Island of Dragons (Unwanteds #7)(73)

“Yes, sir!” said the squirrelicorns. The dropbears were silent, but looked pleased to be going on an adventure. A moment later they all disappeared, and Aaron was left standing with Panther and the rock.

Aaron turned to the rock. “I’m going to take Panther with me. She’s trained now. I think we’ll be okay—I’m taking the vine spiders, too.”

“And how can I help?” asked the rock. “Or . . . is my work finished?” He seemed sad to think it.

“Your work is definitely not finished,” said Aaron. “If you’re willing, I’d like you to go farther than you’ve ever ventured before,” said Aaron. “Will you leave the jungle? Forge a path to the lawn and help Artimé?”

The rock seemed intensely excited about the proposition. “I—I will. If you think it’s best.”

“I do,” said Aaron earnestly. “I believe you can help us a lot. We can use you to hide behind, and inside your mouth if you don’t mind. And maybe if you find any other creatures along the journey who might do damage on board a ship, you could bring them along as well.”

The rock rose up a little straighter. “I can certainly do all of those things,” he said.

Aaron smiled and placed his hand on the side of the rock. “Thank you. And thank you for trusting me so willingly. You’ve been such a good friend to me, and, well, I don’t . . . I don’t actually deserve it.” Aaron cringed, and realized he couldn’t ask the rock to do such a major thing as this under false pretenses. His time to confess had come. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and forged ahead with it.

“You see,” Aaron went on, “I’m not actually who you think I am. I’m not Alex. I’m Alex’s twin brother, Aaron. And I’ve been . . . I’ve been lying to you. All this time. I’m dreadfully sorry, and I haven’t found a good way to tell you once I knew I had to. I just hope that you will forgive me. And I understand if you don’t want to be a part of this now. I truly do.”

The rock rumbled loud and low. “I know,” he said.

Aaron hazarded a glance. “You know . . . what?”

“I know that you are Aaron. Marcus told me about you, too.”

Aaron stared. “How long have you known?”

The rock thought for a moment. “I suspected from the beginning when you knew absolutely nothing about fixing Panther’s tail. And when you began playing fetch with Panther, I became certain. Marcus told me I’d know the difference between you boys because you are right-handed and Alex is left-handed.”

Aaron was flabbergasted. “You let me lie to you all this time? Even though I was hated by all of Artimé?” he asked.

The rock smiled, revealing a glimpse inside his cavernous mouth. “Marcus didn’t hate you. He said you were misunderstood. A misfit, just like us. I thought you probably belonged here in the jungle.”

Aaron didn’t know what to think. And there wasn’t time to process.

“I’m sure you’re needed back in battle. I’ll be off now,” said the rock. “I’ll wait on the lawn until I’m needed.” With that, the rock moved surprisingly fast over the paths, almost with a spring in his stride.

“Unbelievable,” Aaron murmured. He piled the spiders inside the tube, stepped in, and looked at Panther. “Looks like it’s just you and me and the spiders now,” he said. “Can I trust you?”

Panther was ridiculously still, appearing to be frozen. For a horrible second, Aaron wondered if Alex had been killed and Artimé was gone, all the statues and creatures freezing in their tracks as they’d done before. But then Aaron remembered who was head mage. And Panther opened her mouth and screamed in his face.

When Aaron got over the shock of it, he called her to join him in the tube. Panther rose on her hind legs and put her front paws on Aaron’s shoulders, and when she had squeezed fully inside the tube, Aaron pushed the button. Soon Panther was in Artimé once more.





Jungle Unleashed


Aaron and Panther nearly fell out of the tube into the kitchenette. It had been a tight squeeze. Aaron gathered up the spiders, and then he led Panther down the hallway to Alex’s living quarters.

Florence stood outside the hole looking in at them. Her eyes widened when she saw the panther. “You’re either brilliant or a total idiot, Aaron Stowe,” she said brusquely. “I’m hoping for brilliant, but quite honestly we’ll take anything right now.” Florence eyed the killer panther warily. “Which ship does she go on?”

“I want to keep her here on land,” said Aaron, trying to sound more confident than he was.

Florence looked at him. “Won’t she kill randomly like she did Eva Fathom?”

Aaron hesitated. “I’m confident that she will follow my commands. I’ve been training her for quite some time now.”

“Ah, so that’s where you go off to when you head down the mage’s hallway,” said Florence. “Simber and I have a bet going, and neither one of us is right. I’m kind of mad about it.”

“Yes,” said Aaron. “That’s where. Alex doesn’t know . . . I still have to tell him, so if you could maybe not mention it . . .”

“There will be time for you to tell him after we win this war,” said Florence. She reached up and stroked Panther’s head. “Okay,” she said with a sigh. “I guess I trust you.”