Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den (11 page)

Before he could ask, he spotted a silhouette in the murky water, one that looked disturbingly familiar. “Uh, there's a shark in your moat,” he said.

“Security is our first priority,” said Malcolm. He nodded to the shark. “Captain.”

The captain rose to the surface. “Malcolm,” he said in a
gravelly
voice, and Simon had to tighten his grip on Winter's hand to keep her from darting back into the Arsenal.

“I thought sharks needed salt water,” said Simon, sneaking Winter a reassuring look. She didn't look terribly convinced.

“As most of our students from the underwater kingdom come from the ocean, the Aquarium is specifically designed to house saltwater creatures,” said Malcolm.

Simon kept his eyes glued to the water as they crossed the bridge. As soon as the shark sank back into the depths, a smaller silhouette appeared.

“There's another one?” moaned Winter, but as the shadow grew larger, Simon realized it wasn't a shark at all. Instead, a dolphin surfaced.

“Hello!” said the dolphin, waving a fin. “You must be new! I'm Jam.”

“I'm Simon,” he said warily. Were dolphins always this friendly, or was Jam really an Animalgam?

Instead of replying, Jam cocked his head toward him, looking confused. It was then that Simon realized the dolphin hadn't been talking to him—he'd been talking to Winter. “But—” Jam began.

“Fluke,” said Malcolm sharply. “Back to your lessons.”

“Yes, sir,” said Jam. Though he still looked as uncertain as any dolphin could, he bobbed his head. “See you, Simon!”

“See you,” said Simon faintly.

The dolphin disappeared back into the water as they
reached
the other side of the underground bridge. Apparently not very pleased that Jam had seen them, Malcolm muttered a curse under his breath and pushed open the heavy door, revealing a dark hallway that looked more like the entrance to an old castle than a school. The walls were made of stone, and a wrought iron chandelier hung above them. The low light gave the building an eerie feeling, and a chill crept down Simon's spine. Worse, while framed paintings of all kinds of animals, from mountain lions to vipers to a dolphin that looked like an older version of Jam, lined the hallway, there weren't any portraits of birds. Simon shoved his hands into his pockets.

“I'm guessing this isn't an official part of the Central Park Zoo,” he said.

“No, it's not.” Malcolm paused in front of a painting of a wicked-looking spider with a red hourglass on its abdomen. “This is the Den—the temporary home of the L.A.I.R., which is the most prestigious academy for our kind in North America, catering exclusively to the future rulers of our world. The L.A.I.R. is the only school of its type that is interspecies—meaning we teach students from all kingdoms.”

“Except birds,” said Simon, and Malcolm's expression darkened.

“The bird kingdom lost the right to attend when their leader ordered an attack on the original L.A.I.R. and destroyed half the school.”

Simon
fought to keep his expression neutral as he glanced at Winter. She didn't react, seemingly too busy examining a portrait of a wolf that looked strikingly similar to Malcolm. “Why would they do something like that?”

“Up until a decade or so ago, the Bird Lord was the head of the L.A.I.R. When the kingdoms voted the Alpha as his replacement, he didn't go quietly,” said Malcolm, gripping the handle of Darryl's knife. “Afterward, it was too dangerous for us to stay beneath the open sky, so we had to hide underground like a pack of moles. The middle of the city is far from an ideal location to host a school of Animalgams, but the flock can't attack us down here. Not easily, at least.”

Malcolm pushed open another door at the end of the short corridor and ushered them through. As soon as Simon saw what was on the other side, he nearly tripped over his own feet in shock. It seemed like they'd stepped into a glass tunnel in the middle of the ocean. Surrounding them on all sides was the kind of marine life Simon had only ever dreamed of seeing. Colorful schools of fish swam in tight formations among the coral and seaweed, as if doing military exercises. Sharks weaved among them, showing off rows of sharp teeth. Spotting Jam the dolphin, Simon gave him a weak wave.

“This is the Aquarium,” said Malcolm. “The underwater kingdom's section.”

