by Aimee Carter
“Why do you think she took Mom?” said Nolan, and Simon launched into everything that had happened. Well, almost everything—he didn’t mention Orion, and he didn’t mention the library beneath the Beast King’s Stronghold. Simon wanted to trust his brother completely, but he couldn’t just yet, not when he didn’t know whether Nolan would believe him. But Simon did tell him about the rat army, about their mother and Darryl protecting him, and about the Alpha’s plan for them and why she was taking control of the other kingdoms.
Nolan paled and began to pace the length of the bathroom floor. “If the Alpha really wants to put the Predator together and kill one of us—and I’m not saying I believe you, but if you’re right—then we have to find Mom and get out of here,” he said once Simon had finished. “Are you sure she’s in the zoo somewhere?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” said Simon. “If Malcolm and the pack don’t know where Mom is, then the Alpha couldn’t have hidden her in the Den. Unless you can think of someplace else.”
Nolan shook his head. “No, you’re right.” He glanced at his watch. “The zoo opened ten minutes ago. We can blend in with the crowd and look for her.”
Simon brightened. “You’re really going to help?”
“Of course,” said Nolan. “She’s my mother, too.”
Behind him, Simon could hear Felix sigh, but he ignored him. This was worth the risk.
Nolan led the way into his room and through the tunnel that let out in the middle of the zoo. The sunshine made Simon squint as they crawled from behind the eagle statue, and before he could ask where they were going, Nolan started toward one of the buildings across the square. Simon followed. They blended in easily with the crowd, and no one seemed to look too hard at the twelve-year-old twins walking toward a building labeled Tropical Rain Forest.
“Golden eagles don’t live in the tropics, but if Mom is in the zoo, this is the only place they keep birds,” said Nolan as they stepped through the glass doors and into what seemed to be a miniature rain forest. All kinds of trees rose high above them, with a stream running through the middle and a wooden walkway for visitors to follow. A wave of heat and humidity hit Simon hard, and instantly he felt beads of sweat form on his forehead.
“Where would she be?” he said, craning his neck. Dozens of birds flew from branch to branch, chirping to one another in a chorus of words that ran together, each indistinguishable from the rest.
“There are a couple of rooms through there,” said Nolan, nodding toward another door. “They have snakes and other animals, but I don’t know if there are any birds—”
“Wait!” Simon ducked down, tugging Nolan with him. When his brother began to protest, Simon clapped his hand over Nolan’s mouth and pointed. On the other side of the room, crossing the walkway, was a woman with a familiar sheet of dark hair.
The Alpha.
Nolan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he fell silent. Together they watched as she disappeared through a door, and as soon as she was gone, Simon pulled his brother along the walkway to follow her. The Alpha turned down a dark hallway full of dimly lit glass display cases, and at the end of the corridor, she pulled a key from a long chain she wore around her neck and unlocked a door that blended in with the surrounding wall.
“What’s in there?” whispered Simon as they darted down the hallway, hoping to catch the door before it closed. He reached it with half a second to spare, shoving his shoe into the crack to stop it.
“It’s where the zookeepers keep food and stuff for the animals,” said Nolan, peeking through the opening. Instantly he pulled away and flattened himself against the wall. “I think I see her.”
Simon counted to five, and then chanced a glance inside. At first he couldn’t see much of anything through the crack, but he quickly found a better angle.
The Alpha stood in front of a pair of cages, her hands folded and her chin raised regally. She focused on the top cage, in which a golden eagle perched, its wing bandaged and its eyes halfway closed. His mother.
“I do hate to see you like this, Isabel, but you’ve given me no choice,” said the Alpha as she used the key around her neck to open the cage and drop in several freshly killed rats. “I’ve been nothing but generous, and you repay me by trying to run away with Simon? Even if you had succeeded, you must have known that I would have tracked you both down eventually.”
Simon’s palms grew sweaty. So he was right. The Alpha really had captured his mother. How were they supposed to get her out of there when the Alpha had the only key?
