The Copper Gauntlet Read online

  When Call woke, it was because there were arms around him and he was moving. Being carried, he realized, over the rocks outside the Magisterium. He cracked an eye and looked around.

  Morning light stung his eyes. He guessed it was probably around breakfast time. Master North and Master Rockmaple were behind him, watching from their places astride massive air elementals. They looked dour and stern. Havoc, Tamara, Aaron, and Jasper were following Master Rufus down a path to a gate set into the wall of the Magisterium. Alastair was following them, and he was carrying Call the way he hadn’t since Call was very young, with Call’s head against his shoulder.

  The backpack. Call grabbed for it, and realized his dad was carrying that, too, slung over one shoulder. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Do you want me to put you down?” asked Alastair in a low voice.

  Call didn’t say anything. Part of him wanted to be set down on his own imperfect feet. Another part thought this was probably the last time his dad would ever carry him.

  The stones had given way to a grassy patch beside the Magisterium. They were in front of two doors that had been hammered out of copper. The hammering had been done in a way that left swirls and coils in the metal that looked like flames.

  Above the door were the words: HE WHO LOVES NOTHING UNDERSTANDS NOTHING.

  Call took a deep breath. “Yeah,” he said.

  His dad set him down on his feet and the usual pain shot up his leg. Alastair handed him his backpack and Call slung it over one shoulder.

  “I’ve never seen this door before,” Tamara said.

  “This is the Assembly entrance to the Magisterium,” said Master Rufus. “It never crossed my mind that any of you would have occasion to use it.”

  Over the time he’d been at the Magisterium, Call had cycled through many feelings about it. He’d started out being afraid, then it had come to seem like home, then it had been a refuge from his father, and now, again, it was a place he wasn’t sure he could trust.

  Maybe Alastair had been right after all. Right about everything.

  Master Rufus tapped his wristband against the doors, and they opened. The corridor inside didn’t look like any of the other Magisterium corridors, with the usual rock walls and packed dirt floors. This corridor was made of polished copper, and each few steps along the way took Call past a symbol for an element — air and metal, fire and water, earth and chaos — with words in Latin running underneath.

  Rufus reached a point on the wall that looked exactly like every other point along the wall. He tapped his bracelet again, and this time a door-size piece of metal slid back to expose a room beyond. It was a bare room made of rock, with a long stone bench that ran around the walls.

  “You’ll wait in here,” he said. “Master North and Master Rockmaple will return shortly to escort you to the meeting room. The Assembly is gathering now to determine what to do with you.”

  Tamara gulped. Her parents were Assembly members. Jasper looked terrified, and even Aaron seemed uneasy.

  “I’ll take Havoc,” said Rufus, and held up a hand before Call could protest. “He’ll be perfectly safe in your rooms, which is more than I can say if he’s brought with us. The Assembly is not overfond of Chaos-ridden animals.”

  He snapped his fingers and Havoc trotted over to his side. Call gave Havoc a dark look of betrayal.

  “Alastair,” said Rufus. “Come here for a moment.”

  Alastair appeared surprised, then approached Rufus. The two men looked at each other. Rufus’s change in expression was subtle, but Call thought he could note in the Master’s face that the Alastair he saw was very different from the man Call saw when he looked at his dad. It seemed like he was seeing a boy, maybe Call’s age, with dark hair and mischief in his eyes.

  “Welcome back to the Magisterium, Alastair Hunt,” Rufus said. “This place has missed you.”

  When Alastair looked back at Master Rufus, there was no anger in his expression. He only looked drained, which made Call’s stomach clench. “I haven’t missed it,” he said. “Look, this whole situation is my fault. Let the kids go back to their rooms and bring me in front of the Assembly. I don’t care what they do.”

  “Good plan,” said Jasper, rising to his feet.

  “Sit down, deWinter,” said Master Rufus. “You’re lucky Master Milagros isn’t here. She was thinking about having you all dangled over the Bottomless Pit.”

