The Poisoned King (Impossible Creatures Book 2)

by Katherine Rundell

For the first time, Koo opened his sticky-lidded eyes, and the first thing he saw was Anya Argen: her blond hair a dirty gray, bruised, bloodied, and ravenously hungry in the eyes. The day any living thing first opens its eyes to see the world is a stupendous day—whether that thing is a human baby or the smallest pup—but for gaganas even more so. The personality that radiated from Koo was immediate. He was all mischief and adoration, beak to tail. Koo half fell, half fluttered to Anya’s knee and took joyful, immediate, and total possession of her. He croaked his first word. “Mine.” Anya laughed. “Yes,” she said. “Exactly.” She set him on her shoulder, and he settled into the upper crook of her collarbone with a pleased wriggle. “Mine,” he said again. “Mine, mine.”

You better not kill this baby too