Freddie's Shadow Cards Read online

  And the cards had only made a mess of things.

  She carried the deck over to the fireplace, dropped the cards inside, and pulled the pack of matches from her pocket. She ran her fingers over the writing on the back.

  BASS NOTES AND BEIGNETS

  After what had happened, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to set foot in there again.

  She lit a match and tossed it into the fireplace. The cards instantly caught fire, blazing up in a bright purple glow that seemed to flicker and squirm, like it was trying to hold on. Trying to stay alive. But it couldn’t. The purple light that once belonged to those magic cards fizzled and popped and then slowly faded away. Freddie swore she could hear the tiny screams of shadows being snuffed out. Of dark magic being destroyed.

  Just as the very last card shriveled and turned to ash, there was a knock at the door. A moment later, Evie burst into Freddie’s room again.

  “Freddie! You have to come to the chapel quick!”

  Freddie groaned. “Evie, I told you, I’m not going to the compet—”

  “You have to!” Evie interrupted. “Something happened to Ally!”

  That got Freddie’s attention.

  “She lost her voice!” Evie explained breathlessly.

  “What? How?”

  Evie shook her head. “I don’t know. She said she contracted something from swallowing swamp water. Something called slime disease?”

  Freddie rolled her eyes. “That’s not a real thing!”

  “It doesn’t matter! Her voice is gone. The Auradonnas made it into the final round, but she can’t sing. If they don’t have twelve members, they’ll be disqualified. You’re the only other person who knows the competition song. You have to step in for her.”

  Freddie curiously glanced back at the fireplace and what was left of her Shadow Cards. They were now just glowing purple embers.

  Did something happen when I destroyed those cards?

  Or is this just a coincidence?

  Either way, Freddie wasn’t about to waste time thinking about it. She had an a cappella championship to get to.

  Good thing I practiced singing all those songs! It’s time for me to take my place on stage.

  I can’t believe this is actually happening after everything that went down.

  “What is she doing here?” Audrey asked when Freddie and Evie burst into the Auradonnas’ dressing room.

  “I’m here to sing Ally’s part,” Freddie said. “I know it. I can do it.”

  “No way,” Audrey said, crossing her arms. “I’m not allowing a VK to join the Auradonnas.”

  “But Audrey,” Jane argued timidly. “Without her, we’ll be disqualified and the Sword in the Tone will win by default! She’s the only person who knows all of our songs.”

  “That’s right,” Freddie said with a smug smile. “I’m all you got. So you either sing with me or you don’t sing at all.”

  Audrey looked visibly torn. Every girl in the group was staring at her, and Freddie could’ve sworn she saw a vein pop out in Audrey’s neck. The girl was clearly not happy about this development.

  “Fine,” Audrey said with a huff, tossing Freddie an extra-shimmery cape. “Whatever. You just better not mess up or—”

  “Oh, I won’t,” Freddie said confidently, catching the cape with one hand.

  Then an announcer’s voice came over the speaker. “Welcome to the final round of our a cappella championship, where the Sword in the Tone will battle it out against the Auradonnas for the title of national champions! Up first, with their final performance, let’s welcome to the stage the Sword in the Tone!”

  Nervously, the girls all left the dressing room and scurried to the wings of the stage, where they could watch their competition in action. Their leader—a tall, princely looking guy—called out the count. “Five, six, seven, eight.”

  As soon as the group started singing, a tangible panic rose among the Auradonnas.

  “Good, bad, dark, light. What you rather be tonight?”

  “B-b-but, they can’t do that!” Jane stammered in a whisper.

  Freddie glanced around the group, noticing the horrified expressions on the faces of her fellow singers.

  The Sword in the Tone were singing their competition song.

  It was their finale song.

  Audrey called everyone back to the dressing room for an emergency meeting.

  “This is horrible!” Jane said, on the verge of tears. “They stole our song!”

  “We don’t know for sure that they stole it,” another girl said calmly. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Audrey said. “The point is we’re doomed. We don’t have any other songs prepared. We might as well just admit defeat and pull out of the competition.”

  The girls looked to each other and then solemnly nodded their agreement. Jane started to cry.

  Freddie felt her stomach clench.

  No! she thought. She’d worked too hard and suffered through too much to quit before she even had a chance to get up on that stage. But she couldn’t deny the fact that Audrey was right. There was no point in going out there and doing the exact same song the exact same way; it would only make them look like fools. And it was impossible for them to learn a brand-new competition song in the next five minutes.

  Unless…

  “Wait a minute,” Freddie blurted out, causing everyone in the group to look at her. “Maybe we don’t have to drop out.”

  Audrey narrowed her eyes at Freddie. “We can’t get up there and sing the same song.”

  “I agree,” Freddie said. “But we can get up there and sing a different song.”

  “Were you not even listening to anything I said?” Audrey spat. “I just told you, we don’t have any other songs prepared. And we don’t have time to learn a new one.”

  “That’s the thing,” Freddie said with a sly smile. “We don’t necessarily have to learn a new song to be able to sing a different song.”

  Now everyone just looked confused, which made Freddie laugh and Audrey scowl.

  “Gather around, everyone,” Freddie said, taking control of the situation. “I have an idea. Did everyone see Jordan’s Web show this week?”

  “Follow my lead,” Freddie assured the group as they walked out of the dressing room a little while later. “It’s going to be great.”

  The moment they took the stage, Freddie could feel butterflies flapping in her stomach. She couldn’t believe that after everything she’d done to get there she was still nervous!

  Calm down, she silently told herself. You were born to be up here.

  The lights were off and the Auradonnas all silently took their places.

  Freddie grinned in the darkness, excited about what they were going to do. It was risky, but Freddie was certain it would pay off. They were going to knock the judges’ socks off with this.