Before he could formulate a plan, something moved in the larger cage below his mother’s, and Simon squinted. A gray tail slipped through the cracks, and a low, drowsy groan sounded from inside.
“I see you’re awake,” said the Alpha. “This would all have been so much easier if you hadn’t tried to fight me, my darling son.”
The face of a gray wolf came into view, a muzzle wrapped around its snout, and Simon’s blood turned to ice.
Darryl.
18
SPIDER GAMES
The Alpha was holding his mother and his uncle hostage.
That was all Simon could think about as Nolan dragged him back through the tropics and out into the sunshine. The cooler air washed over him, a relief after the sweltering heat inside, but Simon barely noticed.
“Do you know if there’s a copy of that key?” he asked as they strode toward the eagle statue at the edge of the square. The zoo was even more crowded now, and they had to dodge families and a school group full of children wearing matching orange T-shirts.
“There’s only one,” said Nolan. “It’ll open any door in the entire zoo, but she wears it all the time. I’ve never seen her take it off.”
“So we have to get it,” said Simon.
“If you have a plan, I’m listening.”
But Simon didn’t have a plan—not for this. They reached the eagle statue in silence, and as Nolan ducked behind it, Simon stopped suddenly. On the wings sat two pigeons who hadn’t been there before. His grandfather had helped him once. Simon could only hope he was willing to do it again.
“Do you know who Orion is?” said Simon. The pigeons glanced at each other.
“Food?”
“What are you doing?” said Nolan, looking around anxiously.
“Trying to rescue Mom.” Simon dug into his pockets and found a stale piece of bread he’d been saving for Felix. He held it out in his palm, and the pigeons pecked at it eagerly. “Do you know who Orion is or not?”
“The Bird Lord,” said one pigeon through a beak full of bread.
“Do you know where he lives?” he said, and the second pigeon bobbed his head.
“Tower in the sky.”
“Sky Tower—right.”
“No,” said Nolan in a choked voice. “Whatever it is you’re doing, no.”
“It’s our only choice.” Simon’s heart pounded as the pigeons picked at the last of the stale crumbs. “I need you to fly to Sky Tower and tell Orion that Simon and Isabel are here. I need you to tell him that they’re holding her captive in the Tropical Rain Forest, behind a door down the south hallway. Can you do that for me?”
“Simon and Isabel,” said the first pigeon, while the second chirped, “South in the hot room.”
That was the best he was going to get out of them, and he hoped it would be good enough. “Don’t forget, all right? You have to go now. Tell him I promised you food.”
“Food?” The first perked up again.
“Lots and lots of food after you tell him,” said Simon, hoping his grandfather wouldn’t mind.
The pigeons took off, and Simon ducked into the tunnel, where Nolan was waiting for him. “I can’t believe you want to trust Orion,” said his brother.
“Two days ago, he saved me from the rat army, and he’s been watching over me ever since. If anyone can help us, it’s him.”
“He’s a bird,” said Nolan. “They want to kill us.”
“N
o, the Alpha wants to kill us. Orion wants to stop her. Please,” said Simon. “If you can’t trust him, then trust me.”
Nolan grumbled, but at last he relented, and he led the way through the tunnel. Relieved, Simon followed, crossing his fingers that the pigeons made it. Sky Tower wasn’t more than a few blocks away—with a little luck, the pigeons would reach Orion before Simon and Nolan returned to the Den. But they wouldn’t be able to open the cages, not without the key.
By the time they crawled into Nolan’s bedroom, Simon had racked his brain for any inkling of a plan. But short of tearing the key from the Alpha’s neck and running as fast as possible, he couldn’t think of anything, and despair began to creep through him. There had to be something he was missing—a way to free his mom and Darryl before the Alpha took him and Nolan out of the city.
“What now?” said his brother, pacing back and forth. “I can’t just face the Alpha and pretend nothing’s wrong.”
“We have to, unless you want to end up like Mom and Darryl,” said Simon. “Orion’s coming. He’ll help us, and until then, we keep our heads down, all right? And don’t tell anyone.”
