فصل 11

Chapter 11

CALL THREW HIMSELF against the window, scrabbling at it, before he remembered that it was made of some kind of air magic.

Barely thinking, he conjured flame into his hand. Havoc started to bark. Call could barely pay attention. He felt like his head was full of bees, buzzing so loudly that he couldn’t think. The magical flame wore away at the window, but it was working too slowly. Call didn’t have time for this.

He drew on chaos. It came to his hand quickly, an oily curling ribbon of nothingness. He could feel how hungry it was and how it seemed to tug at something deep inside of him.

You don’t have enough soul left for this, a part of him thought through the buzzing, but it didn’t matter. He sent the chaos toward the window.

It began to eat away the air magic and the glass and the frame outside it. Call didn’t care. By the time he stepped out of the window and onto the roof, it was through a huge hole in the side of the house.

In the distance, he saw fire.

He walked to the edge of the tiles and stepped off, concentrating on drawing air magic to him. He wobbled and, for a moment, was afraid he was going to crash down on the grass.

But the magic held. He hovered in the air. Havoc was on the roof behind him, barking wildly. Call turned back to look at him and saw that two of the other windows in the house were smashed out — appearing like they had been burned, the wood around their edges sparking with low flames.

Call’s leg had given him a reason to practice this kind of magic, but since the Magisterium was in a cave system and at home there were neighbors, he’d never really flown. It was one thing to hover a little, but this, up in the air, high off the ground, like he’d dreamed, was new. He knew he ought to be more nervous, but all his concentration was on the scene unfolding before him.

He looked out toward the fire. Not a natural fire, he realized. Elemental fire. As he stared, he saw something undulate over one of the hills on the horizon.

A huge, snakelike winding ribbon of fire that slipped over the ridge of a hill. The elemental reared up like a cobra, fire spilling from her edges, and Call remembered running through the Panopticon with Jasper and seeing her there in the hallways.

Ravan. Tamara’s sister. Which meant Tamara had summoned her. Tamara had been planning this escape for far longer than a single day and night. When Call kissed her in the tunnels, she must have been planning even then. He’d thought that bringing back Aaron had made her stop trusting him, but she must have stopped trusting him before that. Because if she’d trusted him, she would have told him she was contacting Ravan. And she hadn’t. The knowledge was like a heavy block sitting on his chest.

The air wobbled again beneath him, his concentration stuttering. Master Joseph shot a bolt of icy magic at Ravan, who dodged it with a smoking hiss.

Call could hear contempt in that hiss. Fire exploded along the ridge of the hill. Through the leaping orange flames he thought he could see two small figures running.

Tamara had trusted Jasper but not Call. She was leaving Call, leaving him here because she’d meant what she’d said in his room. That she’d staked her whole life on the certainty that he wasn’t the Enemy of Death, but he was.

Only now, hovering over the burning landscape, did Call realize how much it had always mattered that Tamara believed in him.

Pain rose up in Call, a pain that made him feel like he was choking.

Master Joseph was shouting, and the dark, swarming figures below were hurling magic at Ravan, but she was fast and clever and dodged everything they sent at her.

Call raised one hand. He was remembering a maze made out of fire, how he’d been lost in it until he’d realized his chaos magic could suck the oxygen out of everything, killing fire. He could kill Ravan. In that moment, he knew he could do it.

“Call.” It was Aaron. He was out on the roof of the house, one hand on Havoc’s ruff. He was barefoot, and had found a T-shirt somewhere to replace his uniform top. He looked pale in the darkness. “Let them go.” Call could hear his own breath in his ears. Trucks were spinning their wheels all over the front lawn of Master Joseph’s house, none of them willing to get close enough to Ravan to explode their gas tanks.

“But —”

“It’s Tamara,” said Aaron. “You think Master Joseph will forgive her for running? He won’t.” Call didn’t move.

“He’ll kill her,” Aaron said. “And you won’t be okay after that. You love her.” Call lowered his hand slowly, hovering just above the roof. He felt Aaron reach forward, grab the back of his shirt, and pull him down onto the tiles. He collapsed, half on top of Havoc, nearly knocking Aaron over. By the time they’d sorted themselves out, Call could no longer see the small running figures of Tamara and Jasper.

