The Golden Tower (Magisterium #5)(25)

“It definitely is,” Tamara agreed.

“We just wanted you to know,” said Axel, “whatever you want, we’re there for you. We’ll help. Really, anything.”

“You guys are so sweet,” said Tamara.

A wicked grin grew on Call’s face. Now here was a gift he knew what to do with. “Great!” he said. “As you can see, we’re really busy, so how about you go to the Refectory and get us some of those lichen cakes that taste like pizza. And then I need some more books from the library —”

“Call!” Tamara said, interrupting him.

He gave her an innocent look. “Maybe just the lichen cakes for now,” he said to the Iron Years.

They nodded and headed off to do Call’s bidding.

“They’re not your personal servants,” Tamara said.

“I think you will find that they are,” said Call, then admitted, “I guess I get an Evil Overlord Point for that.”

“What?” Tamara asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said, realizing that maybe he didn’t want her to know about the Evil Overlord list. And he definitely didn’t want Jasper and Gwenda, who were looking at him oddly, to start tallying up points for him.

If there’s no weapon in these books, we’re going to have to get serious, Aaron said. I know you don’t want to look at the memories, but they might be our best hope of defeating Alex.

It won’t help anyone if I go full E-o-D, Call thought back. He missed the days when he believed that cheating on a test or taking the last slice of pizza was enough to make him into a bad guy. The memories were dangerous and dangerously tempting. What if he could save the world but it meant losing himself?

But if he became Constantine, would he even want to defeat Alex?

Call went back to the books, but with every page he flipped, he felt his options shrinking.



By the time they got through all the books, the lichen cakes were a distant memory. They were frustrated and hungry. Finally, Gwenda stood up and stretched her arms over her head.

“Okay,” she said. “We need a break.”

“Do you think Alex is taking a break?” Jasper demanded. “Evil never takes a break.”

“Well, Gwenda’s right. We need one,” said Tamara. “Let’s go down to the Gallery and go for a swim. We need to let our minds rest and see if we get any new ideas.”

“Sugar might help,” Call agreed. “Sugar and caffeine.”

“Fine,” said Jasper, realizing they were all against him. “But we are still not hanging that picture of Call on the wall.”

“That’s right,” Tamara agreed. “We’re hanging it on the fridge.”

And she did.



The Gallery was surprisingly full of students. Call would have thought that after the traumatic events of the past day, especially the death of Master Rockmaple, it would have been a dark and subdued place. But it was stuffed full of people, raucously yelling and having a good time.

Tamara shrugged. “Denial,” she said as he glanced around, taking in the kids jumping in and out of the hot and cold pools in the rocks. They’d put in a bunch of squishy gold velvet sofas, and a ton of students were sprawled on them, sipping drinks in bright colors: blue, green, orange, and pink. “People need to be distracted. It’s normal.”

Gwenda and Jasper were already over at the long stone snack bar, filling plates with candy and crunchy dried lichen flavored like nacho cheese. Call grabbed a frozen sugary tea and Tamara a glass of something with raspberries and huge lychees.

They all headed over to the squishy couches, when Call suddenly stopped short. Celia was sitting there with Charlie and Kai, wearing a flowered yellow shirt and laughing. She looked pretty and lighthearted — at least until she turned to see him, and her face went still.

“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” muttered Call.

“Well, would you look who’s got the nerve to show himself in here,” someone said. It wasn’t Celia. It was a boy in a denim shirt and swim shorts, with red hair and long skinny legs. Call thought he recognized him, but he wasn’t sure.

That’s Colton McCarmack, said Aaron’s voice in his head. He was friends with Jennifer Matsui, before she died.

Call felt a cold lump in his stomach. He had brought Jen Matsui back to life as a Chaos-ridden. It hadn’t been his choice to do it, but it had still been horrible.

“Look, we don’t want any trouble,” Call said, holding up a hand. “We’ll go sit somewhere else.”

“As long as you’re in the Magisterium, you’re trouble,” said a girl sitting next to Colton. She had short black hair with bright dyed blue bangs.

Yen Ly, said Aaron. Colton’s girlfriend.

Did you know EVERYONE in the Magisterium? Call thought with exasperation.

Just trying to help. Aaron sounded annoyed.

“You were close to Alex,” said Colton, leaning forward. “Weren’t you?”

“What’s this about, Colton?” Tamara demanded, her hands on her hips. “Alex faked being our friend. He killed Aaron, who was Call’s counterweight. Surely you’re not going to suggest we’re big fans of his.”

“Leave Call alone.” It was Kai, looking a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat. “We all saw him save those kids this afternoon. And destroy Alex Strike’s chaos magic. He’s obviously on our side.”