Simon wasn't in the mood for a guided tour, but the more he knew about this place, the easier it would be to find his mother. “So each kingdom has a section, then.”

“
Yes,” said Malcolm, his voice tinged with annoyance. “The Den is shaped like a pentagon—five sides, five sections. This hallway goes all the way around. The outer ring consists of the dormitories, where the students sleep. That's where that trapdoor leads—to the underwater barracks,” he said, gesturing to a door beneath their feet. “The inner ring of the Den contains the classrooms, and the pit is in the center of it all.”

“If birds aren't allowed here, then what's in the fifth section?” said Simon as he pictured the layout in his mind. If he were the Alpha, where would he keep his mother? No place the students could accidentally find her, which ruled out the dormitories.

“The fifth is for members of the Alpha family,” said Malcolm flatly. “It's where you'll be staying.”

He opened a door on their left, and Simon blinked, taken aback. This hallway looked to be straight out of an ancient forest. Fully grown trees with leaves as green as the ones in Central Park grew around a dirt path, and the lights were dimmed to make it look like twilight.

“The mammals' section,” said Malcolm. “Why aren't you in the pit, Tomas?”

A massive grizzly bear peeked out from his poorly chosen hiding spot behind a pair of trees. He shrugged sheepishly. “Don't want to die.”

“You're not going to die.” Malcolm opened a wooden door that blended in so well with the rest of the forest that
Simon
would have never noticed it on his own. “Pit—now. And don't forget, you're bigger than her.”

The grizzly bear—Tomas—shuddered and ambled through the door. Simon craned his neck to see past Malcolm, and he spotted a long hallway that led to the center of the Den. Before he could see what was at the other end, Malcolm closed the door and grunted, gesturing for Simon and Winter to follow him through the rest of the mammals' section. At the end of the hallway, he pushed through a curtain of ivy. They must have been near the very back of the Den now, as far from the entrance hall as possible.

“The Alpha quarters,” said Malcolm, and Simon frowned. The walls were painted sky blue, and branches grew out of the walls, low enough that he had to duck to avoid walking into them. If he hadn't known better, he would have guessed they were back in Orion's penthouse.

Even more confusing, Malcolm turned halfway down the corridor and led them into an atrium decorated exactly like the top level of Sky Tower, with lush grass, trees rising several stories high, and a glass spiral staircase in the back leading upward to three other levels. The Den must have been built before the bird kingdom had been banished, Simon realized. This was supposed to be their section.

“You'll wait in here,” said Malcolm as he herded them into an office. Simon stumbled after Winter, and Malcolm closed the door, locking them inside. With red walls and leather furniture, the room felt comfortable and warm, almost like
his
and Darryl's apartment. A huge mahogany desk took up most of the space in the back of the room, and near the door stood a bookcase overflowing with worn books about every species of animal he could think of. The higher shelves were crammed with titles like
The Great Bird War of the Seventeenth Century
,
The Ancient Order of Animalgams
, and
A Brief History of the Insect Migration
—titles that, if Simon weren't staring right at them, he would never have believed. His fingers itched to flip through the pages, but he stopped when he spotted another title:
The Rise and Fall of the Beast King
.

The rat's warning echoed through his head, and Simon reached for the book. If nothing else, maybe he could find out what the rat had been talking about.

“So that's what she looks like,” said Winter, her voice cutting through the silence. Startled, Simon dropped his hand. Winter was examining a portrait of a woman with straight dark hair, icy blue eyes, and a narrow nose. Another one of a young man with sandy hair and a playful smirk watched them from behind the desk.

“If that's the Alpha, then who—” Simon began, turning around, but he stopped short. A third portrait hung on the wall beside the door, and this time he knew exactly who the young man with dark hair and even darker eyes was.

Darryl.

“That's my uncle,” he said. “He really
is
Malcolm's brother.”

“What, did you expect the slobbering mutt to lie to you?”
said
Winter, collapsing on a leather couch. Her eyes were still red and puffy from crying. “We have bigger problems to deal with right now. If Malcolm really thinks the flock was trying to attack us, then he must not know the Alpha ordered the rats to go after you, or that Orion protected you. But once he catches on . . .”

