The Silver Mask (Magisterium #4)(49)

Aaron let go of Master Joseph and stepped back, looking at his hand as though he was only just then realizing what he had done. He seemed confused when Master Joseph’s body hit the ground.

You’re a thing. A dead thing.

Master Joseph lay slumped at Call’s feet, like Drew before him. Knowing me has been pretty bad for Master Joseph’s family, Call thought a little hysterically, but no part of that was actually funny.

Alex dropped to his knees. He was staring at Master Joseph’s body. “You — you can bring him back,” Alex said.

“But I won’t.” The words were out of Call’s mouth before he even considered them. He was more than a little shocked that Alex had asked — the Master had threatened Alex with the Alkahest, had mocked and disparaged him. But Alex was staring at his body with a haunted look.

“You have to,” Alex said. “Someone has to lead us.”

Aaron stared blankly at what he’d done. If he felt remorse, he didn’t show it.

Alex crept closer to Master Joseph’s body. There were tears on his face, but he didn’t reach to touch the dead mage. Instead his hand went to the Alkahest. He cradled it to his chest and Call realized that he’d been a fool to not grab for that before anything else.

“Uh, Alex?” Call said. “What are you doing?

“I never thought he could die,” Alex didn’t sound like he was talking to Call. His voice was low, like he was talking to himself. “He was a great man. I thought he would lead the army with me at his side.”

“He was an evil man,” Call said. “In a way, everything that happened — the mage war and Jericho’s death and even Drew’s death — was his fault. He hurt people.”

“He is the only reason you were ever important at all. He believed in you. And you’re just going leave him there?”

“Like you did with me?” Aaron said, sliding down off the table. He moved to stand next to Call.

“I didn’t do that to show I was better than the Enemy of Death,” Alex snarled. He still held the Alkahest, hugging it to himself.

“No,” Call said. “You did it to show you were exactly like him.” He walked to the door, Aaron behind him. There, Call turned back. “We’re going to go. Look, I know you’re upset, but you could do good out in the world with your chaos magic. You can still be famous and powerful and not on the side of evil. With Master Joseph gone, this can all be over.”

Alex looked at him tiredly. “Good, evil,” he said. “What’s the difference?”

Call expected Aaron to say something. He expected him to point out that Alex must know the difference — but he didn’t. Maybe this Aaron couldn’t tell, either.

Call and Aaron walked down the corridor in silence and were quickly joined by Havoc, his ears back but his tail wagging. Footsteps sounded in the house, but no one stood between them and the door. They stepped out onto the lawn.

“Where are we going?” Aaron asked.

“I don’t know,” Call said. “Off this island. Away from everything.”

“Am I coming with you?” Aaron seemed to have realized that killing Master Joseph was something that might matter to Call. Maybe some part of Aaron was bothered by it, too. Maybe he remembered that there was a time when he would never have killed someone like that, in cold blood, with his bare hands.

“Of course you are,” Call said, but Aaron probably heard the hesitation in his voice.

“Good,” Aaron said.

They started to walk toward the woods, following the road, sticking to the edge of the tree line. Call’s leg started aching pretty quickly, but he didn’t slow down. He let the pain happen, let it get worse. So what if it hurt? So what if he limped? The pain made him feel everything in sharper relief.

Aaron walked alongside him, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Horrifyingly, the more time passed, the less Call felt like his friend was accompanying him and the more he felt as though it was one of the Chaos-ridden. Even Havoc seemed to be avoiding Aaron, sticking to the opposite side of Call, never darting over to be patted. Even though Havoc had nosed up to Aaron to be petted yesterday, it seemed clear the wolf thought Aaron had changed since he’d first returned to the living. Aaron had changed. But why would that have happened?

At least they were close to the water now. Call could hear the waves lapping at the bank. And then, suddenly, that noise was subsumed by the growl of engines. Trucks roared down the road. Overhead, a ribbonlike elemental cut through the sky.

Call turned, grabbed Aaron by the shoulder, and shoved him into the woods. “Run! We’ve got to run!” he said, though he knew his leg wasn’t going to let him go fast.

And then, coming out of the woods was Hugo, more mages with him, and marching behind them, Alex’s Chaos-ridden.

Even with Master Joseph dead, Call and Aaron weren’t going to be allowed to leave.

“I am the Enemy of Death!” Call shouted. “I am the person in charge. It’s my commands you’re supposed to be listening to — and I say go back to the house! This is over. I am Constantine Madden! I am the Enemy of Death! And I say this is over!”

Hugo took a step toward Call, a smile on his face. With growing fear, Call realized that there weren’t just the mages Call had seen before. Not just escapees from the Panopticon and trainees like Jeffrey. There were others — even people wearing Assembly robes, who must have just arrived. Traitors, all come to fight on the wrong side. Call even thought he recognized Jasper’s dad.