LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . pjo

XX.

DISTANCE WAS SHORTER in the Labyrinth. Still, by the time Rachel got them back to Times Square, Mia 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.

Mia couldn't 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 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 four of his white friends.

"Yeah," Percy told Blackjack. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick."

When Mia saw how many horses there were, she frowned and turned to Percy. "Did you do this on purpose?"

He looked at the five pegasi and his eyes widened. "Oh. I can call you another—"

"You suave bastard," she rolled her eyes, but she started to haul herself onto Blackjack.

Everybody started saddling up — except Rachel.

"Well," she told Percy, "I guess this is it."

He nodded.

"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," he remembered. "What did he mean?"

"Percy," Mia warned, turning to glare at him as she pet Blackjack's mane.

Rachel twisted the strap on her backpack. "It's okay, Mia. My dad . . . My dad's job. He's kind of a famous businessman."

"You mean . . . you're rich? Like Mia is?"

"Well, maybe not as rich, but . . . yeah."

"So that's how you got the chauffeur to help us? You just said your dad's name with Mia'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 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."

Rachel knit her eyebrows at him, then she shrugged and walked up to Mia. "See you later?"

"Soph's dragging me to at least two events this summer," Mia held out her fist. "So, yeah. Sadly."

"Shut up," Rachel bumped Mia's fist with her own. "See you later, Starfury. Go save the world for me, okay?"

She walked off down Seventh Avenue and disappeared into the crowds.