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

Chapter 24: The Faerie's Apprentice

She sighed and hurried down the hall after the others, picking one of the remaining rooms. She threw the book down on the bed-stand and fell on the bed. She was asleep in a matter of moments, all worries and questions about the day gone faster than one of Robin Hood's arrows.

But her peace did not last long. One moment she was dreaming of chocolate-covered strawberries, and the next, she was being shaken roughly out of her dream by a frantic Evie. "Mal! Mal, wake up! Come on, it's morning! Get up!"

"What?" Mal groaned, rolling over and opening her eyes, glaring firmly at Evie who was standing at her bedside. "What's going on? Where's the fire?"

"In the kitchen," Evie replied with a small smile. "Doug and the kids tried to fix us breakfast."

Mal wrinkled her nose at the foul odor drifting through the room. "More like burned breakfast." She threw back her blankets and stood up slowly. "What time is it?"

"Almost nine-thirty," Evie answered.

"Jay and Ben?"

"Arrived about two this morning. Doug waited up for them."

"Wait...Doug did?"

"Well...yeah. Turns out, he couldn't sleep either."

"Either?"

"I was awake all night," Evie confessed. "I had this...this nightmare...where...I died. Mal, do you know anything about that?"

Mal neglected to answer as she grabbed her spellbook and tucked it underneath her arm. "And what was his excuse?" she questioned, trying to avert her question.

Evie shrugged as they headed for the door. "Worry, I guess. He didn't say. But I get the feeling he was keeping something from me."

"Really?" Mal closed the door behind them and fell in step alongside Evie. "And what makes you think that?"

"He just...seemed overly quiet, you know?" Evie sighed. "Hey, and I even asked him what the capital of Yugoslavia was, and he just kept staring blankly ahead, like he'd seen a ghost or something."

"Hmmm."

"Mal, what is it? Do you know something?" Evie looked at her desperately. "Come on! It's me, your best friend. You can tell me!"

"I...don't know," Mal lied. "Maybe he's just stressed. A lot has happened these past twenty-four hours. Especially to him. Finding out your past may not be all it seems, and that you're the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the face of Auradon...it's a lot to process."

"Oh," Evie frowned deeply. "Yeah...I guess that's a good point."

Mal laughed and gave her a hug. "Don't worry. Doug can handle it. Just...give him a little space...all right? There are some things I think he's going to have to riddle out for himself."

"Like who his mother is?" Evie guessed. "What was it Queenie said, she was a villain? But how is that possible? A villain...with someone like Dopey? Even I find that a little hard to believe."

"I don't know," Mal replied innocently. "I mean, look at the two of you."

Evie sighed. "But Doug is so...different. He's...kind...and...gentle...and...Mal, there's just not an evil bone in his body! He's no villain's kid!"

"But you love him," Mal argued. "Is it not possible that a villain felt the same about Dopey?"

"But, if that is the case," Evie went on. "Who? And how did they get off of the Isle? And did Beast know that one of them escaped?"