Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den (23 page)

“If Orion has my grandson, then what are you still doing here?” said the Alpha in a dangerous voice. “Track them down before they reach Sky Tower.”

Malcolm tilted his head. “I'll take the pack. Where's Darryl? The more noses on the ground, the better chance we'll have.”

“
You've been doing well without him for twelve years. Do not allow his presence to rob you of your agency.”

Malcolm turned to leave, his expression sour, but before he could exit the office, the Alpha spoke again. “And, Malcolm?”

“Yes?”

“If you do not find him, do not bother coming back.”

Malcolm clenched his jaw and nodded once more, closing the door behind him. Simon tensed as the Alpha crossed the room and slowly slid the lock into place.

“Now tell me, Simon,” she said. “How did the birds get into the Den?”

A hard, cold lump formed inside him. “I don't know.”

“Of course you do. You're the one who sent for them,” she said, and his heart pounded.

“I—”

She stepped forward, her hands folded in front of her. “I know why you're here, Simon. I know you're only trying to find your mother. And I can make that easy for you, or I can make it very, very difficult. It's entirely your choice.”

Simon's mouth went dry. “I—I don't know how they got in,” he said. “Maybe the birds know about the tunnels.”

“Perhaps,” she allowed. “But you are still the reason they came.”

“I don't know anything about that,” he said, the lie thick on his tongue.

She sighed. “Very well. We'll just have to do this the hard way, won't—”

The
Alpha stopped, her eyes narrowing. Simon followed her gaze, and suddenly the room seemed to tilt.

His father's portrait, the one that hid the safe, was cracked open.

“What were you doing in here before I arrived?” she said, touching the gilded frame. The portrait clicked shut.

“I—nothing,” he said. Winter must not have closed it all the way.

“Are you sure about that?” she said, pulling the portrait open once more. Her fingers touched the dial. “I will give you one more chance to tell me the truth, Simon.”

The knot burned in his chest, and he tried to formulate an excuse—any excuse—but the words didn't come. “I—I—”

She twirled the dial expertly, popping open the safe. Silence hung in the air, and slowly the Alpha turned toward him, her face twisted with shock and fury. When she spoke, her voice trembled, as if she were barely able to hold herself together. “Where did you put the pieces, Simon?”

“I don't have them,” he said.

“Then you know where they are, and you
will
tell me, or I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your very short—”

The Alpha stopped suddenly, and a strange look passed over her face. She tried to step toward Simon but stumbled. She peered down at her arm, where a black widow clung to the inside of her wrist.

“
You—” She tried to bat the spider away. It jumped onto Simon's shirt instead, and she stumbled toward the sofa. “What . . . ?”

The Alpha collapsed onto the rug in front of the fireplace, and her eyes fell shut. Simon blinked. What had just happened?

The spider leaped off his shirt, and a second later, Ariana stood in front of him wearing a smug smile. “Winter had the right idea earlier,” she said. “I gave the Alpha a dose of special venom I created last year. It won't kill her, but it'll knock her out long enough for us to get out of here. Now come on—she hit the panic button.”

“The what?” said Simon. Ariana pointed to the underside of the desk, where a red button was embedded in the wood.

“Security's probably on their way here already,” she said. “We have to go.”

“We can escape through the portrait,” said Simon, but she shook her head.

“They'll be waiting for us on the other side. We have to go out the only way they won't expect—through the Arsenal.”

“But—the bridge isn't high enough. The sharks will stop us.”

“Then I guess we'll just have to outrun them, won't we?” She opened the office door. “Are you coming or not?”

Simon hesitated, then bent down and removed the key
from
around the Alpha's neck. “We have to make a stop in the zoo first.”

“Are you crazy?” said Ariana. “We don't have time for that.”

“I don't care,” said Simon. “Even if Orion rescued my mom, I doubt he bothered with my uncle. You can go if you want. It's probably safer if you don't come.”

She snorted. “As if I'd miss this. If we're caught . . .”

