by Aimee Carter
After the afternoon ended with no sign of Felix, Simon barely touched his dinner, both worried sick and sick of sushi. His friends may not have been as concerned about Felix as he was, but they were nervous about the piece being moved, and none of them were in the mood for laughing, not even at Nolan’s mushy story about how Pearl had tripped in the coral gardens earlier that day, leaving it to Nolan to catch her.
That evening, Simon had no choice but to shove his fears for Felix aside and focus on the bigger problem instead. While his brother was brushing his teeth, Simon slipped into the mirrored hallway. Jam had drawn him a map on the back of a napkin at dinner, and while Simon wasn’t sure about a few turns, at last he arrived at a room he was pretty confident belonged to Jam.
Knocking so softly that his knuckles barely brushed the door, he waited, glancing around nervously. This floor was where the family lived, and if someone came out and saw him—
“It’s about time!” Jam opened the door and yanked him inside his bedroom. “The General’s due any minute.”
“Nolan distracted me,” said Simon. Unlike the bare décor of the guest rooms, Jam’s walls were hidden by bookshelves crammed full of everything from novels to comic books to movies, and any section that wasn’t covered in shelves was adorned with pictures of different parts of the world. The Sahara Desert, the Swiss Alps, the Great Wall of China—all places that were far from Los Angeles. “And this room is really hard to find. How do you know where everything is in this place?”
“I know where things are, remember?” said Jam. “My sisters are the ones who get lost sometimes. Come on—I figure you’ll be safe if you pretend you’re Felix.”
“What?” said Simon, freezing in place as he bent over to inspect Jam’s comic book collection.
“If the General realizes you’re in my pocket, at least we can pretend you’re Felix,” said Jam. “It’s not perfect, but it’s better than me trying to explain why I’m carrying around a cockroach or something.”
“A cockroach? You think I’d shift into a cockroach?”
“Ariana says they’re misunderstood,” said Jam defensively. “It doesn’t matter, all right? I just think it’d be a good idea—”
“All right, fine, I’m shifting,” said Simon, because it was a good idea, even if the thought of taking advantage of Felix’s disappearance made Simon feel sticky with unease. Closing his eyes, he pictured Felix in his head. He’d only ever shifted into a gray mouse before and wasn’t sure if the Beast King had absorbed the powers of any others all those years ago. But as his body began to shrink, brown fur sprouted from his skin, and he breathed a sigh of relief. At least this part of the plan would work. He hoped.
He wriggled into Jam’s pocket two seconds before a knock sounded on the door. “Soldier,” said the General, his voice still booming despite his apparent attempt to whisper.
Jam threw open the door. “Ready for duty, sir,” he said, and while Simon couldn’t see through the fabric, he thought he felt Jam salute.
The pair walked through the mirrored compound, and Simon discovered a newfound respect for Felix, who’d spent all that time in his pocket and had never once complained. Well, not much, anyway. It was comfortable, but cramped, and he swayed with every step Jam took, which gave him a strange sense of motion sickness. Maybe Felix was used to it. Or maybe he’d stuck his head out to be sick, and Simon had never noticed.
He was so focused on not tossing his tiny mouse cookies that he almost forgot what he was doing. It wasn’t until a chill in the air permeated Jam’s pocket that he realized they were no longer in the compound.
“You’re never to use this exit without my direct authorization, is that understood?” said the General. Simon tried to peek out of Jam’s pocket to see where they were, but it was dark now.
“Yes, sir,” said Jam, his voice shaking. “Sir, if I may—”
“Hold that thought, soldier. The water at night is treacherous, and I need you to stick close to me. No foolish moves, is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” repeated Jam. “Sir—”
A loud screech pierced the air, and Simon winced, covering his ears. It sounded like rusty hinges, and as Jam began to descend, Simon figured they were under the city somehow. He desperately wanted to know if anyone else ever used this exit, too, but the General didn’t speak up again, and Jam remained quiet.
Simon couldn’t decide if the silence was awkward and tense, or if it was normal for a father and son who didn’t seem to have much in common other than their Animalgam form. Either way, they said nothing until Simon heard boots splashing in water.
“Meet me at the end of the cave,” said the General. “No dawdling.”
“Yes, sir,” came Jam’s predictable response, and a splash later, it was silent.
Jam waited several seconds before he scooped Simon out of his pocket and set him down on a slippery rock that smelled like mildew. “I’ll see you there,” he whispered before once again shifting into a dolphin and diving into the black pool that, like the cave in the planetarium, must have led out into the ocean.
Or maybe this was where the piece was hidden, and they were panicking over nothing. Maybe this was some cave underneath the city that only the General knew about, and Orion would have no chance of attacking them inside.
Crossing his little mouse toes, Simon shifted into one of the animals Jam had suggested—a white sea bass. He was smaller than he would have liked, but once he’d wriggled into the cold water, he swam as fast as his little body could manage. In the darkness, it was almost impossible to tell where he was going, but he mustered up his courage and swam straight ahead, hoping he didn’t accidentally bump into the General.
