Return to the Isle of the Lost (Descendants 2)

“Maybe because they didn’t have a map?” said Carlos. “Yen Sid said you could be lost down there forever. It is called the Endless Catacombs.”

“Hold on, what’s that Jafar’s got in his hand?” asked Mal, leaning in for a closer look.

“It’s the remote that turns off the dome and lets down the bridge,” said Carlos with a groan. “That goblin must have found it in the ditch!”

“Wait—it’s broken, though, look, it’s cracked in half,” said Jay.

“But once it’s fixed…” said Evie nervously.

Once it was fixed, there was no need to explain what would happen next, thought Mal. The villains would be able to leave the island, and now that they knew who had their talismans, nothing would stop them from heading back to Auradon to take what was theirs.

More than ever, she, Evie, Jay, and Carlos would have to destroy the talismans while Ben prepared the kingdom for a showdown with their enemies on the Isle of the Lost. Ben looked confident, but Mal and her friends weren’t as hopeful. They knew how twisted their parents could be, and what they were capable of, and no one would sleep well that night.

“I’m not worried,” said Ben. “In Auradon, we can count on our heroes to protect us.”

“I don’t feel like a hero,” said Carlos.

“That’s okay,” said Mal with a rueful smile. “Remember what the professor said? We’re the villains you root for in the story.”

Thank you to the heroic teams at Disney Hyperion, Disney Channel, and Disney Consumer Products, who continue to believe that villains rule! Thanks especially to my ever-patient editors, Emily Meehan and Julie Moody, my awesome publicist, Seale Ballenger, as well as the rest of the fun-loving D-H crew who I’m proud to call my friends: Hannah Allaman, Mary Ann Zissimos, Elena Blanco, Kim Knueppel, Sarah Sullivan, Jackie De Leo, Frank Bumbalo, Dina Sherman, Elke Villa, Andrew Sansone, Holly Nagel, Marybeth Tregarthen, Sara Liebling, Martin Karlow, Dan Kaufman, Marci Senders, James Madsen, and Russ Gray. Thank you to DCP grand pooh-bahs Leslie Ferraro, Andrew Sugerman, Raj Murari, and my dear Jeanne Mosure. Thank you to Channel stars Jennifer Rogers-Doyle, Adam Bonnett, Naketha Mattocks, Laura Burns, Kate Reagan, and Carin Davis.

Thank you to the beautiful young people who star in Descendants—Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce, Booboo Stewart, Mitchell Hope, Sarah Jefferey, Brenna D’Amico, Diane Doan, Jedidiah Goodacre, and Zachary Gibson—for being so inspirational, helping promote the book, and for being so nice to my kid at the premiere! Thank you, Kenny Ortega, for making such a fun movie!

Thank you to Richard Abate, Rachel Kim, and everyone at 3Arts. Thank you, Colleen Wilson, for your patient dependability.

Thank you to my awesome DLC-Green-Ong-Gaisano-Torre-Ng-Lim-Johnston family. Thank you to Team A.U.: Margie Stohl and Raphael Simon for the late-night pep talks (texts?). Big love and thanks to Team Yallwest and Yallfest: Tahereh Mafi, Ransom Riggs, Marie Lu, Kami Garcia, Brendan Reichs, Sandy London, Veronica Roth, Leigh Bardugo, Holly Goldberg Sloan, Aaron Hartzler, Ally Condie, Richelle Mead, Patrick Dolan, Andria Amaral, Emily Williams, Steph Barna, Shane Pangburn, Tori Hill, and Jonathan Sanchez, for the laughs and camaraderie. Thank you to my dear family of friends, especially the CH Mama Crew: Jill Lorie, Heidi McKenna, Celeste Vos, Jenni Gerber, Lindsay Nesmith, Maria Cina, Dawn Limerick, Carol Evans, Bronwyn Savasta, Gloria Jolley, Fatima Goncalves, Ava McKay, Nicole Jones, Heather Kiriakou, Kathleen Von Der Ahe, Maggie Silverberg, Dana Boyd, Dana Rees, Heidi Madzar, Angelee Reiner, Vicki Haller, Betty Balian, Jen Kuklin, Lisa Orlando, Bridget Johnsen, and Tiffany Moon. I love you and your kids and I thank you for all the support during the writing of this book and the one before it (and the one after this!).

Thank you to all the rotten little Descenders! You guys are amazing!

Thanks most to my husband, Mike Johnston, who makes every book of mine so much better and makes me feel like a queen, and to our little princess, Mattie. Thank you to my office buddy, our Maltese, Mimi, who’s kept me company through every draft!