Isle of the Lost (16 page)

Mal sighed. “Fine. By the way, thanks for your help, Jafar.”

“My pleasure,” Jafar said with a crooked smile. “Good night.”

When Mal had gone, Jay felt his father slither up to him and dig his fingers into his sleeve. “What’s up?” he asked, even though he already knew.

“The Dragon’s Eye,” Jafar cooed.

“I know, I know.” Jay nodded. It would be the biggest score of the year.

“I would hate to think you’re betraying your friend,” Jafar said with a sorrowful look on his face.

“Don’t worry, Dad. None of us have any friends,” Jay scoffed. “Least of all, Mal.”

As they’d agreed, the next morning Jay met Mal at the crowded marketplace so they could “pick up” (read
swipe
) supplies for their journey to find the fortress. Jay hung back and snatched a bunch of fruit from a couple of tents while Mal stopped at a fortune-teller’s stand and traded a stolen pair of only
slightly
chipped earrings for a tattered pack of tarot cards.

“What are those for?” Jay asked.

“No one’s allowed into the library right? Where all those documents are locked up and sealed…”

“And the only person who has the key is Dr. F, and he loves tarot cards.”

“Glad to see you’re awake,” Mal replied.

“So, how sure are you about this whole thing? I mean, a little sure? A lot sure? Just-want-something-to-do sure?” asked Jay, juggling a few bruised peaches.

“I don’t know. But I have to at least
try
to find the fortress, especially if the Dragon’s Eye is there. Also, don’t you think it’s weird that we’ve never left the village? I mean, this island’s pretty small, and we’ve never even
tried
to look around.”

“What’s there to look at? You said it yourself—we’re probably headed for Nowhere.”

“But if somehow there’s a map of the island in the library, we’ll know exactly
where
in Nowhere we should be heading to find the fortress. There’s something out there, beyond the village. I know it.”

“But say we do get a hold of the Dragon’s Eye and it can’t
do
anything?” Jay asked.

“Diablo swears that it sparked to life!”

“But how? There’s no magic on the Isle. Nada.”

“Well, maybe there’s a hole in the dome, or something,” said Mal.

“A hole?” scoffed Jay.

“I told you, I don’t know; all I know is that the raven swears he saw it spark, and my mother wants me to fetch it, like I’m an errand girl. If you’re too chicken to come with me, then go back and steal some more crap for your junk shop,” Mal said, annoyed.

“I’m not chicken!”

“Yeah—more like a parrot,” said Mal.

Jay sighed. She had him there. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Maybe you’re right: maybe there
is
a hole.”

M
al’s and Jay’s squabbling voices carried throughout the marketplace, and Evie couldn’t help but overhear. She was at the bazaar for her first-ever shopping trip. Since nothing had befallen Evie for having left the castle and gone to school, Evil Queen was more convinced than ever that Maleficent had forgotten about their banishment, or at least didn’t care that they had returned. Evil Queen was so excited to be back in the village, she was running from storefront to storefront, saying hello to everyone and filling her cart with all sorts of age-defying elixirs and new beauty regimens.

Evie squinted at their faces. Mal was scowling and Jay looked annoyed, as per usual. Was she imagining it, or did she hear them say something about a hole in the magical barrier? The memory of that burst of light that had shot out of Carlos’s invention the night of the party came to her quickly.

“Are you guys talking about a hole in the dome?” she asked, coming up to the two of them.

Mal looked up suspiciously, but when she saw Evie her voice turned thick as honey. “Why, Evie! You’re just the person I’ve been looking for,” she said.

“She is?” Jay asked, confused.

“Yes, she is,” Mal said definitively. “Now, what were you saying about the dome?”

Evie wondered if she should tell them what she knew. She knew she couldn’t trust Mal, and she had an inkling that Jay was behind her missing poison-heart necklace. She hadn’t seen it since the party and suspected he’d lifted it when he’d taken her cloak that evening.

“Nothing,” she said.

“Tell us,” urged Jay, crossing his arms.

“Why should I?” Evie sniffed. Mal had trapped her in a closet! And Jay wasn’t any better, really—the little thief.

“Because,” Jay said. Then he was stumped. “Um. Because if you don’t, Mal will curse you?” he added, even though he didn’t sound convinced himself.

“If you haven’t noticed, there’s no magic on this island,” Evie said huffily.

“Not yet,” said Mal. “But there may be one day.” She took Evie’s arm in hers and whispered, “Look, I know we didn’t start off on the right foot, but I think we should let bygones be bygones. It’s a small island, and we shouldn’t be enemies.”

“Really?”

“Totally,” said Mal with her sweetest smile.

Evie knew Mal wasn’t being sincere, but she was intrigued enough to play along with it.

She was about to tell her what she knew about the dome when Evil Queen burst out of Bits and Bobs, wearing a jet-black velour sweat suit with
QUEEN
embroidered across her derriere. “Evie! I got some new eye shadow for you! Oh!” she said, when she saw Evie wasn’t alone. “If it isn’t Mal!” she added nervously. “How are you, dear? How’s your mother? Is she here? Is she still mad at me?”

“Uh…” Mal blinked.

Evie wished her mother would stop talking, but of course that was a fruitless wish. Her mother continued to babble on nervously. “Tell your mother to come around and see me sometime. I’d be happy to give her a makeover! I’ve seen her photos in the paper. She’s looking a bit green lately. She needs a stronger foundation,” Evil Queen said.

“I’ll uh, let her know,” Mal said.

“You do that, sweetheart! And if I may say so, your purple hair is fabulous! It really brings out your cheekbones!” Evil Queen gushed.