Much to his dismay, the cave brought them right to the open ocean. No guards were stationed outside the narrow entrance camouflaged by seaweed and coral, and Simon could barely make out a pair of dolphins swimming ahead. Muttering to himself, he shifted into a black rockfish like one he and Jam had seen while swimming earlier, in case the General had happened to notice the sea bass following behind them. It didn’t look like anything special, with silver scales and a dark tail, but Simon hoped it would be fast enough for him to keep up, and ordinary enough for him not to be noticed.
The dolphins swam with purpose, but thankfully, Simon didn’t have trouble catching them. Though he made sure to stay out of the General’s line of sight, he followed them as closely as he dared—close enough, as it happened, to make out the conversation the dolphins were now having.
“… generations,” said the General. “Every General passes it down to his or her successor, and the piece is moved every decade. It is our most important job as General, protecting our piece of the Predator.”
“More important than protecting our communities, sir?” said Jam dubiously.
“If our piece ever leaves our custody, there is a good chance our communities would cease to exist in the war that would inevitably follow.” I cannot tell you how important it is for you to keep the location secret at all times, soldier. Never, not once in five hundred years, has anyone stolen it from us, and I will not allow them to now.”
Simon sensed Jam’s hesitation even from a distance. “But if it’s in a safe place, why are we moving it, sir?”
“Because the position has been compromised,” he said. “I made the mistake of trusting Isabel Thorn, and now she’s betrayed us by revealing the location to Orion.”
Simon’s stomach twisted, causing a sharp pain in his abdomen, or whatever passed for it in his fish form. His mother wasn’t trying to betray the other kingdoms. She was protecting them.
Jam must have been thinking along the same lines, because he said timidly, “Sir, if Isabel Thorn had betrayed the location to the bird kingdom … wouldn’t they have found it by now?”
“It’s too well protected,” said the General stoutly.
“Then …” Jam faltered. “Sir, why are we moving it then, sir?”
“Because the bird kingdom is far too close
for comfort. While it may be well protected, they may have allies we haven’t anticipated.”
“But sir, don’t we also risk exposing it to the bird kingdom while it’s in transit—”
“Which is why we are out here in the dead of night, soldier, just you and me,” said the General. “Orion will never anticipate it, and even if he did, he has no way to intercept underwater. This is a risk we must take. You’ll understand someday.”
Simon and Jam understood now, though—maybe more than the General did. As much as Simon needed to find the piece, he needed Orion not to find it more. And if it was somewhere safe, then it would be better to keep it there than to give Orion the chance to steal it.
No matter what Jam said, however, the General remained firm. They were moving the piece, and that was that.
As they swam through the dark water, Simon felt a prickling sensation, as if someone were watching him. Several times he swam off course and shifted into another animal, only to circle back to see if anyone was following Jam and the General, but he didn’t spot anyone else.
Still, his nerves only grew when they finally reached Chum Bay. Jam had been right after all—the piece was hidden inside the shipwreck. There were dozens of sharks swimming around the sunken wreckage, but rather than question the dolphins, as Simon expected, they simply watched as they swam through. He thought he heard a few murmur greetings to the General, but he remained behind the rock that he and Jam had used to hide earlier that day.
Once Jam and the General disappeared into the ship, the ocean seemed eerily quiet. Simon didn’t dare surface to see if Orion and the flock were circling above—he barely moved, floating near the rock and trying to make himself as invisible as possible.
That prickling feeling returned right as the dolphins emerged from the shipwreck. Out of sight of the others, Simon shifted into a hammerhead shark—partially because he thought he might be able to help if something happened, but mostly because he’d been dying to try it since he’d first gotten in the water.
It was better than he’d ever dreamed it could be. While turning into a kingsnake had made him feel strong for the first time in his life, the sleek body of the hammerhead shark gave him physical power he’d never dreamed existed. If he wanted, he was sure he could have crushed the entire world in his jaws. His eyes were now situated far apart on his wide head, which gave him the ability to see all around him—up, down, left, right, back, front, all at once, and it was bizarre. Like being in a video game, he thought, but cooler. His sense of smell also exploded, and a deluge of scents assaulted him. Fish, sharks, seaweed, salt, bird, human—
Simon floated in the cold water for a moment, stunned into helplessness despite his newfound strength. But now wasn’t the time to get distracted. Even though the number of smells overwhelmed him, he shook himself out of it and let the shark’s instincts take over. Dolphins. He needed to find dolphins.
He caught the trail instantly, and before he could think about it, his streamlined body was already moving. Strong and deadly, he cut through the water effortlessly, and the few creatures he could see in the dark swam out of his way. He’d never been the biggest before, and it was intoxicating—so intoxicating, in fact, that for a moment he forgot why he was out there.
But a shrill cry pierced the air, tearing his attention away from his new form, and all of Simon’s instincts—both shark and human—kicked in. He surged through the water toward the sound, his heart pounding. That could have been anything. It wasn’t necessarily a dolphin calling out for help.
But as Jam and the General appeared in the dark water, Simon noticed they’d come to a complete stop a few feet above the sandy ocean floor. Though they were unharmed, the larger dolphin floated protectively over the smaller one, and Simon gulped when he realized why.
