Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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127
the gods: better elevator tunes.
When we got into the lobby, I found my mother and Paul arguing with the bald security guy,
who'd returned to his post.
"I'm telling you," my mom yelled, "we have to go up! My son—" Then she saw me and her
eyes widened. "Percy!"
She hugged the breath right out of me.
"We saw the building lit up blue," she said. "But then you didn't come down. You went up
hours ago!"
"She was getting a bit anxious," Paul said drily.
"I'm all right," I promised as my mom hugged Annabeth. "Everything's okay now."
"Mr. Blofis," Annabeth said, "that was wicked sword work."
Paul shrugged. "It seemed like the thing to do. But Percy, is this really . . . I mean, this story
about the six hundredth floor?"
"Olympus," I said. "Yeah."
Paul looked at the ceiling with a dreamy expression. "I'd like to see that."
"Paul," my mom chided. "It's not for mortals. Anyway, the important thing is we're safe. All of
us."
I was about to relax. Everything felt perfect. Annabeth and I were okay. My mom and Paul
had survived. Olympus was saved.
But the life of a demigod is never so easy. Just then Nico ran in from the street, and his face
told me something was wrong.
"It's Rachel," he said. "I just ran into her down on 32nd Street."
Annabeth frowned. "What's she done this time?"
"It's where she's gone," Nico said. "I told her she would die if she tried, but she insisted. She
just took Blackjack and—"
"She took my pegasus?" I demanded.
Nico nodded. "She's heading to Half-Blood Hill. She said she had to get to camp."
Chapter Twenty-Two
I Am Dumped
Nobody steals my pegasus. Not even Rachel. I wasn't sure if I was more angry or amazed or
worried.
"What was she thinking?" Annabeth said as we ran for the river. Unfortunately, I had a pretty
good idea, and it filled me with dread.
The traffic was horrible. Everybody was out on the streets gawking at the war zone damage.
Police sirens wailed on every block. There was no possibility of catching a cab, and the pegasi had
flown away. I would've settled for some Party Ponies, but they had disappeared along with most of
the root beer in Midtown. So we ran, pushing through mobs of dazed mortals that clogged the
sidewalks.
"She'll never get through the defenses," Annabeth said. "Peleus will eat her."
I hadn't considered that. The Mist wouldn't fool Rachel like it would most people. She'd be
able to find the camp no problem, but I'd been hoping the magical boundaries would just keep her
out like a force field. It hadn't occurred to me that Peleus might attack.
"We've got to hurry." I glanced at Nico. "I don't suppose you could conjure up some skeleton
horses."
He wheezed as he ran. "So tired . . . couldn't summon a dog bone."
Finally we scrambled over the embankment to the shore, and I let out a loud whistle. I hated
doing it. Even with the sand dollar I'd given the East River for a magic cleaning, the water here was
pretty polluted. I didn't want to make any sea animals sick, but they came to my call.
Three wake lines appeared in the gray water, and a pod of hippocampi broke the surface.
They whinnied unhappily, shaking the river muck from their manes. They were beautiful creatures,