“Not even Malcolm? Maybe he could help.”
Simon hesitated. “Okay—find him and tell him what’s going on. Make sure he knows the Alpha has Darryl, too. Are you sure Malcolm doesn’t have a second key?”
“Positive,” said Nolan.
“Then we’ll figure something out. Go to breakfast, tell Malcolm, and we’ll meet back here after, okay?”
His brother nodded, and Simon slipped back into his room. He expected Felix to be waiting for him, but it was Winter who perched on the sofa, her arms crossed as she drummed her fingers against her elbow.
“Where have you been?” she burst, jumping to her feet. “Your bloodthirsty rat said you sneaked out.”
“Felix isn’t . . .” Simon sighed and knelt beside his backpack, digging through it. He had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, and he couldn’t leave the pocket watch behind. “Where is he? You didn’t hurt him, did you?”
Winter made a face. “Of course not. I might’ve threatened him, but I didn’t actually touch him. He ran off somewhere. Now tell me—what’s going on?”
Simon frowned. “I found my mother. The Alpha’s holding her in the zoo with the birds. And—she has Darryl, too.”
Winter’s mouth fell open, and her expression softened. “Where are they? Orion—”
“I already sent a pair of pigeons to tell him.” When she scoffed, he added, “I bribed them with food. They should already be at Sky Tower. But there’s a key we need, and the Alpha has it. My mom and Darryl are in cages, and we can’t free them unless we somehow get our hands on it.”
Winter shook her head. “There’s no way the Alpha will hand it over. Orion will figure out a way to break the locks, I promise.”
“Even if Orion can break my mom out, Darryl’s the one who took his eye,” said Simon. “He won’t free him, too.”
“Yes, he will. Darryl means something to you, and Orion won’t let him die,” said Winter firmly.
He wanted to believe her, but Winter didn’t know, not really. Orion had suspected Darryl was working for the Alpha. Simon was positive his grandfather wouldn’t release him.
“Nolan’s gone to tell Malcolm,” he said. “We need to get out of here.”
“What about the Predator?” said Winter, and Simon blinked. “Don’t look at me like that. You and Nolan can run away to the other side of the world for all I care. It won’t change the fact that the Alpha has almost all the pieces, and I guarantee you she’ll find a way to get the last one. If anything goes wrong, if she captures you or Nolan again, Orion or your mother will hand it over. You know they will.”
“So what?” said Simon. “We haven’t shifted yet. We’re useless to the Alpha until then.”
“You could shift tomorrow, for all we know,” she said. “Once we leave the Den, we’re never going to get another chance like this. If you really want to stop the Alpha—if you really want to save your family—then we need to get the pieces of the Predator, too.”
“But she can’t assemble it, not without the real scepter.”
Winter hissed with frustration. “Eventually she’s going to realize hers is a fake, and she’ll go looking for the real one. When she does, all she’ll have to do is follow our scents, and she’ll find the real deal that you stupidly made me leave right under her nose. We have to steal the pieces, Simon. If we don’t, it won’t be long before she can assemble the Predator, and—”
Winter stopped suddenly and grew still. At first Simon thought she had had some sort of epiphany, but instead she picked up a water glass from his nightstand.
“I like you, Simon. We’re friends, and I don’t want you to die,” she said. “Once the pieces are out of the Alpha’s control, Orion will overthrow her and free the other kingdoms. And once that’s over, he can return the pieces to their rulers, and—ah ha!”
The glass clinked against the wall. Bewildered, Simon watched as Winter used a piece of paper to cover the mouth and promptly set the glass upside down on the nightstand.
“Who sent you?” she demanded.
“What? Who are you talking to?” said Simon, moving closer to the nightstand.
“See for yourself.”
Simon peered inside. A shiny black spider with a red hourglass belly huddled underneath the glass.
“Ariana?” said Simon, stunned. “What are you—”
“She was spying on us,” said Winter. “Probably heard everything. How long have you been following Simon?”