Hot tears started in Call’s eyes, but he blinked them back. “She left me.” Aaron sat up, disentangling himself from Call. He scooted sideways on the roof tiles, Havoc behind him. “She left us, Call.” Call made a choking sound that was partly a laugh. “Yeah, I guess she did.” “She wants to warn the Magisterium,” Aaron said. “It’s better for us not to go there.” Call suddenly realized what was weird about the way Aaron was talking. “Why do you suddenly hate the Magisterium so much?” “I don’t hate them,” said Aaron. He looked out toward where the battle must be taking place. “But it’s like I can see them more clearly than I could when I was alive before. They only ever wanted what they could get from us, Call. And they can’t get anything from me anymore. And they’ll want to punish you. You proved them wrong, you know. They never believed Constantine could really raise the dead.” Call stared at him, trying to decode something from his expression, from the clear green of his eyes, but this Aaron wasn’t easy to read. He was, however, super creepy.

But he hasn’t been back long, Call reminded himself. Maybe death clings to you for a while, shadowing everything. Maybe that shadow lifts eventually.

“Do you think I did the right thing, bringing you back?” After he asked it, Call felt like he couldn’t quite breathe until he had the answer.

Aaron made a sound that was not quite a sigh. It was like wind whistling through trees. “You know I’m not a Makar anymore, right? I’m not a mage at all. That part of me is gone and everything feels — I don’t know, washed-out and dull.” Call felt a little sick. He’d known Alex had taken Aaron’s Makar power with the Alkahest, but not that Aaron would come back with no magic at all. “That could change,” he said desperately. Without Aaron, he didn’t know what he’d do. He didn’t know what he’d become. “You could get better.” “You should be asking yourself if you’re glad you brought me back,” Aaron said with a half smile. “The mages will never take you back now, and I know you don’t want to stay here with Master Joseph.” “I don’t need to ask myself anything,” Call said fiercely. “I’m glad I brought you back.” Havoc barked at that, and nosed in between them. Aaron reached to pat the wolf, and Call felt the tension in his chest ease slightly. Surely if there was something really wrong with Aaron, Havoc would sense it?

Master Joseph came into view, a phalanx of the Chaos-ridden and several dozen mages following him. He was marching back toward the house. When he saw Call and Aaron sitting on the roof, the chaos-eaten hole behind them, he looked momentarily furious. Then his expression smoothed out.

“It’s lucky for you two you didn’t go with them,” Master Joseph yelled up.

Coming up behind him, Alex laughed. “They weren’t invited.”

“Once the Assembly knows the power you have unlocked, everything will be different,” said Master Joseph, but Call wondered if that could be true. Tamara’s parents were on the Assembly. If she was horrified, weren’t they likely to be equally horrified — if not more so?

But Call just nodded.

“Come inside,” Master Joseph said coldly. “We’ll talk.”

Call nodded again, but he didn’t go inside. He sat on the roof until the sun was much higher in the sky. Aaron sat there, too.

As the yellow light burnished his lashes to gold, he turned to Call. “How did you do it? You can tell me.” “I gave you a piece of my soul,” Call said, checking Aaron’s expression to see if he was horrified. “That’s why it didn’t work before. Constantine Madden would never have tried something like that. He would have never given any of his power away.” Aaron nodded. “I think I can tell,” he said finally. “I think I can feel it — part of me, but also not.” “And that’s why it’s not going to work the way they’re hoping,” Call stumbled on. It was uncomfortable to talk about sharing souls. “Because I can’t keep using pieces of my soul to bring people back. They’re not … unlimited. You can run out.” “And then you’d die,” Aaron said.

“I think so. I think that’s why Constantine kept Jericho around — so that he could use his soul. And I read Jericho’s diary —” Call looked around, meaning to show it to Aaron, before he realized it wasn’t there. Tamara had taken it with her. To show to the Magisterium, Call assumed. Proof. He felt sick again.

“You don’t feel Constantine’s soul in you, right?” Aaron said. “You just feel normal. You’ve always felt normal.” “I’ve never known anything different,” Call said.

“Maybe I just have to get used to it,” Aaron said, sounding a lot like his old self. He even grinned a little, sideways. “I’m grateful. For what you did. Even if it doesn’t work.” But it did work, Call wanted to insist.

Before he could, someone knocked on the door. It was Anastasia, who didn’t wait for them to answer before she opened it. She stepped into Call’s room and then stopped at the sight of the devastation Call had wrought — the chaos-eaten wall and the morning sunlight streaming in. She blinked a couple of times.

