Mal stuck her tongue out at Evie. “Any luck with the Magic Mirror?”

“None,” said Evie. “It works perfectly if I ask it to show me anything else. But if I ask to see my mom, Jafar, or Cruella, it’s just cloudy. It’s like they’ve disappeared or something.”

“Let me see,” said Mal. “Do you think there might be a crack in it?”

“It’s already cracked,” said Evie.

“Maybe I can try a spell or two.” Mal grabbed her spell book from the shelf, the one that Maleficent had passed down to her. “Magic Mirror at my command, heal thyself with my own hand!”

The mirror remained the same.

“Magic Mirror, do as I say, show us the villains on the Isle today!” said Mal.

Nothing changed. Evie shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the mirror at all. I’m starting to believe they don’t want to be found. They’re able to hide from it somehow.”

“But the only way to do that is with magic,” said Mal. “And there’s no magic on the Isle.”

“Or maybe the Magic Mirror is weakening,” said Evie thoughtfully. “Since we’re not encouraged to do magic here, I haven’t been using it as much.”

“What of it?”

“Well, what if magic is like a muscle: if you don’t use it, it atrophies or tries to find somewhere else to go. Energy has to transform, right? That’s what we learned in chemistry,” said Evie. “There’s no such thing as turning something into nothing. It just becomes something else, even if we don’t see it.”

Mal considered this. “You know, you might be right.”

The biggest barrier—literally and figuratively—in their plan to return to the Isle of the Lost was the invisible dome that covered the island. There was no way in or out of the island without the king’s permission. Of course, it would have been easy enough to ask for Ben’s help, except he was out of town. Also Mal didn’t want the king to have to answer to his councillors and his subjects if they learned he’d allowed four villain kids to return to the Isle of the Lost now that the borders were guarded more rigorously than ever after Maleficent’s attack. The recent embargo meant most of the goblin barges that brought in supplies and leftovers to the Isle had been blocked, and the few that were allowed through were being monitored very closely.

Hence Jay had decided on stealing the royal limousine for their escape. The only problem was how to get hold of the car without being caught.

Luckily, the one person who could help him had already issued an invitation. Jordan had asked him to stop by her lamp that afternoon. She was recording a new episode of her popular online show and planned to interview him as one of Auradon’s Top Tourney players in the lead-up to the Castlecoming game that weekend.

Jay followed her directions to the lamp, which was kept on a special shelf in the residence halls. Jordan’s lamp was smaller than her father’s, made of rose gold with delicate filigree carvings all over its surface. Jay wondered if he should pick it up and decided not to. Instead he called down into the lamp’s spout. “Hello in there! Jordan?”

“Just rub the front and you’ll pop in,” he heard Jordan yell from inside. “No need to shout! I can hear you loud and clear!”

He did as told and soon found himself comfortably seated on a pink velvet footstool across from a small octagonal coffee table. Green columns painted with gold swirls circled the spacious room, and heavy blue curtains draped dramatically from the ceiling. A striking purple-and-gold Oriental rug was centered on the floor, and peacock feathers were arranged in vases all around. “Neat,” he said. “It’s bigger than it looks.”

“Thanks, I like my space,” said Jordan, who was seated across from him on a purple footstool.

“Is it annoying that this is all the magic you can use at school?” Jay asked, picking up one of the many stuffed pillows.

“Not really,” said Jordan. “I’m actually glad for the restrictions. Magic can be wildly unpredictable, so even though it’s fun, it’s nice to have a break from it sometimes.”

“So no more granting wishes, huh?” he teased.

“Not today, anyway,” she said cheerfully. “Ready for your interview?”

“Hit me,” Jay said.

Jordan snapped her fingers and the lights went on. “Welcome to TourneyCenter!” she said, smiling into the camera. “Today we have Jay, a star player on Auradon’s Knights! Jay, so glad you could join us!”

“Great to be here, Jordan.”

“Are you excited about the upcoming game? Do you think the team is ready to win the tournament?” she asked.

“Very excited, and I think we’re more than ready.”

“The Lost Boys have a killer defense; how do you think the Knights will succeed?”

“The way we always do: we run hard, we dodge the cannons, we make the goals.”

“You’re confident.”

“I am, I know our team.”

“What about the rumors that King Ben won’t be back in time to play the game? We’ve heard he left earlier this week on some secret official business,” Jordan said keenly. “Can you tell us anything about that?”

“I can’t speak to the rumors, but I know Ben wouldn’t want to let us down. I hope he makes it back in time, but if not, we’ll carry on.”

“I’m sure you will,” she said, rifling through her index cards for the next question. She smiled back up at the camera. “One of the things we like to do on TourneyCenter is to get to know our players better. Can you tell us a little about yourself?”

“Well, I’m Jay, son of Jafar. I grew up on the Isle of the Lost, but I think everyone knows that by now.”

“That’s right, you’re one of the so-called villain kids. When did you move here?” she asked.

Jay perked up at the question. “At the start of the school year. A big old limousine picked us up and dropped us off at Auradon Prep’s front door.”

“How fancy,” said Jordan, leaning forward with a smile.

“Sure was. The amount of candy they have in the back of that thing, I’ve got to tell you, Jordan, I wish I had the keys to that limo in my pocket right now,” he said, rubbing his stomach.