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At last he came to Mal. Yen Sid delicately touched her purple head. “Mal, daughter of Maleficent, you are from the blood of the dragon and carry its strength and fire. However, this burden is not yours to bear alone. Rely on your friends, and let their strength carry yours as well.”
Yen Sid surveyed the young villains in front of him. “What you are about to do is very dangerous.”
Carlos perked up. “That’s fine, my middle name is—”
“Oscar,” said Evie. “We know.”
The group of Anti-Heroes burst into applause as Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos shook hands with the professor and thanked him for his wisdom and guidance.
“We will collect the maps that we do have,” said Yen Sid. “Give us a few moments.” The group began to disperse to begin their respective assignments, talking excitedly among themselves.
Carlos said goodbye to Harry and Jace, who had been tasked with searching near the Bargain Castle. Jay promised the pirates he would send them postcards from Auradon.
Evie was glad they had figured out where their parents were, but going after them wasn’t going to be easy. If Evil Queen was set on getting back her talisman of power, there was no stopping her. The woman elbowed people out of the way for a tube of concealer.
“Heading out to search?” asked Harry.
“Uh-huh,” said Evie.
“Glad you guys are the ones going after them and not me and Jace. We’d be too scared, all right. Crikey, you’re all so brave.”
“I’m not, really,” said Evie. “But sometimes you have to do the things you have to do. Thanks, though.” Before setting off, however, she had to make sure she could move properly. She inspected her broken heel. She couldn’t keep going this way; the Endless Catacombs of Doom sure sounded like they would entail a lot of walking as well, and she was still wearing the wrong shoes.
“Professor,” she said, holding up her broken heel. “Do you think you can fix this with a little magic of science or something?”
He examined her shoe. “No, I’m afraid there is no way this can be salvaged through the magic of science.”
Evie’s face fell as she resigned herself to stumbling her way through the underground, her feet blistered and callused.
“But I do have something that might help you,” said Yen Sid.
“What?”
“Tape,” he said as he deftly taped the broken heel
back to its original shape.
It wasn’t a pair of sneakers, but at least she wouldn’t be limping anymore.
While Yen Sid went back to going over the possible locations for the entrance to the Catacombs with Jay and Carlos, and the rest of the club members waited patiently for their assignments, Evie looked around the crowded room and didn’t see Mal anywhere. Where had she gone? Evie took another look and caught a glimpse of bright aqua-colored hair swishing in the dark hallway, with Mal’s purple head following behind.
At first she thought that maybe Maddy just wanted to talk to Mal privately, but when the two of them didn’t return after a few minutes, she had a darker feeling about it. She peeked into the corridor and saw Maddy heading out of the basement and up the cellar stairs, with Mal following behind. Where were they going?
Already wary of Maddy’s friendship with Mal, Evie decided to follow them to see what they were up to. She looked behind her to make sure the boys were still talking to Yen Sid. She wasn’t spying on Mal; she was just being careful, she told herself. Mal had to have a good reason for going off with Maddy, didn’t she?
Maddy was out of the basement now and heading down the path away from the castle. Mal was following behind at some distance. They weren’t walking together, Evie realized now. Mal was following Maddy, for some reason. But why? Who cared about Maddy?
They had to go find the entrance to the Catacombs; there was no time for this. Cruella de Vil, Evil Queen, and Jafar had a head start on them. If any one of them was able to lay their hands on their talisman, no one in Auradon would be safe. The foursome had to get going. What was Mal doing?
Evie lagged behind, trying to put some space between them, when Maddy stopped suddenly and looked around. Mal ducked behind a tree and Evie quickly hid in the shadows as well. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was glad she hadn’t let her friend go off alone like this.
The two girls kept walking farther and farther away. Evie followed behind.
When Maddy left the meeting, Mal’s first thought was that her friend wanted to get a head start on walking to Troll Town, where her group was going to search. Mal wanted to take a break too, before the four of them had to embark on this journey even deeper underground. The aqua-haired girl ascended the stone steps, and Mal was about to call out to her when Maddy checked her watch, picked up the speed, and disappeared into the maze of streets.
Mal also couldn’t help but notice that Maddy kept looking over her shoulder nervously as she made her way through the dark alleyways. When she took off through the back way, cutting across Hell Hall’s garden, going right instead of heading left for Troll Town, it became clear that she wasn’t going where she’d been assigned after all. Mal watched as she ducked behind a corner, and overheard bits of a whispered conversation between Maddy and an unknown stranger. Something about “Catacombs” and “Doom Cove.”
What was going on? Why wasn’t Maddy going with her group? And who had she been talking to?
