The Golden Tower (Magisterium #5)(57)

Tamara bumped Call’s shoulder with her own. “That was pretty good,” she whispered. Pretty good lying, she meant.

Murmurs went around the room. “She did confess,” Call heard someone say, and “But what if he’s not telling the truth? What if they were in on it together?” said someone else.

“I think it is time to put this to a vote,” said Master North. “All in favor of accepting Alex Strike’s story as true and allowing him back at the Magisterium, raise your hands.”

Call knew he and Tamara weren’t allowed to vote. Tamara was staring at her parents with mute appeal: after a long moment, both raised their hands. It seemed to Call that a lot of people had raised their hands — but, he saw to his horror, Master Rufus’s hand was down. Aaron stared at his Master, pale with shock.

“All right,” said Master North, making a note. “Now, everyone in favor of sending Alex Strike to the Panopticon, raise their hands.”

Just as many hands went up, now Master Milagros’s among them. But Master Rufus still kept his hands flat on the table.

“Rufus?” said North, pausing with pen in hand.

“I abstain,” Rufus said in a voice as dry as gravel.

Master North shrugged. “Then it’s a tie,” he said. “Rufus, you’re going to have to vote. We need a tiebreaker.”

“He has to,” Tamara whispered. “He has to vote for — for him.”

She looked at Aaron. Call was barely able to keep his seat. His fingernails were digging into his palms so hard it hurt.

Master Rufus rose to his feet. “There is one thing that can determine the truth here,” he said. “Rather than a vote cast on intuition alone, I would like to see Alexander Strike and Callum Hunt pass through the Fifth Gate.”

The room exploded. Master Rufus remained expressionless through it all, like a rock in a churning stream.

“Call is my apprentice,” said Rufus. “Alex was my assistant. I can tell you they are both ready. The Fifth Gate, the Gate of Gold, is about doing good works in the world, about genuinely intending to do good. If the gate opens for them and allows them through, then they have learned that lesson. Note that Constantine never walked through that gate; he left the school before he could be asked to do so. If Alex can walk through the Gate of Gold, then I believe we should accept that whatever he’s been forced to do by circumstance, he has a pure heart.”

The mages quieted down, listening to Rufus speak. When he was done, there was a long silence.

“Very well,” said Master North finally. “I would very much like to see these two tested by the gate. In alchemy, gold is considered to be the purest of metals. The Gate of Gold will test the purity of your hearts. Fail, children, and be locked away forever. There will be no more chances. Go back to your rooms, don your uniforms, and prepare yourselves.”

“If they’re walking through the gate,” Tamara said, “I am walking with them.”

“And if you fail, you will share their fate?” asked Master North. Master Rufus did not look pleased.

“No,” said Mrs. Rajavi, standing. “Of course she won’t. No one doubts that Tamara has been acting on the behalf of the Magisterium and the mage world. Her fate is not in question.”

Mr. Rajavi stood with his wife. “Leave our daughter out of this.”

“I broke Call out of prison. I believe in Alex,” Tamara told the mages. “Enough to share their fate. I am walking through the gate with them. And if the gate rejects me, then I don’t deserve anything different from what they get.”

“Tamara —” Call started. He believed she’d make it through the gate, but he didn’t like even the specter of her and the Panopticon anywhere close together.

“Very well,” said Master North, cutting Call off. “You three go and prepare. I will see you in the Hall of Graduates.”

Call’s whole body was trembling with half-released tension as he made his way back to their rooms in the Magisterium. Tamara held his hand. Aaron was heaving shaky breaths, like he was fighting down a panic attack.

“I think we did it,” Call said finally, as they walked into their rooms. “All we have to do is walk through the final gate. We’ll have completed the Magisterium and avoided prison.”

Aaron nodded slowly, letting out a long sigh and sitting down on the sofa. “Let’s just hope this Gate of Gold lets us through. And thank you, both of you, for bringing me back to life. That’s a little awkward to say, but it was a lot more awkward to pull off.”

Tamara hit him on the shoulder. “Welcome back,” she said, and he folded her into a hug. Both of them smiled and Call was grinning, too.

“How does it feel?” Call asked. “To be all the way back.”

Aaron turned to him and even though it was Alex’s face, it was easy to see Aaron’s spirit shining through. “You mean not rattling around in your noggin? It feels a little weird, like this body is a suit that doesn’t quite fit yet. But it’s nice and quiet. Living in your head was like living in some kind of maelstrom of self-recrimination, stubbornness, and ridiculous ideas.” He turned to Tamara. “Seriously. You should see the ones he doesn’t say out loud. He was toying with one way of beating Alex that involved chewing gum, paperclips, and —”