Free Krakens and Lies by Tui T. Sutherland Page A

which meant she thought he could be useful, but also terror, because deadly killer lizard .
    â€œAbsolutely not,” Jasmin said. “I know what to do with a basilisk. And if there are mermaids in danger, I am so there. I am so there for saving mermaids!” She pulled a compact out of her back pocket. “Besides, I have this. Check me out. Do any of you have mirrors in your pockets? If so, you clearly never use them. I’m just kidding.” She burst into giggles.
    â€œJasmin, this is serious!” Zoe cried. “Do you know what I would do if anything happened to you?”
    â€œSomething appropriately dramatic and grief-stricken, I hope,” Jasmin said. “Now, do you have a rooster?”
    â€œOf course we do not have a rooster,” Zoe said, and then stopped as if struck by lightning.
    â€œWhat do you mean, of course you don’t have a rooster?”Jasmin said. “You have a mammoth and a unicorn and apparently a horde of menacing salamanders. A rooster does not seem that unlikely, in context.”
    Zoe turned to Logan and he saw a gleam in her eye. “Marco,” she said.
    â€œYes!” Logan agreed. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of their wererooster friend himself.
    â€œOh, poor Marco,” said Blue. “Not again.”
    â€œIs there literally a single more useful thing he could do in his entire life?” Zoe asked, pulling out her phone and heading into the kitchen. “He’ll be the hero, he’ll love it. And we’re not even in school, so his mom can’t yell at him.”
    â€œ Marco knows about this place?” Jasmin said. “Okay, now I’m seriously offended. Marco? ”
    â€œThere’s . . . a little more to him than you might expect,” Blue said.
    â€œLike he owns a rooster, you mean? Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
    Logan and Blue glanced at each other. Logan wasn’t sure whether it would be okay with Marco for them to reveal his secret.
    â€œSure, okay, he owns a rooster,” Blue said, in his “I’m lying, but obviously, so now we both know it and let’s move on” voice.
    Jasmin pulled out her ponytail, shook her hair loose, and then pulled it back up again like she was preparing for battle.“Well, I’m ready,” she said. “Point me at this basilisk.”
    â€œWe have to figure out where he is first,” Logan said. “Right, Blue?”
    â€œLet’s check the video monitors,” Zoe said, barreling through the room toward Melissa’s office. “Marco’s on his way. Blue, where is your mom?”
    â€œShe had a meeting at the bank this morning,” Blue said. “I think we’re the only ones here.”
    â€œExcept your dad!” Zoe said, alarmed. She stopped at the door to Melissa’s office. “They’re right there! The basilisk could be at the lake already! We have to warn them!”
    â€œI’m on it,” Blue said. He hurried out of the room and they heard his footsteps thumping up the stairs. Logan pointed questioningly after him.
    â€œThey have a communication device linked up in Blue’s room,” Zoe explained.
    â€œDoes the basilisk’s power work on the creatures?” Logan asked as he and Jasmin went after Zoe into the office. He scanned the bank of screens and shivered. “Are the griffins safe?”
    â€œIt only works on people-creatures, not animals,” Zoe said. “Although it can make the talking ones kind of sick and sleepy for a while by looking at them.”
    â€œOh, wow,” Jasmin breathed, leaning over Zoe’s shoulder to study the screens. “No way. That is really a dragon.”
    In the top left screen, Clawdius was sitting outside hiscave, frowning down at the Menagerie. Smoke spiraled up from his nostrils and he looked decidedly concerned. After a moment, he took a step backward, and then another, and then he