their minivan, while Logan and Zoe were out trying to lure a griffin.
The class clown is a werewolf?
âWho is that?â said the boy in the red sweater, shielding his eyes. âDo I know you?â
âOnly since kindergarten,â Zoe said, stepping forward as Logan shone his light up again. âMarco, what are you doing out here?â
Marco looked at the sky again and shrank back, waving his hands. âYou have to get out of here. I canât explain, butââ
âYouâll become something dangerous?â Zoe guessed. âHow did this happen to you? Who else is out here? Anyone who really likes to eat geese?â
Marco blinked at her like she was crazy.
âUh, Zoe,â said Logan. âMaybe now isnât the bestââ
âAaaagh,â Marco yelped, clutching his stomach.
âToo late,â Blue said from behind them. âHeâs changing.â
Logan and Zoe both took a step back, but neither one ran. Logan imagined that Zoe felt the same way he didâhe 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 wasnât 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 Marcoâs jeans and sneakers.
The sweater moved.
âToo small to be a wolf,â Zoe whispered, relief flooding her voice.
âMaybe a raccoon,â Logan guessed. âOr a badger? Are there werebadgers? Okay, actually, I have no idea how big a badger is.â
âNothing quite so impressive,â 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 AWK ,â said Marco.
âOh, didnât I mention that part?â Keiko said. âMarco Jimenez is a wererooster.â
NINE
âS o, just to clarify,â said Zoe. âYou 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
âWhy?â Keiko said. âSo you could do what? Lock him up? Because heâs such a menace to society?â She arched her eyebrows at the rooster Logan was chasing around the clearing.
Catching a rooster hadnât sounded quite so difficult in Loganâs head. After all, Logan was a lot bigger than the bird. Advantage: Logan.
âDonât let him peck you,â Blue said for the fifth time. âNot all forms of lycanthropy are spread by biting, but we donât know what kind he has.â
Advantage: rooster.
Logan jumped back as Marco flapped his wings at him. He really, really did not want to be turned into a werechicken.
âWhy canât we leave him here?â Keiko asked. âYou realize you can interrogate him at school in about eight hours.â
Zoe flinched, and Logan guessed she was thinking of how little sleep sheâd get tonight.
âWe canât abandon him,â he said. âThis forest is crawling with dangerous things; you said so yourself.â
âWell, I said werecreatures,â Keiko said with a shrug. âI didnât actually say they were dangerous.â
âKeiko, could you try to be just a little helpful, for once?â Zoe asked. âAre they all squirrels and roosters? Is there anything that could have eaten Pelly?â
âI think I have been extremely helpful,â Keiko said frostily. âBut if you would like to sniff out your own werecreatures, be my guest.â She turned and flounced away through the trees.
âKeiko!â Blue