  Everyone was in position. The lights came on, and Freddie counted off. “Five, six, seven, eight.”

  Jane and the other altos kicked off the percussion, then Audrey and the sopranos came in with some background accompaniment. Freddie glanced at the audience, waiting for its reaction. She spotted Evie and Mal in the third row and saw Evie’s face fill with panic.

  Freddie knew what she was reacting to. So far, it sounded like the exact same song the Sword in the Tone had performed just a few minutes earlier.

  But not for long.

  Freddie counted silently in her head, waiting for her moment.

  “Stop!” she called, extending her hand out.

  The singers fell quiet. The audience fell quiet. Everyone was waiting to see what would happen next.

  Freddie stared into the audience, an intense look in her eyes. She was trying to build up as much suspense as she could. Then, just when people started to squirm, she yelled, “Let’s mix this thing up bayou style!”

  Jane and the altos started again from the top, this time hitting the percussion beats at half the tempo, just like Freddie h
ad shown them backstage.

  When Audrey led the sopranos in with the accompaniment, it wasn’t the same upbeat, bouncy sound that it had been just a second ago. Now it was slow. Smooth. Jazzy.

  Just like they do down in the bayou.

  Freddie launched into her solo and the crowd went wild. She closed her eyes and pretended she was onstage at Bass Notes and Beignets. That the lights were low and the room was dark and she was the star of the club.

  “Doesn’t matter what we do, cause I’d rather be with you. Rather be with you. Rather be with you…”

  She crooned that solo like no one in the audience had ever heard before: With flavor. With power. With rhythm. With soul.

  It was the exact same song, but it sounded completely different. It sounded new and fresh and so totally groovy that the rest of the Auradonnas soon couldn’t help getting into it. They swayed and danced as Freddie reached the climax of the solo, hitting that high note with all the power of a VK in an AK world.

  When she finished, everyone in the audience was on their feet, clapping and shouting and stomping. Freddie’s gaze flew to Mal and Evie in the third row. They were both beaming back at her. Evie gave her a thumbs-up.

  Even the judges couldn’t stay seated. They were up and whistling.

  Freddie stood speechless in the middle of the stage, unable to believe what she was seeing.

  They loved it.

  They really did!

  Freddie felt her lips curving into a broad smile.

  There was no denying it: this felt amazing. It felt right.

  It felt like magic.

  “You saved us!” Jane shouted to Freddie over the roar of the crowd. “Take a bow! You deserve it!”

  Freddie looked back and forth down the line of singers who were all smiling from their success. “Let’s take one together,” Freddie suggested.

  The girls joined hands, raised their arms, and bowed.

  Freddie felt like she was in a dream. This was all that she’d ever wanted. To perform up there in front of all those people. To prove to everyone in Auradon that she was more than just a villain kid. That she was Freddie Facilier, the singer.

  And by the looks of it, she had done just that.

  See, I told you villain plans always work out.

  Okay, fine, I had a little help from some…Auradon friends. Yes, you heard me right.

  An hour later, the Auradonnas were all gathered in the banquet hall with their newly won national championship trophy. Everyone wanted to take a selfie with it.

  Freddie stood back, watching the girls snap photo after photo. She just couldn’t stop smiling. She’d been in a trance ever since they’d walked off that stage. The beautiful sound of the audience cheering was still echoing in her head and she hoped it never stopped.

  “You did it!” someone cried, startling Freddie out of her thoughts. “You’re a star!”

  Freddie looked over to see Ally standing next to her. It took Freddie a moment to realize that Ally was talking. In a perfectly normal voice.

  “Your voice,” Freddie said, frowning. “Is it back?”

  Ally flashed a cunning smile and whispered, “I never really lost it.”

  Freddie blinked. “What?”

  “You deserved your shot. You deserved to be up there.”

  Freddie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You gave up your chance to compete in the finals for me?”

  Ally shrugged. “After you helped me with the tea shop and helped Jordan with her Web show, and got us the new costumes, I knew I had to help you out, too.”

  “So you didn’t have slime disease,” Freddie pointed out smugly.

  “Well, no, not really,” Ally said. “But I could have! It’s a real thing, you know?”

  Freddie opened her mouth to argue, but before she could get a word out, Ally turned to the rest of the group and said, “Auradonnas! Listen up!”

  The girls stopped taking photos and turned to look at their captain.

  “All in favor of Freddie joining our group permanently, raise your hand!”

  Eleven hands shot into the air. Everyone looked around to see who hadn’t voted, and all eyes landed on Audrey. She shrank back slightly from the group, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.

  Freddie almost had to laugh. After everything she’d done, she still hadn’t convinced Audrey to give her a shot.

  But then, a second later, a miracle happened. Audrey let out a sigh and mumbled “Whatever,” before her hand lifted tentatively in the air.

  The whole group cheered. Freddie looked at Ally in disbelief. “You got me into the group.”

  Ally grinned. “That’s what friends do.”

  Freddie squinted. “Friends?”

  Ally laughed. “Yes, silly. Friends!”

  Freddie was quiet for a moment, before blurting out, “Opal!”

  Ally frowned in confusion. “What?”

  “That’s what she was trying to tell me! That’s what she meant when she said I already knew how to fix everything. In the end, we all got exactly what we wanted. But not because of magic. Because of friendship.”

  Ally patted her on the shoulder. “Exactly. We’re friends now.”

  Freddie considered that. “But I’ll always be from the isle.”

  “So how about we say you’re an honorary AK?” Ally offered.

  “Deal.” Freddie stuck out her hand and Ally immediately shook it. “But you better not tell anyone I agreed to that.”

  Ally giggled. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

  More new books coming soon in the School of Secrets series…

  Next:

  Ally’s Mad Mystery