“I will,” she said, giving him a tight hug. “Thanks, Ben.”

“Is there anything else you need?” he asked.

“No, I think we’re good.”

Ben hugged her one more time, then helped her into the car. The windows were still open and the four villain kids waved goodbye, nervous and hopeful expressions on their faces.

“Good luck,” Ben told them. “And good game, by the way. Nice work. I caught the highlights on TourneyCenter,” he said to Jay and Carlos.

“Thanks, man,” Carlos called from the driver’s seat while Jay bumped fists with Ben through the passenger window.

Ben reached for Mal’s hand through her window. “I’ll see you on Monday,” he said, before reluctantly letting go. He motioned to the carriage driver to get out of the way so the limousine could pass and leave the school gates.

“Monday,” she echoed as the car pulled away. Then something occurred to her. “Ben!” she called.

He raised his eyebrows.

“If you do catch the purple dragon…” She hesitated, even if she knew Ben of all people, would understand.

“Yes?”

“Don’t hurt it, okay?”

He nodded. “You have my word.”

“It’s up to you how

far you go.

If you don’t try,

you’ll never know.”

—Merlin, The

Sword in the Stone

The streets of Auradon were empty as the royal limousine made its way to the very edge of the coast, practically at the shoreline. They finally reached the southernmost point by the bay, where they knew an invisible bridge connecting the island to the mainland was standing. Mal bit the edge of her thumb as she told the rest of her team what Ben had told her about the purple dragon that had been spotted in Camelot. They agreed it had to be impossible—there was no way that creature was her mother. Yet who or what else could it be? There had to be an explanation, but for now, nothing seemed to make sense.

“I sure hope we don’t run into this dragon on the Isle,” said Carlos as he steered the limousine toward the end of the road. The lights from the Isle of the Lost pierced through the fog. “Wow, it actually looks almost pretty from here.”

“Home,” said Evie softly.

“There’s no place like it,” said Jay, with forced cheer.

“Let’s hope not,” said Carlos. “One island full of villains is quite enough.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Mal, who knew they had to do this before they all chickened out. “Hit it, Jay.”

Jay removed the remote that controlled the bridge from the glove compartment and pointed it at the air in front of them. “Here goes nothing.”

There was a spark, and through the haze, Mal could almost see the dome opening up as the bridge slowly manifested before their eyes. Carlos drove the car forward, and the four of them pressed their faces against the windows, watching the bridge materialize in front of them as they drove over the water. Mal knew they were all thinking of the first day they’d left the island. Now they were returning, very much changed from the rotten hellions who had left not too long ago.

Just as they reached the other side, Jay turned around and zapped the remote control again, and the bridge disappeared.

“Don’t drive into town,” said Mal. “We should hide the car somewhere.”

“Good idea,” said Carlos, who veered off the main street and into one of the dusty, unfinished roads. But it was hard to steer the large car on such rocky terrain, and Carlos tried to overcompensate by turning the wheel left when he should have turned right, and his passengers screamed as the car swerved and plunged into a ditch, sending everything flying as the limousine crashed into a copse of dead trees.

The engine died and the smoke cleared. “Everyone okay?” Mal called from the backseat. It looked as if their seat belts had saved them from serious injury, and Mal was thankful they had picked up the habit of wearing them in Auradon.

“Sorry, sorry!” said Carlos, coughing from the front.

Evie nodded that she was all right and Jay offered a thumbs-up from the passenger side. “A-OK, except I think we lost the remote to the bridge,” he said. “It must have flown out the windshield.” He pointed to the huge hole in the middle of the glass.

“We’ll just have to find another way to get back,” said Mal.

“I guess we could swim?” joked Jay.

“Well, at least the crash took care of one thing. The car’s definitely hidden now. No one will find it here,” said Carlos.

They took turns changing inside the roomy back passenger area into their normal clothing and began the long walk into town. Mal checked the time. After all of their delays, they still had a few hours before the Anti-Heroes meeting was supposed to start. “Let’s meet at Evie’s castle a little before midnight,” said Mal. “For now, let’s split up. Each of you, see if you can locate your parents. Once we know what they’re planning, we’ll figure out what to do about it.”

“What do we say if anyone from the Isle asks why we’re back?” asked Evie, looking uncomfortable at the thought.

“Yeah, I bet they’re not exactly going to be excited to see us,” said Carlos.

“Tell them the truth, that we’re visiting our aged relatives,” suggested Jay with a grin. Soon they had reached the outskirts of town and passed Dragon Hall, following Woeful Way down to the familiar town square, cornered by shabby buildings on all sides and the Bargain Castle looming over everything.

“Don’t let anyone know we know about this Anti-Heroes club,” said Mal. “Until we find Cruella, Jafar, and Evil Queen.”

The group agreed. “Wow, this place is worse than I remember,” said Carlos, looking around. “And what is that smell? Did you guys ever notice that before?” He made a face. “It smells like…”

“Poisoned toads,” said Mal, who remembered what went into the daily coffee brew.

“Goblins,” said Jay, who seemed to have the foul creatures stuck in his mind.

“Garbage,” said Evie, who recoiled at the memory.

“Actually, it smells like a combination of all three,” Carlos decided.

Mal had to agree, even if a small part of her was happy to return to the familiar “comforts” of home. The outdoor bazaar was closed for the day, but the Slop Shop and Ursula’s Fish and Chips were doing brisk business. It was kind of sad to see how terrifically ramshackle everything looked, though. Mal used to revel in dirt and decay, but she’d been in Auradon too long, and now everything was grimier than she remembered. She really needed to chug a cup of toad coffee before she got too soft.