The Copper Gauntlet (Magisterium #2)(37)

He did, however, sit down on one of the chairs and rub his leg. He couldn’t remember anything bad about sitting in fairy tales.

“So, this place?” Tamara asked. “What is it?”

“Ah, yes,” said the woman. “Did you see the sign above our Great House?”

“ ‘Thoughts are free and subject to no rule,’ ” repeated Tamara.

The woman nodded. Master Lemuel had followed them to the house. “Alma, I know these children. They’re not just trouble — they’re the epicenter of trouble. Don’t tell them anything you’ll regret.”

She waved vaguely at him and then turned back to the kids. She pointed at Havoc, who whined a little and moved behind Call’s chair. “We study the Chaos-ridden. I see you have a wolf with you — a young one. The Enemy put chaos into both humans and animals, but while the chaos seemed to rob people of speech and intelligence, animals reacted differently. They continued to breed, so that the Chaos-ridden creatures of today never knew the commands of a Makar, because there wasn’t one, until now.”

She looked at Aaron.

“Havoc responds to Call, not me,” said Aaron. “And Call isn’t a Makar.”

“That’s very interesting to us,” Alma replied. “How did you find Havoc, Call?”

“He was out in the snow,” Call said, brushing the back of his fingers against Havoc’s ruff. “I saved his life.”

Tamara gave him an incredulous look, as though she thought that Havoc would have been fine without him.

“Havoc was born Chaos-ridden,” said Alma. “There are no humans like that. Humans can’t have chaos put into them; the human Chaos-ridden are made from the freshly dead.”

Aaron shuddered. “That sounds gruesome. Like zombies.”

“It is gruesome, in a way,” said Alma. “There is an old alchemical saying: ‘Every poison is also a cure; it only depends on the dose.’ The Enemy managed to cure death, but the cure was worse than the original condition.”

“Master Milagros says that,” said Jasper, narrowing his eyes. “Were you a teacher at the Magisterium?”

“I was,” said Alma. “At the same time that Master Joseph was there, experimenting with void magic. So were many of us. I helped with some of his experiments.”

Tamara tipped over her lemonade glass. “You stood by as Constantine pushed chaos into people, into animals? Why would anyone do that?”

“The Order of Disorder,” Call whispered. They had to be part of it. In the book, it had said they’d turned to researching Chaos-ridden animals. Where else would they find Chaos-ridden animals than in the woods around the Magisterium? They were the creators of the Alkahest.

Alma smiled at him. “I see you’ve heard of us. Haven’t you ever asked yourself what Master Joseph and Constantine Madden were trying to do?”

“They were trying to make it so no one ever had to die,” said Call.

Everyone looked at him oddly. “Way to pay attention in class,” Aaron said under his breath.

“We are all beings of energy,” said Lemuel. “When our energy is expended, our lives end. Chaos is a source of endless energy. If chaos could be placed safely inside a person, he or she could feed off that energy forever. He or she would never die.”

“But it can’t be,” said Aaron. “Placed safely inside a person, I mean.”

“That’s what we’re still trying to determine,” said Alma. “We’re working with animals, because animals seem to react to chaos differently. Your wolf has chaos inside him — he was born with it inside of him — but he still has a personality, he has feelings, doesn’t he? He’s as alive as you are.”

“Well, yeah,” Call said.

“And he is absolutely, definitely, not ever going to snap and eat our faces,” Jasper interjected. “Right?”

“Who can say?” offered Master Lemuel. He certainly appeared to be happier here than he had been as a teacher at the Magisterium, Call thought. Half of his mouth was turning up as though he might actually smile.

Jasper slid down in his chair. “Crud.”

Tamara glanced around. “So if you’re studying Chaos-ridden animals, do you catch them? Do you keep them in cages?”

Alma smiled and eyed Havoc in a way that Call didn’t like. “So tell me about your mission. What’s your assignment?”

“I thought you said you didn’t care where we were going,” Aaron said to Master Lemuel.

“I don’t. I didn’t say nobody would care.” Lemuel’s half smile turned into a full, malicious one. “It’s not easy to run away from the Magisterium.”

“Drew sure found that out,” muttered Jasper.

Master Lemuel flushed. “Drew wasn’t really trying to run away. Everything he said about me was a lie.”

“Look, we know that,” Aaron said, raising his hands in a gesture for peace. “And we are on a mission, just not one that everyone at school knows about. So if you could tell us the fastest way to the road —”

There was a commotion outside.

A middle-aged man with a bald head and big bristly beard rushed into the room. “Alma, Lemuel! The Masters from the Magisterium are coming this way. It’s a search party.”