Return to the Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,40

imperial soldiers to Charmington to keep it safe.”

Ben returned to the castle to pick up Chad and took his leave of the grand duke, who promised to alert him should anything else purple turn up in the area. Chad was in the kitchen petting a brown puppy from Bruno’s latest litter.

“All set, old man?” he asked.

Ben nodded. “Let’s go. I’ll drop you off back at school on my way.”

“Where are you going?” Chad asked as he climbed back into the convertible. “Maybe I’ll join you. I’ve got nothing better to do today but homework. Now that Evie won’t do mine anymore.”

“Neverland.”

Chad changed his tune. “Right. I’ll stay at Auradon Prep, if you don’t mind. One of the Lost Boys is still mad that that I stole his bear costume last time they played us. He brought it up again at the game yesterday, but it wasn’t my fault he never got it back!” The ragtag group was still very fond of their bear, fox, rabbit, and raccoon pelts.

“But it was your fault that someone found it and turned it into a rug,” reminded Ben.

Chad sighed. “Yeah, you might have a point there.”

Jay was hiding by the hedges that lined the road to Evil Queen’s castle when he heard the voices of his friends whispering—or was that bickering?—in the darkness. “Hey,” he said, stepping out from behind the bushes. “About time you guys got here.” It was 11:54, only five minutes before the meeting.

“I broke a heel,” said Evie, who was limping a little. “Sorry. I’m still wearing dance slippers, not hiking boots. I forgot how much walking we have to do on the island. But I’m okay.”

“What were you guys arguing about?” he asked.

“Evie doesn’t trust Maddy,” said Mal, and filled him in on what they’d learned so far from their brief time on the island, mostly nothing good. Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil, and Jafar were still nowhere to be found.

“Mad Maddy? I wouldn’t trust her either; she’s pretty shady,” said Jay. “This is the Isle of the Lost, remember? Isle of the Lost, Land of Lies.”

“Find anything at the Junk Shop?”

“Not a thing,” said Jay, who told them about how suspicious and odd Big Murph had acted, and how Anthony Tremaine had called them turncoats.

“They all hate us,” said Evie, who sounded sad about that fact.

“Yep, we’re totally despised,” agreed Carlos.

“They don’t all hate us. Some of them are really scared of me, it turns out,” said Mal.

“Everyone was always scared of you, Mal. That hasn’t changed; come on,” argued Carlos.

“Okay, fine,” admitted Mal. “But now they’re even more scared!” She told them about how her room had been left pristine while the rest of the castle was ransacked. “Apparently it’s because they all think I’ll turn them into lizards.”

Jay guffawed. “You should turn the Isle of the Lost into the Isle of the Lizards!”

“Not funny,” said Mal, even though her lips were quirking a little. “And we still have to find out what this Anti-Heroes club is planning.”

“Planning their revenge on us, most likely,” said Carlos.

“Do we have to go to this meeting?” asked Evie.

“Come on, let’s not chicken out now. Maybe they just don’t like sandwiches? Heroes? Get it?” joked Jay.

The rest of them groaned. Mal ignored his wisecracks. “Well, from how Maddy was acting, it sounds like Jafar, Cruella, and Evil Queen are definitely part of it.”

“Looked to me like Maddy is part of it too,” said Evie.

“Oh, definitely,” said Carlos.

“Shhhh!” warned Jay. “Someone’s coming.”

The four of them melted back into the shadows, peeking out from the hedges to watch as a succession of shadowy figures made their way toward the cellar door. “Recognize anybody?” whispered Evie.

“No,” said Jay, who had the sharpest eyesight. “It’s too far and too dark to see.”

“What do we do now?” asked Carlos, trying to push the branches aside so they didn’t tickle his nose.

“We follow them in, isn’t that obvious?” Mal said, mimicking the tone he’d used on them earlier.

“No bickering!” said Evie. “And quiet, or they’ll hear us!”

A few more dark silhouettes made their way down the road toward the castle, disappearing down the stone steps. After a large wave of people, the crowd trickled down to a few stragglers. “Okay, let’s go,” said Jay. “We’ll sneak in after those guys.” He scanned the area. “I think they’re the last ones.”

The four of them crept up from behind, and when the clouds drifted from the moon, they saw that the guys they were following were Harry and Jace.