Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den (15 page)

“Vanessa, make sure Mr. Fluke and Miss Rivera return to their dormitories and have dinner delivered to them,” said Malcolm, and she nodded. “Nolan, you have homework.”

Nolan all but leaped to his feet and ran up the spiral staircase, and the slam of his bedroom door echoed throughout the atrium.

“And Simon,” added Malcolm after silence fell once more, “you've had a rough day. Tomorrow can't be better if you don't get any rest.”

Taking the hint, Simon stood, too. “I'll see you tomorrow,” he said to Winter. She shot him an amused look, though what she found so funny, he didn't know.

“
Right. Tomorrow.” She headed out of the room without waiting for Vanessa, making a sharp right toward the reptiles' section. Simon watched her go, feeling more and more hopeless with every step she took.

“I'll be there tomorrow, too,” said Jam, who smelled like the seafood restaurant around the corner from Simon's apartment. “I'm sorry about your nose.”

Simon shrugged. “Sorry about your shirt.”

“Never liked it much, anyway.” And despite everything that had happened in the dining hall, Jam grinned. “See you, Simon.”

Once Vanessa led Jam out of the atrium, Simon shuffled over to the spiral staircase, weariness hitting him like an eight-hundred-pound gorilla. Before he could start the climb, however, Malcolm put a hand on his shoulder.

“I'll send a sandwich up for you,” he said, and then hesitated. “You're sure you're okay?”

Simon wasn't sure he would ever be okay again, but he didn't know how he was supposed to tell that to Malcolm. “You're a lot like him, you know,” he said. “Darryl, I mean.”

Malcolm's grip on his shoulder tightened. “He's really alive?”

Simon nodded, and something flashed across Malcolm's face—something Simon recognized all too well. He wasn't the only one who had been blindsided by a brother today. “I'm sorry he lied to you.”

“I'm sorry he lied to both of us,” said Malcolm, and he
cleared
his throat. “Right, then. Upstairs with you. If Nolan gives you any problems, I'm two doors down the hall.”

“Do you think there's a way you can let Darryl know I'm here?” said Simon, worry knotting in the pit of his stomach. It had been there all day, lurking in the background, but he could no longer avoid it. He might have discovered a whole family he'd never known about, but his uncle was still the one who had been there for him his entire life.

“I've already sent out a messenger,” said Malcolm. “Now that we know Darryl's alive, we'll find him.”

If the last twelve years had proven anything, it was that his uncle had an uncanny ability to hide right under someone's nose. But Simon was too tired to do anything but accept that Malcolm knew what he was doing.

When he reached his bedroom, Simon briefly considered collapsing into the huge four-poster bed without changing into his pajamas, but then he saw the origami swan sitting on his pillow.

Exhaustion momentarily forgotten, he picked it up and examined it. On one wing, someone had written OPEN ME, SEAWEED BRAIN in neat, blocky handwriting.

Winter
. He unfolded the swan, careful not to tear the edges. On the back of what looked like plain paper was a note.

Stop panicking—you're going to give us away. If she's here, I'll find her. Just trust me.

Simon
glanced around the room, searching for any sign of her. But somehow, in the short time he'd spoken with Malcolm, Winter had managed to get into his room from the reptile section, write him a note, turn it into folded art, and disappear completely.

He smiled. It seemed he wasn't the only one with secrets in this place, but at least someone was on his side.

12

THE BEAST KING

True to his word, the next morning Malcolm paired Simon and Nolan together, forcing them to sit at the front of one of the two buses that would take the whole school to the Beast King's Stronghold. Simon had tried everything to get out of going, including feigning illness, but Malcolm had none of it—instead, all he'd succeeded in doing was making sure his new uncle watched him even closer.

Felix hadn't made an appearance that morning, and every time Simon tried to ask Winter if she'd had a chance to search for his mother, Nolan or Malcolm hovered nearby, and he'd had to quickly change the subject. To make matters worse, Nolan barely said two words to him, instead staring out the window with his hands clenched. Any hopes
Simon
had had of his brother helping him find their mother were gone.