“We won't be, not if we hurry.” He wasn't going to leave Darryl behind, not even if it meant going tooth to tooth with a shark to save him.

21

SHARK BAIT

Simon and Ariana crept out of the Alpha's residence and into the hallway. It was eerily empty, though Simon had the feeling that would change soon.

“This way,” he said, moving toward the curtain of ivy that separated them from the mammal section. Ariana snorted.

“Are you suicidal? That's where the packs will be coming from. We have to go through here.” She headed in the opposite direction, toward the door that led into the reptiles' section. Simon followed nervously.

“I don't think this is a good idea.”

“This is the fastest way,” she said, exasperated.

“Not if one of us steps on a venomous snake.”

“Then just watch where—”

“
Through here!” shouted a deep voice from behind the ivy. No time to worry about getting bit—Simon grabbed the handle and yanked open the door that led to the reptiles' section, pulling Ariana inside.

Heat like a roaring fire hit Simon hard. Sweat trickled down his back, and he wiped his forehead. Fine white sand shifted beneath his feet, and the walls shimmered blue, as if the sky itself were a mirage. He'd never been in a desert before, but if he had to imagine what it would be like, this was exactly it.

“Clingy much?” said Ariana, prying her hand from his grip. “Watch where you step.”

He glanced down at his feet. A white-and-black snake slithered inches in front of him, and he blanched. “I'm not going into the insects' section.”

“Why not?” she said, stepping over the snake. Simon followed in her footsteps exactly.

“Because I want to live long enough to see my mother again.” A rattlesnake coiled in the middle of the path, shaking its rattle threateningly.

“You stepped in my drawing,” he hissed, and Simon glanced down. His shoe was in the middle of an elaborate sand illustration of the Eiffel Tower.

“Oh. I'm sorry,” he said, jumping to the side. “I didn't mean to. We're just cutting through.”

“Come off it, Geoff,” said Ariana. “You were just going to wipe it clean.”

The
rattlesnake hissed, but he slumped back down into his coil. “It was a good one, too.”

“It was,” agreed Simon hastily. “I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later, Geoff.”

The snake sighed, and Simon moved delicately past him. Halfway there.

“The spiders won't hurt you if you're with me,” said Ariana. “And we don't kill people we like. Most of the time, anyway. Watch the coral snake.”

Simon stopped, his foot hovering half an inch above the tail of a snake with a red, yellow, and black striped pattern. “Sorry.”

“You're going to die, Simon Thorn,” the coral snake hissed. “We can't help you out there.”

“You aren't helping him in here, either,” said Ariana. “So unless you plan on getting a little snappy and distracting the pack while we escape, stop being a jerk.”

The coral snake hissed, and Simon angled himself between them. “She didn't mean it,” he said, and Ariana snorted. “Well, okay, she did, but we really could use your help. If anyone tries to come after us, can you stop them? Don't—don't
kill
them,” he added. “Just make sure they don't follow us.”

The coral snake slithered around them, forming a circle in the sand. “What do I get in return?”

Simon racked his brain. What did reptiles like? “Books,” he said. “I have a whole library at home. I'll bring you as many books as I can carry.”

The
coral snake seemed to consider this, and finally moved aside. “And charcoal,” he said.

“S-Sure. I'll see what I can do.” Taking Ariana's hand again, Simon gingerly crossed the rest of the expanse of sand until they reached the entrance to the insects' section.

“Trust me,” she said. “We'll be fine.”

She opened the door and dragged him out of the desert. The shadowy insects' section was even worse than Simon had imagined. He gulped and despite the muggy air, he shivered. A wall of cobwebs stood inches from the tip of his nose, so thick that all he could see was white.

“How am I supposed to get through this?” he said.

“Crawl, of course,” said Ariana, and she knelt down. “Follow me.”

She disappeared through a small opening underneath the webs. Simon flattened himself against the floor; there was just enough room for him to fit, though he had to drag himself along with his arms, and spiderwebs caught in his hair. He had the unnerving feeling that someone was watching him, but he kept his eyes on Ariana as she crawled through the maze of cobwebs. And it
was
a maze, Simon quickly realized. Each intersection offered two choices, and he didn't want to think about what would happen if someone chose the wrong one.