“Children shouldn’t be cursed with so much power,” she said, as though she was speaking to herself. She was dressed in what looked like battle gear — pale silver-and-white steel over her chest and along her arms and a chain-mesh hood over her silver hair.

For once, it seemed like she was thinking of Call and Constantine as separate people, cursed equally. He wished she would keep thinking of them that way, but he wasn’t particularly hopeful about it.

“What’s going on?” Call asked, standing up.

“Look.” Aaron pointed as an air elemental hovered into view, flying over the tops of the island trees. It was clear and wavering, with a circular shape like an enormous jellyfish. “Are we being attacked?” “On the contrary,” said Anastasia. “That is my elemental. I summoned it, the vanguard of my troops. I am going after your friends to bring them back before they reach the Magisterium and force our hand.” “Just let them go.” Call stood, walking up the remains of the roof tiles and hopping back into the room.

“You know we can’t do that. And you know why, too. They know too many things that could hurt us. They should have been more loyal. We hoped to have more time to prepare before there was a war between the forces of the Assembly and those of the Enemy of Death, but if Tamara and Jasper make it home, battle will be joined within the week.” Call thought of the thousands of Chaos-ridden waiting in their watery barracks, thought of how he could have led them away from the island, how the Assembly might have seen him as a hero.

Tamara had wanted him to be seen as a hero. Call couldn’t hate her. No matter what happened, he knew he never would.

“Don’t hurt my friends,” he said. “I haven’t asked you for much — ” He couldn’t call her Mom. His throat stuck on the word. “Anastasia. If you catch them, you have to promise you won’t hurt them.” She narrowed her eyes. “I will do my best, but they knew the consequences when they ran. And, Call, I don’t think they would hesitate to hurt me.” In her battle armor, Anastasia looked pale and terrible. Call thought she might be right about what Tamara and Jasper would do and was even more afraid for them.

“Promise you’ll try,” Call said, because he thought that was likely to be all he was going to get from her. He felt helpless and yet, wasn’t he the Enemy of Death? Hadn’t his bringing back Aaron proved it, like Tamara said? Shouldn’t he be calling the shots?

“Of course,” she told him, in a crisp voice that left little room for kindness. “Now come down to breakfast. You two have much to discuss with Master Joseph.” Aaron pushed himself to his feet and came to where Call was standing. Although neither of them had slept and Tamara was gone, Call was starting to feel hopeful again. He was sure Aaron was right about his soul needing to settle. Once Aaron was himself again, they’d figure out what to do. They’d gotten out of a lot of scrapes before. They would find their way out of this one, too.

Maybe.

“Okay,” he said to Anastasia.

Call was still in his borrowed pajamas and he didn’t bother to change out of them. Aaron seemed comfortable in what he was wearing. They trooped down the stairs and into the dining room, where Master Joseph sat with a few other mages, including Hugo. When Call and Aaron came in, the mages stood up and took their leave. Master Joseph’s hair was singed on one side. Alex’s face was red, like he’d gotten a blast of fire to the face. The whole table was spread with bandages, magical salve, and dirty mugs.

“Sit down,” said Master Joseph. “There’s coffee and eggs in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” Call immediately went and got an enormous mug of coffee. Aaron didn’t get anything, just sat at the table, waiting.

Master Joseph sat back in his chair. “The time has come,” he said, looking at Call. “You must explain exactly how you brought Aaron back from the dead.” “All right,” Call said. “But you won’t like it.”

“Just tell the truth, Callum.” Master Joseph sounded as if he were trying to be calming, but the strain in his voice came through clearly. “And everything will be fine.” It wasn’t fine. Call watched Master Joseph’s expression darken as he explained how he had torn a piece of his soul free and placed it in Aaron’s body. Aaron, who’d already heard all of this, stared out the window at a few Chaos-ridden animals that were sniffing around the grass.

“This is the truth?” Master Joseph said when Call had finished. Alex was staring at him in disbelief. “The whole truth, Call?” “It’s ridiculous!” Alex protested. “Who would even come up with an idea like that?” “I got it from Jericho’s journals.” Call turned to Master Joseph. “You knew,” he said. “You knew it was what Constantine was doing. He was using pieces of Jericho’s soul to try to bring the dead back.” Master Joseph stood up, his hands knotted behind his back, and began to pace. “I guessed,” he said. “I hoped it wasn’t true.” “So you see,” Aaron said, shifting his gaze from the window. “This isn’t something Call can do again.” Master Joseph whirled on them. “But he must. If Anastasia doesn’t stop them, your friends will reach the Magisterium. When they do, when they tell the Assembly, we can hope they will be reasonable and realize your genius. But if that doesn’t happen, war will come to us. We must raise Drew before that happens.” “Raise Drew?” Alex gasped. “You didn’t mention that before.”