After only fifteen minutes, the bus stopped at a private dock on the East River. “We're going by boat?” Simon said as he pulled on his backpack, and Nolan scoffed, the first sound he'd made since boarding.

“It's an
island
. What did you think we'd do, swim?”

In the spirit of making the day as tolerable as possible, Simon chose not to reply.

A burly man with hair the color of steel was waiting for them in front of a ferry big enough to hold the entire school. As they passed, Jam squared his shoulders and raised his chin.

“Captain,” he said, pausing long enough to salute.

“Fluke,” said the man. “At ease, soldier.”

Simon followed Jam up the walkway. “He doesn't look too scary on land,” he said. “Fewer teeth, for sure.”

“That's the shark we saw yesterday?” Winter said nervously.

“He's harmless out of the water,” said Jam in what he must have meant as a reassuring voice, but Winter only paled.

Nolan protested when they chose a seat in the back of the lower level, as far away from the older mammals as they could get, but the last thing Simon wanted was to give Garrett and the others a chance to throw him overboard. Eventually, once Malcolm joined them on the other side of the aisle, Nolan ceased his griping, though he continued sulking for the rest of the ride there.

“
So what's this place like?” said Simon as the ferry rocked in the wind.

“This is my first year at the Academy, so I've never been,” said Jam. “But I know it's where the L.A.I.R. used to be, before the Bird Lord started the war and destroyed part of it. Now we only come here to celebrate Unity Day.”

“When the kingdoms defeated the Beast King,” said Simon. Jam nodded. “Who was the Beast King, anyway?”

“I still can't believe you've never heard of the Beast King. That's like not knowing who the president of the United States is,” said Jam, baffled.

“He's an idiot,” said Nolan, and he scooted even farther away from them. Ignoring him, Simon shrugged.

“Malcolm told me he ruled hundreds of years ago.”

“Right—he killed countless Animalgams who refused to bow down to him. Eventually the rulers of the five kingdoms united to overthrow him, but we nearly went extinct in the process,” said Jam.

“What made him so powerful in the first place?” said Simon. It was hard to imagine any single Animalgam being able to overcome a whole wolf pack. Or a bird flock.

“Because he could shift into any animal he wanted,” said Winter from Simon's other side. “You try defeating an enemy who can suddenly grow venomous fangs or dive underwater or fly away. Not to mention he had thousands of followers willing to fight for him.”

“The kingdoms won eventually though,” said Jam. “And afterward, they transformed his Stronghold into the
original
Academy. It's supposed to be really cool. My sister said the section that's still standing has all kinds of artifacts from the war, and—”

“It's boring,” interjected Nolan, his arms crossed. “Just lots of old stuff no one cares about anymore.”

“It sounds cool to me,” said Simon, and Jam gave him a grateful smile.

Suddenly there was a flurry of motion near the middle of the ferry, and a magenta-haired girl darted out the side door—Ariana, the black widow Simon had fought the day before. Even with the loud drone of the engine, he could hear the sounds of her being sick.

“Is she going to be okay?” he said as Vanessa also disappeared out the side door, presumably to join her.

“She'll be fine,” said Malcolm from across the aisle. “Stay in your seat.”

Eventually Ariana returned, green-faced and looking as if she was seconds away from being sick again. Vanessa sat her down near the door with a paper bag, and she spent the rest of the journey with her head between her knees. Simon watched her while Nolan, Winter, and Jam argued over which kingdom must've been the one to finally kill the Beast King, but after Simon had beaten Ariana in the pit, he was sure he was the last person she wanted to see.

At last the ferry docked. Several students let out loud whoops as they rushed to shore, and Simon trailed after them, one of the last off the boat. Nolan rejoined his friends,
and
rather than endure an entire day dealing with their taunts and whispers, Simon chose to remain in the back with Winter and Jam. It wouldn't work forever, but maybe he could get away with avoiding Nolan long enough for him to cool down and—

“Simon,” barked Malcolm as he stood beside a sign that said P
RIVATE
P
ROPERTY
. He gestured for Simon to join his brother and the other mammals. Simon sighed.