“We'll leave as soon as we find my mother,” said Simon, wandering around the office, searching for any clues that might indicate where she was being kept. But he saw nothing out of the ordinary—nothing that screamed “kidnapping,” at least.

“The Alpha could have moved her by now,” said Winter.

“She's here. You heard the rats.”

“But how do you know for sure? We could be risking our lives for
nothing
—”

“This is the only lead we have,” said Simon. The hot knot settled back in his chest and burned. “She has to be here, all right? If she's not, then—then she's gone, and I can't think like that. Not right now.” His mother was counting on him.

Silence filled the office, and somewhere nearby, a clock ticked. “You're right. We'll find her,” said Winter quietly. “I'm sorry.”

Simon leaned against the desk, not trusting himself to say anything yet. An awkward minute passed, and his eyes landed once more on the portrait of the Alpha. “I don't understand why Darryl faked his death. If his family was trying to kill me, then why—”

“
We were not trying to kill you, Simon,” said Malcolm from the doorway behind him, and Simon flinched, grateful Malcolm couldn't see his face. “Up until twenty minutes ago, none of us had any idea you even existed.”

“Simon . . .” Winter stared at Malcolm as though he had turned into a kangaroo. Simon dug his nails into his palms.

“Then why did my uncle hide me?” he said as he whirled around. “Why—”

He stopped cold. Malcolm wasn't alone.

Beside him stood a scowling boy wearing a black uniform with a matching armband that bore a silver crown insignia. His brown hair was neat and trimmed, and he stood up straight, making him look taller, but that was where the differences ended. From their matching blue eyes to the way their ears stuck out, all the way down to the slant of their eyebrows, he and Simon were identical.

“Simon, you have the honor of meeting the heir to the mammal kingdom, the Alpha Prince Nolan Thorn,” said Malcolm. “My nephew, and your brother.”

9

THE ALPHA PRINCE

The room began to spin. Brother? Simon had a brother? He stared at Nolan. Even if Malcolm hadn't told him, it would have been obvious. There was no mistaking them for anything other than twins.

He had a brother. He had a whole family, and his uncle—his
mother
had never told him.

While at first Nolan wore what was likely an identical look of shock, he seemed to brush off the surprise quickly, his expression smoothing into a mask of boredom. “I don't have a brother.”

“Hard to say so now, isn't it?” said Malcolm. “After a haircut, we won't be able to tell you two apart.”

“If I had a brother, Mother would have told me,”
said
Nolan with a sniff. “It's a trick or a disguise, that's all.”

“You—you know our mother?” said Simon.

“
My
mother,” said Nolan nastily. “I don't know
yours
.”

Simon's chest tightened as if a boa constrictor had wrapped around him. His mother had lied to him. Not just about what she did or who he was, but about everything. He had a brother. A
twin
.

“When—when's the last time you saw her?” he managed, feeling like Bryan Barker had socked him in the gut all over again. “Do you know where she is? Have you—”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” said Nolan, and to Malcolm he added, “you dragged me out of training for this?”

“Don't act so annoyed when we both know you jump at the chance to miss training whenever you can,” said Malcolm. “You will be polite to your brother, or I'll—”

“Or you'll what? Ground me?” The prince rolled his eyes. “I'm shaking in my boots.”

“I'll inform the Alpha of your blatant disrespect for your family,” said Malcolm in a warning voice.

Nolan hesitated, but before he could reply, Winter, who had been silent since Nolan had arrived, finally burst. “I've heard all kinds of rumors about how much of a spoiled jerk the Alpha Prince was, but I never actually believed them until now. You really are worse than I am.”

“Excuse me?” said Nolan.

Winter
stood, her arms crossed over her chest. “You heard me. You're a selfish, spoiled, egotistical jerk who can't even talk to his own brother without making piranhas look polite.”

He took a menacing step forward. “How dare you speak to me like that. I am the
Alpha Prince
—”