you ain't seen nothin' yet

༒chapter twenty-seven༒

"Well, we haven't yet."

Dad groans. "Fine. Bye."

"Bye, Dad."

I hang up the phone and shove it back in my pocket. "You can talk now."

"Right," Evie laughs. "Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle once this is over."

I swing my arms around Uma and Harry's shoulders as Uma and I smile at each other.

"Mal?" Ben asks.

"I have to tell you guys something," Mal says, and we all stop to look at her. "Um," she sighs and turns to face all of us. "I lied to you."

I move my arms away from Harry and Uma as everyone's faces drop.

"What?" I ask.

Mal shakes her head. "The kids won't be coming off the Isle."

"What do you mean?" Jay asks.

"The program is shut down," Mal states. "And the barrier will be closed for good."

"What?" I ask loudly.

Harry takes his hook off and grunts.

"For Auradon's safety," Ben concludes.

"Oh, 'for Auradon's safety' my ass," I scoff. Then it actually sets in.

It feels like someone just ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it until it stopped beating. Everything goes cold in my body until it seems like I'm in frozen over water.

Mal lied to us all. She lied to me. She knew how much we all wanted more VKs to come over. She knew it all. And she did what she does best. She manipulated all of us into believing that everyone would get a chance. And no one else will. The one thing we were all excited about. Poof. Gone.

"Hold up," Uma says, walking in front of Mal. "So we're saving your precious people and your asses for a lie?" Mal doesn't say anything. "I knew it was a mistake to trust you. You're always out for yourself."

Harry walks around me and goes over to Ben, pointing at him. "And you, King Benny." Ben has a hard time making eye contact with Harry. Harry sighs. "You're probably just gonna throw us all back inside."

I blink when my vision becomes blurry. Celia steps up. "You know what?" she asks Mal. "I actually though you were brave. But you're nothing but a chicken." I can hear the tears in her voice as she looks at Mal. "Too scared to tell me I was never gonna see my dad again."

"Celia—"

Before Mal can say anything else, Celia grabs Dad's ember and walks off, throwing it in a birdbath on her way. The water sparks.

Mal starts freaking out when she looks at the smoking birdbath. She runs over to it and grabs the ember. "Regain your might and ignite! Regain your might and ignite!"

"Game over," I say.

Mal comes back over to us and looks at Uma helplessly. Uma grabs her shell necklace. "Bummer." She turns to Harry. "Let's go find Gil and leave them all to rot. Harper, you can come and find Gil." They both start walking away.

"Yeah, one sec," I mumble enough for them to hear.

Mal turns to me. "Harper! Give me your ember! You have one! Maybe—maybe it can—"

"I'm not giving you my ember, Mal," I say, clearing my throat. "I'm not letting you come anywhere near it."

"But- What about Auradon! What about Hades Ember?"