“Thank you? I guess?” said Mal, who looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Jay laughed. “Take the compliment, Mal. Sorry, Evil Queen, Mal isn’t used to compliments. You know Maleficent has no interest in beauty unless it can be used to glamour someone into doing her will.”

“Right. Let’s go, Evie,” said her mother.

“Oh, can Evie hang out with us?” asked Mal with a syrupy smile. “We were just about to grab a few unhealthy snacks from the Slop Shop.”

Evie was torn. On the one hand, she knew she should stay away from Mal if she wanted to be safe, but on the other, she never got to hang out with kids her age.

Evil Queen nodded. “Sure! I’ll see you at home, sweetie.” As she left, she mouthed, “Reapply your lip gloss!”.

When her mother had disappeared into the crowd, Evie picked up the conversation where they had left off. “You guys want to know about the hole in the dome, or not?”

Mal and Jay exchanged glances. “Of course we do,” they chorused.

Evie shrugged. “Well, something happened the night of the party that may have to do with the dome.”

“Is that right?” asked Mal with a raised eyebrow.

“You need to talk to Carlos,” said Evie. “He knows what happened.” She shivered from the memory, at the bright light that had emanated from that little machine. For a second there, she had worried that they had broken the universe somehow. She still remembered the vibrant, sharp feeling of electricity in the air. It had felt like…magic.

“Carlos? Why? What does he have to do with anything?” Mal demanded as they passed a tent selling colorful scarves, and Jay practiced his parkour by running across the walls and rooftops.

“Because he was the one that did it,” said Evie.

“Did what?”

“Punched a hole in the dome.”

Jay barked a laugh and dropped down next to them. “Yeah, right—as if that little guy can punch anything. Come on, Mal. We’ve got work to do.” He began to turn away.

Evie stared at Mal. Mal stared at Evie.

“I’m not lying,” she said to Mal.

“I didn’t think you were,” said Mal, her green eyes flashing. Evie met them with her calm blue ones. Finally Mal said, “Okay.”

“You actually believe her?” Jay gawked, sounding right then like Iago.

“I think we need to check it all out,” said Mal.

“But we’re headed to Dragon Hall,” said Jay.

“No, we’ll head toward Hell Hall first. I want to talk to Carlos,” Mal decided. “And you’re coming with us, Evie.”

Evie didn’t argue with that. Something big was going down. Something had started, the night that Carlos had turned on that machine. And against her better judgment, Evie wanted to see how it would end.

So, onward to Hell Hall they went; but now the two-some was three.

O
ne more day of freedom before his mother came home. Carlos surveyed his domain. Considering that it had been the headquarters of a rather epic party earlier in the week, it didn’t look too bad. The Broomba had worked wonders. Then again, the place always was a bit of a wreck, so who would notice?

The iron knight who towered over the staircase was as solid as ever, the draperies just as heavy and dusty, the faded wallpaper and the holes in the walls lending just that ruined touch that other decorators on the island tried to copy, to no avail.

Carlos was enjoying the rare, relative peace in his house when it was shattered by the sound of the front door knocker pounding so hard, he was sure its booming echo could be heard across the entire island.

He opened the door, then slammed it shut when he saw who was on his doorstep. “Go away, Mal—haven’t you done enough?” he yelled from inside the house.

“Open up! It’s important!” Jay demanded.

“No!”

“Carlos!” That was Evie’s voice. “Something happened with that machine of yours the other night. Something big!”

Wait—what?
Evie had told them about his invention? But she had promised! He cracked open the door the tiniest bit so that only his left eye was showing. “You told them what happened?” he said accusingly. “I trusted you!”

Evie pleaded, “Come on, open up! I brought you a pillow!”

Carlos opened the door grudgingly. “Fine. You guys can come in. But don’t even think of locking anyone in the closet this time, Mal!” He turned to Evie. “Is it made of goose down?” he asked excitedly. He hadn’t really believed she would bring him one.

“Yup, the vultures who brought it said the goblin who found it swore it’s from one of the Auradon castles,” Evie said, handing him a pillow in a blue silk pillowcase with a royal insignia.

He accepted the pillow and led them into the living room, pushed some deflated black balloons off the couch, and glowered at them. “Well, what did my machine do?” he asked.

Mal raised an eyebrow, and he immediately regretted his tone of voice. “I mean, care to enlighten me?” he asked politely.

“Evie?” prompted Mal.

Evie took a deep breath. “Okay, so the night of the party, Carlos switched on this machine he’s invented—it’s a box that looks for some kind of signal that lets you watch other TV shows—right, Carlos?”

Carlos nodded. “And music, and lots of other things, through radio waves.”

“So when he turned it on that night, it let out this huge blast of light!” she said breathlessly. “And it burned a hole right through the tree-house roof! We saw it go right through the dome!”

Carlos nodded.

“And the TV suddenly came alive with all these colors! And there were a bunch of new shows! Not just the usual Dungeon Deals and King Beast’s Fireside Chats!”

“But how does that prove it broke through the dome?” asked Mal, who looked skeptical, and Carlos couldn’t blame her. He hardly believed it himself.

“Because we’ve never seen those shows before! Which means the signal didn’t come from the relay station on the Isle of the Lost. Which means it had to have come from a forbidden network on Auradon…” said Evie.

“Which means…” Carlos prodded.

“The blast broke through the dome. For a second,” Evie finished triumphantly.

Mal turned to Carlos. “You really think that your machine did that?”

“It might’ve,” he admitted.