Silence. Simon tried to take the glass, but Winter snatched it away. “You have to let her shift back,” he insisted.
“And give her a chance to escape? No way.”
“What are you going to do, keep her locked up?” said Simon. “If she tries to shift like that, the glass will break, and she might get cut. Or lose a limb or something.” He wasn’t entirely sure how it worked.
“It would serve her right,” muttered Winter, but she let go of the glass and picked up one of Simon’s books instead. “Here’s the deal, spider. Simon’s going to let you out, and if you try to run, I’ll squish you. Got it?”
As far as Simon could tell, Ariana couldn’t nod or otherwise show she agreed, but after a few seconds, Winter seemed satisfied. “All right. Pick it up.”
Simon slowly lifted the glass. “Don’t run,” he said. “She really will squish you.”
The spider twitched, but at last she began to grow. Simon blinked, and the pink-haired Ariana sat on the nightstand, looking—happy?
“I knew it!” She hopped off and grinned at both of them. “I knew there was a reason you were here.”
“I will still throw this at you,” said Winter, brandishing the book.
“What? Oh—I won’t tell anyone,” said Ariana. “Are you kidding? My mother is the Black Widow Queen, and she isn’t exactly crazy about the Alpha assembling the Predator, either. You think the other kingdoms just submitted to her on a whim?” She shook her head, and a wisp of pink hair fell into her eyes. “No one wants her to get that final piece. But Winter’s right. She’ll look under every single rock until she finds it, and she’ll have the entire mammal kingdom to help her.”
“Is—is that why you were listening?” said Simon. “Because you thought we had something to do with the last piece?”
Ariana shrugged. “I thought something was going on when you showed up and the bird flock went crazy, so I’ve been following you. You’re pretty interesting, Simon Thorn. Especially your family tree.”
Simon’s cheeks warmed. So she knew everything. “You can’t tell anyone. If you do—”
“Relax. The queens of my kingdom have known about the Beast King’s heir for generations,” said Ariana. “I’m not going to rat you out.”
Simon eyed her, not entirely sure he believed her. “Why are you telling us this?”
“Because,” said Ariana, her mouth twisting
into a smirk, “I know where the Alpha’s hiding the pieces of the weapon.”
19
TWO BIRDS AND ONE STONE
“This is crazy,” whispered Winter as they followed Ariana down the spiral staircase in the Alpha’s section. “She’s a spider. Never trust a spider.”
“Do you know where the pieces are?” said Simon, and she shook her head. “Then we don’t have any other choice.”
“You know I can hear you, right?” said Ariana as she sashayed through the empty atrium, looking extremely pleased with herself. Winter scowled at the back of her head.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” she said. “Spiders are the spies of the Animalgam kingdoms.”
“And we are extremely good at it,” said Ariana. “If I wasn’t willing to be caught, I wouldn’t have been.”
“Easy to say now,” said Winter, and Simon nudged her. Whether they could trust Ariana or not, she was trying to help them. That was the important part for now.
“We don’t have much time before the Alpha comes looking for me,” he said. “Where is she hiding the—”
“Simon!”
A strange cry filtered in from the hallway. Simon, gripped by fear, ran over to the door and pulled it open.
A hair-raising screech filled the air, and he gasped. Dozens of birds flew through the hallway. Pigeons, falcons, hawks—every kind of bird Simon had ever seen in the city swooped between the branches, screaming at the top of their lungs with their talons poised to attack. Orion had received his message.
“It’s the flock!” he shouted over his shoulder. “They invaded the Den.”
“Don’t let them in!” called Winter. “If they take us to Sky Tower now, we’ll never be able to come back.”
As relieved as he was to see them, Simon knew she was right. The key, the pieces of the Predator—they couldn’t leave the Den, not yet. He tried to close the door, but a hawk swooped into the atrium, narrowly missing getting its tail feathers caught. Simon slammed the door before any other birds could get inside.
“Simon Thorn,” said the hawk. “You must come with me at once.”