ratsâ mutterings grew louder, and Simon glared at her. âThey can hear you,â he said. She huffed and elbowed him in the side.
âI donât care. Move over.â
âBe my guest,â said Simon, and he wiped his hands on a patch of grass. âItâs not as easy as it looks.â
âMaybe not for
you
.â Winter took a deep breath and dived in, her nimble fingers somehow unknotting the tails with ease. Simon stared, stunned. By the time he opened his mouth to speak, sheâd already freed three rats.
â How are youââ
âIâm not a clumsy baboon, thatâs how.â Another two tails slipped out of the knot. âMost of it is just fur and rat droppings. Theyâre all clumped together, and the tails arenât as tangled as you think they are.â
Simon watched as, one by one, Winter freed the members of the Rat King. Most of the tails were bent at odd angles, but the rats didnât seem to mind; like Felix so often did, they clutched their tails lovingly. Simon couldnât blame them.
âHow long have you all been knotted up like this?â he said to the leader.
âMany moons, many moons,â he said, his eyes shining as Winter finally freed him. He gingerly took his crinkled tail and ran his paws over the angles. âHow Iâve missed you.â
Winter wiped her hands on the ground and stood without touching her outfit. âThere. Disgusting, but done. Where did you take Simonâs mother?â
âIt wasnât us,â said the leader. âIt was the rat army. We were not allowed without our tails.â
âSo where did they take her?â said Simon, his frustration growing.
âTo the safest place in the mammal kingdom,â said the rat. âWhere only the strongest may go.â
Beside him, Winter muttered a curse under her breath. âYou meanâ?â
âYes,â said the rat. âThe zoo.â
Winter let out a screech so loud that half the rats surrounding them bolted. âOf course. Of
course
. Out of all the places the Alpha couldâve taken herâthatâs just perfect, isnât it?â
âAt least we know where she is now,â said Simon, standing. He didnât see what was so dangerous about a zoo, but before Winter could elaborate, the former leader of the Rat King limped toward them.
âIf you follow, you will surely perish,â he said, his beady eyes flashing. âBeware the Beast King, Simon Thorn.â
âIs that the leader of one of the other kingdoms?â said Simon. The last thing they needed was someone else hunting them, too, but the rat disappeared into the scraggly brush without an answer. Simon frowned, turning back to Winter. âPlease tell me you know what he was talking about.â
Winter laughed humorlessly. âThe Alpha took your mother to the Central Park Zoo.â
âThatâs not what Iââ He stopped. It didnât matter. âSo letâs go get her.â
âHave you ever even
been
to the Central Park Zoo?â she said, and Simon shrugged.
âIâve seen parts of it from the street. Butââ
âBut your uncle never took you inside. Orion doesnât let me go near the zoo, either,â she added. âYou want to know why?â
âThe lions arenât very friendly?â
Winter gave him a withering look. âThe Central Park Zoo is really a cover for the L.A.I.R.âthe Leading Animalgam Institute for the Remarkable. Itâs the academy where the Alpha trains her army. She handpicks the smartest and deadliest Animalgam kids from the mammal, insect, reptile, and underwater kingdoms, and because theyâre all under her control, they canât say no. The Alpha brainwashes them and turns them into killing machines. After five years, the students are sent back to their kingdoms, completely loyal to her. Anyone whoâs anyone in the five kingdoms