The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium #2)(29)

“Call?” There was a hand on his shoulder, and then on his arm, pulling him to his feet. Alex Strike, looking put-together as usual, his uniform pristine, seemed concerned. “What are you doing?”

“Tamara —” Call gasped.

“She went toward Rufus’s office,” said Alex, pointing at a set of iron-and-copper double doors. “Are you sure you should —”

But Call was already darting around him. He knew exactly where Rufus’s office was. He pounded down the last corridor and threw open the door.

Tamara was standing in the center of the room, on the middle of a circular rug. Rufus was leaning against his desk, backlit by the glow of lamps behind him. He looked very grave.

Call skidded to a halt. He looked back and forth between Tamara and Rufus.

“You can’t,” he said to Tamara. “You can’t tell him.”

Tamara straightened her shoulders. “I have to, Call.”

“You promised,” Call said raggedly. He’d half thought that Aaron might have followed him, but Aaron hadn’t, and he felt suddenly and horribly alone, facing both Tamara and Rufus as if they were enemies. He felt a flash of rage toward Tamara. He’d never wanted to be angry at her, or hide things from Rufus. He’d never wanted to be in this position. And he’d never wanted to think he couldn’t trust Tamara.

“It seems that something serious is happening here,” said Rufus.

“Nothing,” Call said. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Rufus looked back and forth, from Call to Tamara. Call knew which one of them would be trusted. He even knew which one of them should be trusted.

“Fine,” said Tamara. “I’ll just say it. Alastair Hunt is the one who tried to steal the Alkahest, and if we don’t stop him, he’ll try again.”

Master Rufus raised his thin eyebrows. “How do you know that?”

“Because,” Tamara said, even as Call fixed her with eyes like daggers, “Call said so.”





THE MAGES SENT Tamara back to her room. She went without looking at Call, her head down, her shoulders hunched. He didn’t say anything to her. He had to stay behind and answer endless questions about what he’d seen and hadn’t seen, about how Alastair had been behaving and whether he’d ever spoken about Constantine Madden. Call was asked whether he knew that his father and Constantine had once been friends, and especially about whether Alastair had ever spoken about Call’s mother, Sarah, in a way that suggested he wanted to bring her back from the dead.

“Is that possible?” Call asked. But nobody would give him a straight answer.

Call could tell that while Aaron — and even maybe Tamara — might have believed Alastair wasn’t in league with the Enemy, all the Masters were sure he was a traitor. Or crazy. Or a crazy traitor.

If Call had wanted to discredit Alastair, to make it impossible for anyone to believe him if he claimed Call had the soul of Constantine Madden, he couldn’t have done a better job. That part should have made him happy, but it didn’t. Nothing did. He was furious with himself and even more furious with Tamara.

It was late when they finally dismissed him, and Master Rufus led him back to his room.

“I understand now why you did not wish to see your father when he came for you,” Master Rufus said.

Call didn’t respond. Adults had an amazing knack for stating the obvious, and also for telling you whenever they figured anything out.

“You need to know that you are not in trouble, Callum,” said Rufus. “No one would have expected you to break your father’s secrecy, but this burden should never have been set on your shoulders.”

Call stayed silent. He’d been talking for hours and he had nothing more to say.

“Your father became very eccentric after the war. Maybe none of us was willing to see how extreme his behavior had become. Working with the elements as we do has many dangers. We can bend the world to our desires. But the toll on the mind can be great.”

“He’s not insane,” Call snapped.

Master Rufus paused and peered down at Call for a long moment. “I would be very careful about saying that where someone could overhear you,” Master Rufus told him. “Better the world thinks he’s mad than believes him to be in league with the Enemy.”

“Do you think he’s insane?” Call demanded.

“I cannot imagine Alastair in league with Constantine,” Rufus answered after a pause. “I taught them both. They were indeed friends. No one was more betrayed by Constantine’s eventual descent into evil than Alastair was. No one was more determined to bring Constantine down — even more so after Sarah was killed. There is no greater betrayal than that of a friend.”

Call looked at Rufus, feeling dizzy. He thought of Aaron, who had been born to defeat Call. Destined for it, even if he didn’t know it.

“Some people are meant to be friends, and some to be enemies,” said Rufus. “Eventually the universe rights itself.”

“Everything in balance,” Call muttered. It was an alchemical saying.

“Exactly.” Rufus laid a hand on Call’s shoulder, which was surprising enough to make Call jump. “Will you be all right?”

Call nodded and slipped into his rooms. They were empty; both Tamara and Aaron had gone to their bedrooms, the doors shut tightly. He went into his own room and lay down on the bed fully clothed. Havoc was already asleep on the blankets. Call drew Miri from her sheath and held her up where he could see her, could see the whorls and swirls of folded metal in the blade. Peace.