Wicked Dawn | 'Till The Night Falls Book 1 (Disney Descendants)

Chapter 5: You All Have Your Missions

Evie sat patiently near the front door. Doug sat beside her, watching as she stitched and sowed profusely. She always did this when something was on her mind. She created and created until her problems were dealt with or she collapsed from exhaustion--whichever came first. He couldn't imagine what might have upset her so badly. Sure, Maleficent was back. But still. He'd never seen her as upset as she was now.

And, he glanced at the others, clearly the feeling was mutual.

Mal growled, stalking back and forth across the room. Every so often, her eyes would flash green, warning everyone that she might transform into a dragon at any moment. She kept glaring in Evie's direction but the two girls had hardly said more than a word to one another since they arrived.

Ben was standing uncomfortably between them. It was entirely possible that he knew what was bothering them and Doug was half tempted to ask him. But even as he started to rise, one look from Mal had him quickly sinking back into his seat. Whatever was going on, he really wanted no part of it.

Jay sat, arms crossed, near the window. He was scowling. Though what he was so upset about, no one seemed to know. It was unusual to see him so unnerved.

Mal thumped down on a bench irritably. "Where's Carlos?" she snapped. "He should have been here an hour ago!"

"Maybe he found another stray dog," Jay suggested sarcastically.

Both Mal and Evie shuddered noticeably.

"I'm sure he'll be along shortly," Ben said, attempting to ease their tempers. "But," he added in a whisper to Mal. "Perhaps we should go on ahead without him."

The purplette grunted and finally seemed to control her irritation, coming to stand in the center of the room. Her gaze drifted from one teen to the next, intentionally skipping over Evie, Doug noticed. There was clearly hurt there. But what had happened? He'd seen the two of them frustrated at one another many times but never enough so that they weren't speaking. "First off," Mal sighed. "I wanted to assure everyone that all students at Auradon Prep are safe. Fairy Godmother took them off campus to a secure location."

"And Uma?" Jay questioned.

"Safe," Ben assured him. "I sent her and her pirates to assist in the protection of Queen Leah's family. If Maleficent really is back, we figured it would be better for them to have some protection."

Evie gave a small nod of agreement. She never looked up from her work, however.

"So what's the plan?" There was a voice from outside and suddenly, Lonnie and Jane burst through the door. Lonnie, dressed in black leather armor with two swords on her back, Jane, just in her plain blue dress.

Doug's jaw dropped. Hadn't he just taken Jane home? What was she doing here? "Jane--" he began.

She just shook her head. "I want to help," she told him. "Whatever is going on, I want to be a part of it."

Mal looked doubtful. Or maybe she was just feeling sour. With her, it was a bit difficult to tell. She sighed resignedly and brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes.

"All right!" Ben exclaimed, clapping to get their attentions. "So, Lonnie's right. We need a plan. Maleficent probably won't let the VKs anywhere near her. So how are we supposed to find her?"

"Oh, I can handle that part," Mal told him. "Dragons can sense other dragons and all that." She shrugged. "But there's something else I'm going to need if you want me to do this."

"What?" Jay questioned. "Is it another spell? Because, last I checked, your spell book was locked away in the museum."

"Yeah," Lonnie agreed. "Do we need to break in and get it?" She seemed frighteningly excited about the concept.