“You two stay here,” Simon said to Winter and Jam. “I don't want you getting caught in the cross fire.”

Jam protested, but Simon insisted, and soon enough he joined Nolan up front. Several of the bigger boys snickered, and if looks could kill, the one Garrett gave him would have had him six feet under in half a second flat.

Simon shoved his hands into his pockets and ignored their jeers as Malcolm led the way up a well-worn stone path. When the trees gave way to a large meadow, Simon stopped. The Beast King's Stronghold wasn't just a mansion—it was an actual castle, built of black stone and iron. It rose several stories and expanded across the entire meadow, but though the main section stood tall, the wings tapered off into mountains of rubble. No wonder the school had been abandoned. But what really caught Simon's attention was the huge iron door that stood at the entrance, bearing a crest that looked strangely familiar.

Before Simon had time to think about it, someone ran into him from behind. “Watch it,” said a girl as she brushed
past
him. Ariana, he realized a second too late. By the time he began to ask how she was, she had disappeared into the crowd, and he had to trot to catch up to Nolan.

The iron door opened into an entrance hall that rivaled those of castles Simon had seen in movies, with high ceilings, dark corners, and flickering lights that led the way deeper into the Stronghold. There was no sign of destruction here, even though Simon had the uneasy feeling that the ceiling might cave in at any moment. Malcolm called for the stragglers to keep up, his voice echoing.

They stopped in the middle of what had once been the Beast King's throne room. Scattered throughout the room were paintings of both humans and animals, along with glass cases full of artifacts. Peace treaties written on ancient parchment, swords with handles carved into animal silhouettes—even a collection of tiaras and crowns that had once belonged to the rulers of the five kingdoms. If he had the entire day to explore on his own, Simon would still never have been able to study it all.

Thankfully Malcolm didn't seem to be paying too much attention to Simon now that they were safely inside, and he slipped away while Nolan and his friends were laughing at a painting of a bear crushing a hawk under its paw. Winter stood in front of a glass case that held a silver scepter, her brow furrowed as she examined it.

“The . . . Predator,” said Simon, reading the label on the case. It didn't look like anything terribly interesting.

“This is how the Beast King conquered the entire
Animalgam
kingdom,” said Winter. “That single weapon is responsible for the deaths of countless people.”

Simon blinked. Suddenly it didn't seem so boring. “But it's just a scepter—there isn't even a sharp edge.”

“That's because this isn't the whole thing.” Winter set her hand on the glass. “When all the pieces are in place, the Predator can absorb the power of everyone it kills and transfer it to the person who holds the scepter.”

“That's what made the Beast King so dangerous,” said Jam. He'd made his way through the crowd, closer to where Simon stood. “He killed so many different Animalgams that eventually he could shift into anything he wanted. Lion, whale, ladybug, python, woodpecker—you name it. But I don't think this is the real thing.” Jam pointed to the end of the scepter and squinted. “It's a very convincing replica, but I'm pretty sure the grooves on the end are supposed to be deeper. That's where the pieces go.”

“Where are they?” said Simon, while Winter stood on her tiptoes to examine the scepter.

“No one knows,” said Jam. “When the rulers of the five kingdoms killed the Beast King, they tried to destroy the Predator, and the end shattered into five pieces. They each took one and hid it in their kingdoms. Without all five, the scepter is as harmless as a stick.”

“There are tons of legends about people trying to hunt down all five pieces,” said Winter, dropping back down on her heels. “No one's found any of them yet though.”

“Because it's impossible,” said Jam. “My father's the
general
of our kingdom, and he said ours is moved every generation so that no one can track it down. That's how it should be. If anyone put the Predator together, they could gain the power of the Beast King, and we'd be at war all over again.”

And they would be able to wipe out their enemies completely. The knot in Simon's chest tightened. Suddenly he was glad the scepter was just a replica. “I don't see why no one smashed their piece so it couldn't be used at all,” he said.