“Of course I did,” Master Joseph snapped. “Raising Aaron was one thing — we had his body here — but if Call can retrieve souls that have passed into the afterlife — the Assembly will surrender their power to us. Everyone will cower before power like that.” “Today the Assembly, tomorrow the world!” Alex said cheerfully. “Move those goalposts.” “But it’s not possible,” Call said. “Weren’t you listening? I can’t keep ripping out pieces of my soul. I’ll die.” “Oh no!” drawled Alex sarcastically. “Not that!”

“You’ll have killed Constantine Madden,” said Aaron.

“It’s true,” said Master Joseph, looking at Call in a way that reminded Call of the first time they’d met: Drew had died, and Master Joseph’s expression had been a mixture of hate — for Callum Hunt — and yearning, for the Enemy of Death trapped in his body. “Which is why we must have a Jericho.” He turned to Alex.

Call was definitely not bringing back Drew. “Uh,” he said. “First you’re going to need a body and some trace of Drew’s soul. I mean, with Aaron, his body still had some of him in it.” Aaron was entirely still. Call wondered what he made of this. He worried that all of this made Aaron feel worse about being back from the dead. Call hoped not. He needed Aaron to stay positive. Well, as positive as was possible for him right now.

“I can get those things,” Master Joseph said eagerly.

“Okay,” Call said. “That’s pretty much it. I’d help, but my magic is really diminished after bringing Aaron back.” “Your magic ate a hole in the wall of the house,” Alex accused. “It seems fine to me.” Call nodded sadly, exaggerating for all it was worth. “I didn’t mean to do that. It’s acting all out of control. I wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt Drew.” Alex looked daggers at Call, but Master Joseph seemed to believe him. “Yes, I can see how that would be a danger. Alex, you’ve heard what Call said. Now we will have to re-create his experiment. Come.” Alex looked worried, really worried. Call supposed that tearing off little bits of his soul wasn’t something Alex wanted to mess around with, but Call didn’t have it in him to be particularly sympathetic.

With a snap of his fingers, Master Joseph summoned back the other mages — which implied they’d been listening. “Let’s go,” he said to Alex, the threat of being dragged away to the experiment room hanging over him.

Call waved his fingers at Alex, pleased with himself and with the world for once. “Good luck!” he called after them.

Alex didn’t even bother to glare back. He looked too scared.

Finding a half-full cup of coffee abandoned by one of the mages, Aaron brought it to his lips. Call watched him, realizing that he was waiting for Aaron to demand they go after Alex, insist on saving him.

“Alex is the reason you’re dead in the first place,” Call said to that imaginary objection. “I don’t care what Master Joseph does to him. We should just stay here and have breakfast. I don’t care if his soul gets ripped apart.” “Okay,” Aaron said.

Call grabbed a piece of neglected toast off one of the mage’s abandoned plates. Aaron wasn’t supposed to say that. He was supposed to say something about how Master Joseph and Alex were on Team Evil and how Team Good wasn’t supposed to behave like that.

Aaron didn’t say anything at all.

With a sigh, Call pushed his chair away from the table. “Fine. Okay. We’ll go check it out.” Aaron looked puzzled but stood up and followed Call. Together they crept toward the experiment room. Within, they could hear muffled voices. Call squeezed one eye shut and looked through a keyhole with the other, but even though that worked in movies, in real life he couldn’t see much of anything.

“If you can’t find Drew’s soul, then you must not be much of a Makar,” he heard Master Joseph say from the other side of the door. “Perhaps you should be the vessel for Drew’s return. Perhaps Callum Hunt can push Drew’s soul in and your soul out.” “I’m a Makar,” Alex whined. “You can’t do that.”

Call sucked in a breath. Here was the real Master Joseph, the one who’d been trying to hide behind elaborate dinners and kindly gestures.

“Your powers are stolen and you are inferior,” Master Joseph said, his voice thick with rage. “You were never meant to wield chaos magic.” “I can do this,” Alex said. “I can!” There was a scraping noise. “Just give me some room to work.” At that moment, Call heard a low groan from the room — one that sounded chaos-tinged.

