," he said reluctantly. "But I'm not staying."