Read Online The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett - Free Book Online Page B

part bear, and mostly monster stood in the classroom. Ten feet tall or better, its massive, bulbous head reached nearly to the ceiling.
    I watched transfixed by terror as its lips spread apart, revealing teeth as long as my index fingers and a mouth big enough to swallow a baby goat whole. Or maybe a baby dragon. As its mouth reached its fullest expanse, the creature let out a roar loud enough to make the walls shake. I shrank back from it, along with the rest of the class.
    Still roaring, the creature charged forward, spider-quick despite its cumbersome size. It headed in my direction, and I reached for Bellanax, ready to drop the glamour and gut the thing with the sword. But the creature turned toward Lance at the last second. It stretched out its two enormous clawed hands and seized him by the throat. Lance let out a girlish squeal just as the creature dissolved back into vapor and disappeared.
    Everyone laughed, including Selene, although she did it with admirable restraint.
    â€œJust be glad it wasn’t his mother, Mr. Rathbone,” Mr. Corvus said, motioning at Lance. “Female trolls are twice as fierce as males.”
    Lance rubbed his fingers over his neck and let out a shaky laugh. “That’s true of most species, yeah?”
    Beside him, a wicked smile flashed across Selene’s face.
    The rest of class proved much less exciting, but nevertheless it passed by quickly. Mr. Corvus, for all his imperial manner, knew how to give a captivating lecture.
    Afterward, Selene and I said good-bye to Lance and then headed for our biology class. It was located in the Menagerie, an area of Arkwell I’d only ever seen—and smelled—from a distance. Located on the north side of campus, a tall stone wall separated the Menagerie from the rest of Arkwell, making the place a campus onto itself. With good reason, I supposed, considering the types of plants and animals that were said to be housed in there.
    Selene and I gathered with the rest of the class outside the main gates into the Menagerie, waiting admittance.
    â€œGood morning, class,” the teacher called from the other side of the massive gate. She was a trim, muscular woman with short brown hair and skin turned leathery and wrinkled from countless hours spent in the elements. “I’m Ms. Miller, your new biology teacher. Before I open these doors, I will need you to repeat this oath after me. Please hold up your right hand.” She demonstrated then waited for the class to comply. Selene and I exchanged a puzzled glance as we raised our hands.
    â€œVery good,” Ms. Miller said. “Now repeat after me. I hereby declare, on oath, that I will not touch, tease, or talk to any animal or plant located within these walls—” She paused, allowing us to repeat. “Unless given permission and instruction to do so.” Another pause while we repeated. “Furthermore, I will not attempt to open any locked area within the Menagerie. And I acknowledge that failure to follow these rules may result in my death, dismemberment, or involuntary exile.”
    I repeated the last of the oath, even more puzzled. The death and dismemberment, I got. There might be any manner of magical creatures kept in there, including dragons and trolls, according to rumor, anyway. But involuntary exile? What did that even mean? Better yet, did I really want to find out?
    Satisfied by our oaths, Ms. Miller slid a giant skeleton key into the padlock on the gate. A second later, it swung open with a mournful creak and we all shuffled inside. Ms. Miller, looking very un-teacher-like in jeans and a green polo shirt, led us down a narrow passageway and onto a grassy lawn crisscrossed with cobblestone paths. Walls of animal-filled cages surrounded the lawn on all sides. Only a few of the animals were recognizably ordinary, some monkeys, a couple of parrots, various snakes. The rest were clearly magical.
    Several Menagerie workers, also in green polo