Tiger sharks, bull sharks, even a great white shark circled above the dolphins, baring their teeth and ready to strike at any moment.
Jam and the General were surrounded.
10
A SHIVER OF SHARKS
“Do you have any idea who I am?” said the General, his voice booming even through the dolphin squeaks.
“You are the General,” said the great white shark. A scar ran across its side, so long and deep that Simon guessed a harpoon had caused it. “But I am the king. Give us the piece, and we let you live.”
Simon’s heart pounded as his body filled with adrenaline, but he kept a grip on his fear. He counted eight sharks in total—too many for him to fight on his own and win. Even if Jam and the General could take down sharks, too, they were still outnumbered.
“What piece?” said the General. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The piece you took from the ship.” The great white shark flicked his fin toward the direction they’d come, where the shipwreck loomed in the darkness. “We see you take it. Now you give it to us. Orion says so.”
Orion. Simon’s blood ran cold. So this was how his grandfather intended on stealing it—but how he’d earned the loyalty of members of another kingdom, Simon didn’t know. Right now, they had bigger problems. Judging by the way the shark spoke, Simon figured he wasn’t an Animalgam. That meant he had no problem eating Jam and the General—or Simon, if he gave himself away. Worse, it meant he probably couldn’t be reasoned with. Not in a human way, anyway.
“I demand you leave us at once.” The General’s voice shook with fury. “If you do not, the entire underwater kingdom will hunt down each and every one of you, and you will be punished until you are nothing more than sea foam. Is that the fate you wish for yourself?”
Despite his fearsome tone, the General had nothing to back his threats, and he must have known it. The only option he had was to give up the piece, unless he was willing to sacrifice himself and Jam to protect it. But what then? The sharks would still have it. Sacrifice would accomplish nothing.
Simon was their only hope. How was he supposed to stop eight bloodthirsty sharks from hurting both of them?
The great white growled. “You do not give, so we take. Attack!”
At once the other sharks descended toward the dolphins, and Simon felt his body begin to shift with barely a thought. He grew large—larger than the hammerhead shark, larger than a wolf or a bear or even the great white. By the time he had finished shifting into a killer whale, he was twice the size of the other sharks, and while his acute sense of smell was gone, the echolocation had returned.
The battle on the ocean floor raged as the sharks attacked the dolphins. Despite being outnumbered, both the General and Jam were shockingly quick, dodging the sharks and fighting back in a way Simon had never seen a dolphin do before. Stunned, he simply watched until a tiger shark nearly took a chunk out of Jam’s tail, and only then did he pull himself out of his stupor and rush toward the action, letting out a fierce cry.
The bellow was so loud that, for a moment, everyone stopped—even the General, who had been poised to take on a bull shark by himself. Furious, Simon swam as fast as he could. Despite his size, he was surprisingly agile, and he used both to his advantage, barreling through a group of sharks like a bowling ball crashing through pins. While he was hesitant to actually bite anyone, he knew he had to. This was fight or die.
He chomped down on a bull shark first, and while he’d only grabbed a fin, the shark squealed and swam out of the fight. Two more followed before one of the tiger sharks decided to attack Simon in return, and he hissed as sharp teeth sliced through his skin.
While he may not have known how to fight as an orca, he did have instincts, and he let those take over. His agility and ability to tell where each shark was allowed him to make up for being such a large target, and he took out each of his opponents one by one. It wasn’t easy, exactly, but it felt natural, and he fought with everything he had.
Out of the corner of his eye, Simon spotted the great white shark swimming toward Jam, and Simon changed course as fast as he could. “Stop!” he called in a menacing voice, but it didn’t work. The g
reat white shark opened his large jaws, angling toward Jam, and—
Out of nowhere, the General darted through the water, putting himself between Jam and the shark. The great white’s teeth sank into the General’s dolphin body instead, and the General let out a scream that chilled Simon to the bone.
“Dad!” cried Jam—the first sound he’d made since leaving the shipwreck. Simon thought he saw something shiny drop from Jam’s mouth, but it didn’t matter right now. As soon as he reached the great white shark, he bit him around the middle as hard as he could, feeling the shark’s cartilage skeleton crunch between his jaws.
The great white shark’s body seized up, and he released the General. The injured dolphin sank to the sand, blood pouring from his wounds, and Simon dragged the great white from the scene before hurling him into the open ocean. The shark floundered, badly wounded, and Simon was torn between following him to finish the job or sticking close to the General and Jam.
Before he could make a decision, inky blackness engulfed them. The last thing Simon saw before he was blinded was several long legs with suction cups slinking across the ocean floor.
“Jam!” he cried. “Jam, are you—”
“I’m okay,” called Jam from nearby. Simon could sense him floating beside the General, while the great white and the remaining sharks used the darkness to retreat. “My dad—he’s—he’s—”
Simon swam toward them through the black water. He wanted to shift back into a dolphin, but it was too risky. He would have to stay a killer whale until they found help or safety. “We need to get back to the city. Do you think your father can swim?”