Annabeth flexed her bad shoulder. " Y eah, well . . . let's not make a habit of

it. What are you doing here, Dare? Don't you know better than to fly into a war

zone?"

 

"I — " Rachel glanced at me. "I had to be here. I knew Percy was in trouble."

 

"Got that right," Annabeth grumbled. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some

injured friends I've got to tend to. Glad you could stop by, Rachel."

 

'Annabeth — " I called.

 

She stormed off.

 

Rachel plopped down on the curb and put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry,

Percy. I didn't mean to . . . I always mess things up."

 

It was kind of hard to argue with her, though I was glad she was safe. I looked

in the direction Annabeth had gone, but she'd disappeared into the crowd. I

couldn't believe what she'd just done — saved Rachel's life, landed a

helicopter, and walked away like it was no big deal.

 

"It's okay," I told Rachel, though my words sounded hollow. "So what's the

message you wanted to deliver?"