The Golden Tower (Magisterium #5)(37)

With that, he melted away into the water, turning to foam and mist.



By the time they all made it back to Alastair’s car, Tamara was wringing out her braids, and Call felt as if his soaked clothes weighed a hundred pounds. After glancing around to make sure no one was looking, Tamara summoned up enough fire magic to create a miniature bonfire they could all warm themselves with. (Except for Havoc, who just bounced around shaking the water off his fur.)

“So who’s Greta?” Call asked Alastair. “Old girlfriend or something?”

“Just a crabby classmate. I guess things don’t change.” Alastair, holding his hands out to the bonfire, looked absent. “It’s too bad she’s all the way in Tampa. It’s a long drive for you to make.”

“Don’t you mean it’s a long drive for us?” said Call, surprised.

Alastair shook his head. “I think I’ve got a lead on a Devoured of air, but there isn’t time for us to travel together if we’re going to make it back to the Magisterium in time. You just make sure to convince Greta and I’ll meet you there.”

“You want me to take the car?” Call asked. Alastair’s Phantom was his most beloved possession; he took care of it every weekend, polishing and tinkering. Call couldn’t believe Alastair would trust him with it.

“Just treat her kindly,” said Alastair, taking out his wallet and peeling off a bunch of twenties, then reaching into his pocket to pull out the keys. “You’re a good driver and a good kid. You’re going to be fine.”

Call looked at the keys and money in his hands. He thought about suggesting they fly, but he knew their own magic would only take them so far. And they didn’t have time to find an elemental that could take them. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ve got a friend who can give me a ride. Don’t worry. I’ll be at the Magisterium with a Devoured of air by the time you get there.” Alastair clapped a hand on Call’s back, then, changing his mind, pulled him into a fierce, brief hug. “This is almost over.”

Letting him go, Alastair waved to the other kids. Whistling, he walked through the parking lot, heading toward the road.

“You think he can really convince a Devoured of air?” Gwenda asked.

“We better hope so,” Call said, sliding into the driver’s side of the Rolls-Royce. He put his hands on the wheel. The last time he’d been sitting in this seat was when he was a little kid, pretending to drive, making vroom-vroom noises.

Tamara took shotgun, leaving Gwenda to sit with Havoc and Jasper.

He turned the key and pressed his foot to the gas, starting the car.

Remember when I had to drive because you didn’t know how, Aaron said.

I’m still not sure I know how, Call thought back.

Tamara fiddled with the radio while Call carefully steered out of the parking lot and toward the road.

“You have your license, right?” Gwenda asked him.

“Provisionally,” he said.

“What does that mean?” she wanted to know, looking worried.

“It’s a provisional license,” he said. “I haven’t had a lot of practice, what with being imprisoned and then kidnapped and then nearly dying and then living in a cave.”

That did not seem to calm Gwenda, but Jasper didn’t seem worried. He petted Havoc and looked out the window.

“I like road trips,” he said, watching the landscape roll by. “And road-trip games. We should play one of those.”

Gwenda punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow!” he yelled.

“Punchbuggy.” She smiled. “What? I thought you liked road-trip games.”

He reached over and tickled her under her arms, sending her into fits of laughter as she squirmed away. Havoc barked and tried to relocate himself.

“Gwenda is so great,” Call told Tamara, looking at them in the rearview mirror. “Finally someone who dislikes Jasper even more than I do.”

Tamara rolled her eyes, like he was not only wrong but also maybe an idiot. Since Call had no idea what he’d said that was so stupid and didn’t want to admit it, he kept his eyes on the road.

Maybe she was jealous. Maybe she didn’t want to hear him compliment another girl. But Tamara didn’t look particularly uncomfortable. She was leaned against the window, hair in a tidy French braid, watching the cars go by, a small smile on her face.

A few hours later, though, no one was smiling. They were bored and restless and hungry. The route took them back the way they’d come, through Pennsylvania again, then through West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and finally through Georgia to Florida itself. It would take nearly a full day — eighteen hours — to get there. Call figured they could break it up into two long days of driving with another hotel in between.

Eventually he pulled into the parking lot of a Taco Bell. The Rolls gave a little shudder when it turned off that made Call nervous. He hoped he wouldn’t have to repair the notoriously finicky car on his own.

“My butt is numb,” said Tamara, climbing out. “Let’s grab food to take away and go find somewhere to sleep.”

They were all starving, and wound up staggering back to the car laden down with sodas and bags of tacos. Jasper tried to use his phone to find them a hotel, and there was a lot of yelling and Call driving the wrong direction and then having to make U-turns. Eventually they made it to a Red Roof Inn and Jasper used his dad’s credit card to book them three rooms, which was all that was available.