“Pretty much. I mean, I am from the Isle of the Lost,” said Evie. “I was exiled to our castle with my mother, the Evil Queen.”
“Dangerous indeed,” said Celia.
“When I missed our usual Friday face mask, she wanted to murder me,” said Evie with a roll of her eyes. In truth, she did miss her shallow, beauty-obsessed mother just a little bit. Still, she would rather keep her distance while they were on the Isle; it just wasn’t worth it when her mother would never understand the things Evie wanted to accomplish. “On Thursdays we practiced smiling and waving.”
Celia snorted. She pointed to the second card on the table. “The Ten of Pentacles. This is your present. It means you have strength behind you. That you belong to a group of people who have your back. They bring you a lot of luck.”
Evie smiled. “I have an amazing group of friends.”
“And the third card is your future. Oh,” said Celia staring at the card. “It’s dark.”
“It is?” asked Evie nervously.
“Very. This is the Judgment card. It means change, mostly for the worse. This card means disaster is on the horizon. Something terrible is about to happen. Aaaaaaand”—Celia drew out the word, quirking her eyebrows at Evie—“if you want to know how to prevent it, you’ll have to buy another session.”
“Another session! How much was this one?” asked Evie. “I didn’t realize you charged.”
“Of course I do. Nothing’s free in this world.” Celia smirked and named her price.
“Okay,” said Evie, opening her purse and handing over a few gold coins. “But I’m not paying for another one.”
“Really? I don’t advise that. You should really find out how to avoid whatever it is the Judgment has foretold. Or you should at least try to discover who is conspiring against you guys.”
Evie knew a hustle when she saw one. “Nice try, but I’ll take my chances,” she said with a sweet smile.
“Suit yourself,” said Celia, putting her cards away.
Evie shook her head. She was far from superstitious and was highly skeptical that the future could be divined from a few fortune cards. She wondered about Celia’s chances with the Auradon Prep admissions committee. So far, all Evie could see was a trickster through and through. But, of course, that didn’t mean there wasn’t more to Celia—after all, there had been more to Evie and her friends. It was going to be interesting to see if Celia ended up at Auradon, that was for sure.
he same day that Mal and her friends were meeting with Dr. Facilier at Dragon Hall, Uma returned to Hades’s lair. The blue-haired ex–god of the dead was snoring on his couch, a little line of drool dripping from his open mouth. He woke up with a start when Uma cleared her throat.
“You again?” said Hades, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “I thought we had a deal. You agreed to leave me alone,” he groused.
“That wasn’t our deal,” said Uma, annoyed. “And did you ever think of doing any housekeeping around here? This cave reeks.”
Hades looked affronted. “I’m sorry my league of demons are more interested in preying on souls than vacuuming. Anyway, did you hear that Mal was spotted on Maleficent’s balcony last night? I thought it might interest you, given our agreement.”
Uma looked furious. “She’s back on the Isle of the Lost, is she?”
“That’s right,” said Hades, a strange look on his face. Uma thought she caught something that almost looked like regret there. But regret for what?
“Ugh! I can just picture it. Mal and her little minions, strutting around thinking they’re so great, as if they own the place, when all they did was abandon it!” said Uma, who could never stand the way Mal and her friends acted like the Isle was their territory. The Isle of the Lost was her turf. She ached to reveal herself to Mal and show them exactly who was the real lady of this island. But she had to stay focused on the plan. If she showed her hand too quickly, she might lose her advantage. She had to be patient. And she had to have Hades on her side.
“Okay, so?” said Hades, who was now looking through his record collection to find something to play on his ancient record player.
Uma raised an eyebrow at the albums Hades picked up. They never got anything good on the Isle, only Auradon castoffs that no one on the island really wanted. Sebastian the Crab’s Greatest Hits. Genie Sings the Blues. Eugene Fitzherbert and His Polka Band.
She shook her head impatiently. “So we need to get to Mal. If we can get to Mal, I can get hold of the remote control that opens the barrier. Click—open and out.”
“Sounds simple enough,” said Hades.
“Except I can’t get that close. She knows I’ll cause trouble for her, so if she sees me, she’ll run the other way. I need her to come to me, where she won’t be able to escape.”
Hades barked a laugh and gave up searching for a decent record. He grabbed a copy of his own band’s last album instead. “She’s a smart one to avoid you, then.”
“Obviously,” said Uma. “But we can’t give up just yet. You said you still have your ember, right?”
“Yeah, but I hate to break it to you, kid, it doesn’t glow anymore. It’s useless.” Hades flopped down on one of the broken recliners in his cave and opened an expired canned coffee drink from the Slop Shop. He took a big gulp and grimaced. “Black as my soul indeed.”
Uma shook her head. “Do you see all these cracks in the tunnel?” she asked, pointing to the fissures on the cave wall and ceiling.
“Yeah? So what?”
She leaned over so she was almost in his face. “I think these cracks might let in a little magic. We’re so far beneath the island that Fairy Godmother’s spell is weaker down here.”
Hades perked up. “A little magic? Is that so?” He put away his coffee.
“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there? Bring it out,” she ordered. “Let’s see if it still works.”
Hades sighed and got up to fetch the ember. “I usually keep it in my sock drawer…” he said. “Hmm. When was the last time I had it? Ah, here we go.” He strode over to his desk and grabbed it from where it had been holding down a stack of papers.
“It’s dead; I was using it as a paperweight,” he said, showing it to Uma. In his hand was a gray rock. It was just a hunk of coal, nothing more. No spark.
“Try it,” Uma urged.
He waved a hand above it. Nothing happened. He waved his hand once more. Still nothing. “I told you, it’s useless.…”
“THERE!” yelled Uma.
A minuscule, almost imperceptible spark of blue light shone in the center of the gray stone. It was barely there, but still—it was definitely glowing.
Uma hooted. “I told you!”
Hades gazed at his ember with what looked like love. It wasn’t enough magic to get them out of there, but it was magic. He wasn’t powerless after all.
“You need Mal to come to you, right?” he asked thoughtfully.
“Right.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll take care of Mal.”
“Perfect. And, Hades? Don’t fail me. Or I’ll feed you to my mother,” Uma threatened with a toss of her turquoise braids.