At last they emerged on the other side. Simon shuddered, while Ariana ran her fingers through her hair. “That wasn't so hard, was it?” she said.

Simon
blanched. “Speak for yourself.” He wasn't sure he would ever shake the feeling of a million imaginary insects crawling over him.

From there they broke through to the foyer of the Academy. Simon dashed down the hallway toward the entrance, nearly tripping on the thick rug. He pushed open the double doors that led to the bridge, and—

Nothing. The bridge was gone. In the distance, he could see the doorway to the Arsenal, but unless they wanted to go for a swim, there was no way to cross the moat.

Ariana skidded to a stop beside him. “Well. That's a problem.”

Simon's mind raced. They couldn't chance the tunnels—Ariana was right. The pack would anticipate that and be waiting for them. But there had to be some other way across. “I think I might know someone who can help.”

Simon headed back toward the school, but instead of returning to the insects' section, he turned right, toward the Aquarium.

“No way,” said Ariana. “The reptiles like the mammals about as much as we do, but the fish are completely under the Alpha's thumb.”

“Not all of them. Come on.” He led her into the underwater tunnel. A shark floated above them, but if he noticed them, he didn't stop.

Ariana shrank down. “You know they can see us, right?” she said, and Simon was surprised to hear her voice shake.

“
I know. Through here.” He stopped in the middle of the hallway and crouched down. The trapdoor Malcolm had pointed out to him opened easily, and Simon slid through, climbing down the ladder.

“I don't like water,” said Ariana as she followed him down into a concrete corridor.

“We don't have much of a choice, unless you want to sneak out through the tunnels on your own.”

“Please,” she said. “Like I'm letting you do this without me.”

He led the way through the damp hallway. The yellow lights flickered, giving off an eerie glow, and finally they reached the barracks. Simon peeked around the corner. It was a long room full of metal bunk beds, and the only decoration was the glass ceiling that showed the Aquarium above them. The members of the underwater kingdom sat at tiny desks, with their heads down as they worked on their homework. All except for one.

Jam stretched out across his bed, book in hand as he happily ignored the furtive looks from the others. His bunk was only a few down from the door, and Simon tried to wave and catch his attention.

Nothing.

“Let me do it,” whispered Ariana, and she shifted once more and crawled across the concrete floor. Simon lost sight of her when she reached the bunk bed, but a moment later, Jam jerked and dropped his book.

“
What—” he started, but he blinked and then finally looked at the doorway.

Simon waved. Nearby, others glanced at him as well, and Jam pushed his glasses up his nose and stood.

“What are you doing down here?” said Jam as he hurried toward Simon. They stepped into the hallway, and Jam closed the door to the barracks. “If the captain catches you, you're chum.”

“We need your help,” said Simon. “The Academy's on lockdown.”

“I know. The captain wanted me to do extra training, since the general's unhappy with my . . .” Jam stopped, shuffling his feet. “But I said I had homework.”

“I didn't know the Lord of the Rings was on the syllabus,” said Ariana, suddenly appearing in human form beside Jam. He turned nearly as pink as her hair.

“It doesn't matter,” said Simon. “Jam—do you think you can get us to the other side of the moat without being seen?”

“You want to sneak out?” he said, and Simon nodded. “Why?”

“I'll explain everything if you help us. If you don't—”

“If you don't, the Alpha is probably going to kill Simon,” said Ariana casually. “We stole the pieces of the Predator.”

“You did
what
?” said Jam.

“
And
he and Nolan are the Beast King's heirs. Surprise.”

Jam stared at him, agog, and it took a couple of hasty
minutes
for Simon to explain the whole story. “And Ariana's right,” he added. “When we shift and figure out which of us is the Beast King's heir, the Alpha's going to use the Predator to kill whoever it is and absorb their power. I can't let that happen.”