“Master Joseph!” Call yelled, slamming his fist on the door. “Let us in!” A moment later, Master Joseph opened the door to reveal Alex on the floor, looking stunned. There was no one else inside. There was, however, a corpse on the table, its skin tinted blue with cold. Call shuddered.

“I see you want to help after all,” Master Joseph said. “But for now, we’re fine as we are. Come back tonight, Callum, when you’re rested.” And with that, the door closed on them again. The latch turned.

“Well, I guess that’s that,” Call said, feeling queasy. Could they bring back Drew? Call didn’t think they could do it without Drew’s body. Even the Chaos-ridden had a tiny bit of their own soul trapped in them — just as Call had realized when he’d accidentally made Jennifer Matsui into one.

But his own soul was Constantine’s, in a new body, after all. Maybe it would work. He cast a glance at Aaron, but Aaron didn’t look like he was worrying about whether they’d bring Drew back or not.

Call needed to do something. “Come on,” he told Aaron. “We can go around outside and look in through the window.” He grabbed for some boots and a coat.

“Are we going to watch him suffer?” Aaron asked, which wasn’t the right question at all. Call didn’t answer.

Heading outside they passed a scattered bunch of Chaos-ridden who dipped their heads and moaned as Call went by. Scenic, Call thought. Aaron frowned at them, hands in his pockets, and walked faster.

“Look around,” Call said. “See? This is the kind of trouble I get into when you’re not here. Since you died, I wound up arrested, then broken out of jail, then kidnapped and brought to the stronghold of the Enemy of Death, with Jasper, who spent the whole time talking about his love life …” At that, the corner of Aaron’s mouth lifted.

“And I kissed Tamara, who hates me now! Without you, I can’t do anything right. You’re the person who helps me figure out what’s right and what’s wrong. I’m not sure I can do that without you.” Aaron didn’t look like he felt particularly happy to hear it. “I don’t — I can’t do that for you now.” “But you have to,” Call said. They had reached a small copse of trees. From there, it would be possible to sneak around to one of the windows of the experiment room, but in that moment, what was happening inside didn’t seem as important as what was happening with them. “You always have before.” Aaron shook his head. “I don’t think about things the way I used to.” He put his hands in his pockets. It was cold out, with a sharp wind, but Call wasn’t sure Aaron could feel it. He didn’t seem cold.

“You’re fine,” Call said. “We just have to get you out of here.”

“When will we go?” Aaron asked.

“Tamara and Jasper and I tried to run before,” Call admitted. “They caught us and brought us back, but that turned out to be a good thing, because then Master Joseph told us about you. So I figured we would stay until we could bring you back.” “And Tamara and Jasper agreed?” Aaron’s breath made white puffs in the air.

Call took a breath. “I didn’t exactly tell them.”

Aaron didn’t caution him, as he once might have done. He didn’t scold him. He really wasn’t doing a good job of being a moral center, Call had to admit.

Call went on. “I thought that once you were back, they’d agree it was a good thing. And I thought the Assembly would think so, too. Because I did it right. I mean, sure they don’t want armies of Chaos-ridden running around, because they’re basically zombies, but you’re fine.” Aaron didn’t say anything. They walked on, leaves crunching underfoot. They’d gotten to the part of the woods where they should start back toward the house if they were going to look through the experiment room window, but Call wasn’t ready to veer off quite yet.

“Do you really think I’m fine?” Aaron turned a haunted green gaze on Call.

“Yes,” Call said firmly. He almost felt angry with Aaron, which made no sense, but he couldn’t help it. He’d worked so hard for this, and no one had understood, and now Aaron wouldn’t just act normal. “I’m not saying you’re exactly the way you used to be, but that doesn’t mean you’re not fine.” “No.” Aaron shook his head stubbornly. “I feel wrong. My body feels wrong. As though I’m not meant to be here.” “What does that mean?” Call asked, finally losing his temper. “Because it sounds like it means you want to die.” “I think it’s because I’m dead.” Aaron’s voice was indifferent, which made the words worse.

“Don’t say that!” Call shouted. “Shut up, Aaron —”

“Call —”

“I mean it, don’t say another word!”

Aaron’s mouth snapped shut. His eyes were steady on Call’s.

“Aaron?” Call asked uneasily.

But Aaron didn’t reply. He couldn’t reply, Call realized. Like a Chaos-ridden, he had obeyed Call completely.