Free The Menagerie #2 by Tui T. Sutherland Page A

their minivan, while Logan and Zoe were out trying to lure a griffin.
    The class clown is a werewolf?
    â€œWho is that?” said the boy in the red sweater, shielding his eyes. “Do I know you?”
    â€œOnly since kindergarten,” Zoe said, stepping forward as Logan shone his light up again. “Marco, what are you doing out here?”
    Marco looked at the sky again and shrank back, waving his hands. “You have to get out of here. I can’t explain, but—”
    â€œYou’ll become something dangerous?” Zoe guessed. “How did this happen to you? Who else is out here? Anyone who really likes to eat geese?”
    Marco blinked at her like she was crazy.
    â€œUh, Zoe,” said Logan. “Maybe now isn’t the best—”
    â€œAaaagh,” Marco yelped, clutching his stomach.
    â€œToo late,” Blue said from behind them. “He’s changing.”
    Logan and Zoe both took a step back, but neither one ran. Logan imagined that Zoe felt the same way he did—he wanted to know the truth, and he wanted to see what happened.
    But as Marco doubled over with a yell, and his skin began to writhe as if snakes were going to explode out of him, and his head changed shape and his whole body shrank, Logan felt his legs shaking. He wasn’t sure he could run now even if he wanted to.
    And then, suddenly, Marco seemed to vanish right in front of them. All that was left was his red sweater, which lay in a strange heap on the ground on top of Marco’s jeans and sneakers.
    The sweater moved.
    â€œToo small to be a wolf,” Zoe whispered, relief flooding her voice.
    â€œMaybe a raccoon,” Logan guessed. “Or a badger? Are there werebadgers? Okay, actually, I have no idea how big a badger is.”
    â€œNothing quite so impressive,” Keiko said, strolling past them. She walked over to the pile of clothes and lifted up the sweater with a flourish.
    A pair of beady black eyes blinked in the light. Black and white feathers floated around knobbly clawed feet.
    â€œ AWK ,” said Marco.
    â€œOh, didn’t I mention that part?” Keiko said. “Marco Jimenez is a wererooster.”

NINE
    â€œS o, just to clarify,” said Zoe. “You have literally known that Marco Jimenez was a wererooster since the first day of school, but at no point did that seem like a useful thing to tell the Menagerie.”
    â€œWhy?” Keiko said. “So you could do what? Lock him up? Because he’s such a menace to society?” She arched her eyebrows at the rooster Logan was chasing around the clearing.
    Catching a rooster hadn’t sounded quite so difficult in Logan’s head. After all, Logan was a lot bigger than the bird. Advantage: Logan.
    â€œDon’t let him peck you,” Blue said for the fifth time. “Not all forms of lycanthropy are spread by biting, but we don’t know what kind he has.”
    Advantage: rooster.
    Logan jumped back as Marco flapped his wings at him. He really, really did not want to be turned into a werechicken.
    â€œWhy can’t we leave him here?” Keiko asked. “You realize you can interrogate him at school in about eight hours.”
    Zoe flinched, and Logan guessed she was thinking of how little sleep she’d get tonight.
    â€œWe can’t abandon him,” he said. “This forest is crawling with dangerous things; you said so yourself.”
    â€œWell, I said werecreatures,” Keiko said with a shrug. “I didn’t actually say they were dangerous.”
    â€œKeiko, could you try to be just a little helpful, for once?” Zoe asked. “Are they all squirrels and roosters? Is there anything that could have eaten Pelly?”
    â€œI think I have been extremely helpful,” Keiko said frostily. “But if you would like to sniff out your own werecreatures, be my guest.” She turned and flounced away through the trees.
    â€œKeiko!” Blue