Free Krakens and Lies by Tui T. Sutherland Page B

backed all the way into his cave and vanished in the dark.
    â€œI bet he knows Basil is loose,” Zoe said. “Thanks for the warning, Clawdius! Sheesh.”
    â€œDragons,” Jasmin said, shaking her head. “So unreliable.”
    â€œThat’s what Blue always says!” Zoe said. “Oh, you’re joking.”
    Logan was searching each screen for anything that looked like a person-sized iguana. There wasn’t a lot of movement in the Menagerie at the moment. The griffins were all inside their cave—maybe their parents could sense the danger, too. Inside the Aviary, the birds were fluttering around, but the basilisk probably wouldn’t get in there. There was no sign of Mooncrusher by the ice garden, and nothing moved in the Dark Forest.
    No sign of the basilisk anywhere.
    â€œWait,” he said, leaning forward. “Zoe, look. Is that—is one of the islands in the lake—it looks like it’s swimming . That’s not the kraken, is it?” He suddenly remembered his first day in the Menagerie, when he’d thought he’d seen one of the two islands move. He’d forgotten about that until now.
    â€œNo, it’s just the zaratan,” she said distractedly.
    â€œOh,” Logan said.
    Jasmin caught his eye and grinned. “Just the zaratan,” she said. “Obviously.”
    â€œI should have guessed,” he said, smiling back.
    â€œMe too,” she said. “I just had him over to tea, after all.”
    â€œAre you guys being sarcastic?” Zoe asked, glancing over her shoulder at them.
    â€œNot at all,” Jasmin said innocently. “Everyone knows what a zaratan is. I think we learned about them in between polynomials and semicolons.”
    â€œOkay, smart aleck,” Zoe said. “It’s a giant turtle, like, really giant, and it can live for about a thousand years. They’re really good at acting like islands and staying inconspicuous.” She zoomed in on the shot of what looked like a mossy green island slowly perambulating across the lake. “Wait. Do you guys see what I see?”
    Something long and gray was draped across the zaratan’s shell.
    â€œThere he is,” Zoe yelped. “He’s on top of the zaratan. Oh, man. The mermaids really are in danger. I hope Blue reached his dad.” She started biting her nails again. “Basilisks are good swimmers. He could slide off the zaratan and swim out through the river any minute. If he gets out into Xanadu—”
    â€œStop that,” Jasmin said, swatting Zoe’s hand away from her mouth. “How do we get to it? Is there a boat?”
    â€œThere is,” Zoe said. “But we should wait for Marco. But do we have time to wait for Marco? What if Basil escapesbefore he gets here? But we can’t go out there by ourselves; it’s way too dangerous. What would Abigail do?”
    It took Logan a moment to realize that (a) Zoe was talking about his mom and (b) she wasn’t asking him, she was talking to herself. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples furiously.
    â€œWho’s that?” Jasmin asked, pointing at one of the screens. “Is she a mermaid?”
    With a sickening drop in his stomach, Logan saw Keiko sauntering out of the Dark Forest and along the path around the lake. She was wearing her white kimono. Her fox tail was out and swishing along proudly behind her.
    â€œWait,” Jasmin said. “Zoe, isn’t that . . .”
    â€œKeiko!” Zoe yelped. “I am the worst sister ever! I completely forgot about her!” She leaped up. “We have to go get her. With her fox hearing, she might even be able to hear Basil from where she is now.”
    To her credit, Jasmin did not ask a million fox-related questions. She just raced after Zoe as Zoe hurtled into the living room and started grabbing earplugs for all of them.
    â€œJasmin, won’t you please stay here?” Zoe