Escape from the Isle of the Lost (Descendants 4)

Once upon a time, four villain kids from the Isle of the Lost came to Auradon with wicked intentions, but today, they were graduating as some of the kingdom’s bravest and best subjects.

Mal squeezed Ben’s hand, thinking she was the luckiest girl in the world, especially when she looked over at her friends—sweet Evie, strong Jay, smart Carlos. She wouldn’t be where she was without them. They were all in this together. They had all grown up so much, and now they were ready for whatever else was in store.

Rotten to the core? Maybe not so rotten anymore!

he force that propelled Mal up and out of the waves had also pushed Uma away from the pirate ship, sending her crashing against the rocks. She couldn’t remember what had happened next, only that she had been rescued by her mother’s loyal pets, Flotsam and Jetsam, who nudged her awake.

They swam away once they saw her eyes flutter open.

But Uma was confused. Where was she? What was she doing?

What just happened?

She had come so close to winning something, but what? Why couldn’t she remember? Her head was throbbing.

Then she heard it: loud, blaring rock music.

Hades!

Now she remembered: She and Hades had a deal. They were going to go after Mal. Bring her down, bring the barrier down, win their freedom, and escape from the Isle of the Lost once and for all!

Uma swam up to the cave, looking for the fissures in the stone where she had slipped inside the tunnel. But everything was plugged up with a dense, solid material, dark and shining. It repelled her touch, sending her back into the water.

“Hades!” Uma screamed. “Hades! Let me in!”

But there was no answer.

There was no way for Uma to shape-shift into a form that would allow her to slip through the cracks, because there were no cracks anymore.

That washed-up rock god had double-crossed her! But why? Was he on Mal’s side now? What was that all about?

“Hades!” Uma raged. “You’ll pay for this!”

This was all Mal’s doing! She had won again. But one day, Uma vowed, she would have her revenge. She would show that purple-haired punk once and for all. Mal would never forget the name of the person who ruled the Isle of the Lost. The one who would bring Auradon to its knees.

Uma!

huge Auradon-style thank-you to my amazing editors, Hannah Allaman and Emily Meehan, for their faith and patience. Thank you to my family at Disney Publishing Worldwide, especially Guy Cunningham, Meredith Jones, Dan Kaufman, Seale “Eddy” Ballenger, Dina Sherman, MAZ!, Elena Blanco, Kim Knueppel, Elke Villa, Holly Nagel, and Andrew Sansone. Thank you to our Disney queen, Tonya Agurto.

Thank you to our partners at Disney Channel, especially Gary Marsh, Jennifer Rogers-Doyle, and Miriam Ogawa. Thank you to the director and stars of Descendants 3: Kenny Ortega, Dove Cameron, Mitchell Hope, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce, Booboo Stewart, Brenna D’Amico, Zachary Gibson, Sarah Jeffery, and Jedidiah Goodacre.

Thank you to my 3Arts family, Richard Abate and Rachel Kim.