  “The what?” asked Call. Jasper sat down hastily, as Master Rufus leaned forward to say something to Alastair, something Call couldn’t hear. Master Rufus backed away with Havoc and tapped his wristband once more against the wall. The door slid shut, sealing them into the room.

  Call took a deep breath. He was glad he was going to speak in front of the Assembly. He needed to stay; he needed to explain before someone else explained on his behalf. He needed to show them what they wouldn’t otherwise believe.

  Looking over at Jasper, Call tried to guess what he might say to the Assembly. He would definitely bring up the kidnapping — so Call had to just talk first, to get out what he needed to before guards dragged him away. Jasper looked back at him with thoughtful dark eyes.

  “What are we going to say?” he said. “I mean, what’s your plan, about telling the Assembly?”

  “We tell them the truth,” said Call. “We tell them everything.”

  “Everything?” Aaron looked startled. Call felt his stomach tighten further. Had Aaron been prepared to lie for him?

  “Call’s right,” said Alastair. “Think about it practically. The worst thing we could do in there is contradict one another. Only if we tell the exact truth will we all be telling the same story.”

  “I don’t know why we’re listening to the advice of a wanted criminal,” Jasper muttered.

  “We’re all wanted criminals, Jasper,” Tamara snapped, and patted Call’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” she said.

  “Yeah, better comfort old evil pants over there,” Jasper said. “He’s fragile. His daddy princess-carried him in here.”

  “Oh, lay off,” Aaron said. “You get mean every time you’re nervous.”

  Call looked over at Jasper, surprised. Was that true? In Call’s experience, Jasper was unpleasant most of the time, but Call certainly knew what it was like to have a mouth that ran away from you. Call said lots of stuff before he thought better of it.

  He didn’t want to think he had anything in common with Jasper, especially something about Jasper he didn’t like.

  Constantine Madden was charming, Tamara had said.

  The door opened and Master North came in. “The Assembly will see you now,” he said.

  Be charming, Call told himself. If you’re Constantine, then make something useful out of it. Be charming.

  They all got to their feet and followed Master North down the copper corridor and through an archway into a massive circular room. Call had been there before but hid his start of recognition — he’d been sneaking around the Magisterium when he’d happened upon a mage meeting here. Now probably wasn’t the time to bring up the fact that he’d eavesdropped.

  Jewels decorated the cavern’s walls, formed into the shapes of constellations. The center of the room was dominated by a massive circular wooden table with a hollow core. It looked as though it was made from a slice of tree trunk, but the tree would have to have been enormous — bigger than the biggest redwood. Call couldn’t help wanting to run his fingers over the surface of it.

  Around one side of it sat Assembly members in their olive green suits, alternating with the mages of the Magisterium in black. They looked like a set of chess pieces.

  Master North gestured with his hand, and a section of the table lifted away like a slice of cake being cut out. He gestured for Call and the others to walk through the gap in the circle. After a moment’s hesitation, Alastair went first and the kids followed him. The moment the last of them — Jasper — was inside the circle formed by the table, the section that had been lifted away slammed back
into place. Call and his friends were trapped inside the circle of the table, completely surrounded by the Assembly.

  Call looked around at the adults’ smug faces. Well, maybe they didn’t all look smug. Master Rufus, Master North, Master Rockmaple, and Master Milagros looked tense, and Tamara’s parents seemed worried. Other than the teachers and the Rajavis, the only Assembly member Call recognized was Alex’s stepmother, Mrs. Tarquin. She sat looking regal as a queen, her silver hair piled on top of her head. No one introduced themselves.

  “Where to even begin,” said an elderly man in an Assembly uniform. “Never since Constantine Madden have we had such a disruption, such a blow to the Magisterium and all that it stands for, as we have had this past week.”

  “Hurting the Magisterium was never our intention,” said Tamara.

  “Really?” The old man leaped on her statement like a cat on a mouse. “Do you know how demoralizing it is to the other apprentices to hear that our Makar has run away from the Magisterium? Did that occur to you, Aaron Stewart?”

  “I didn’t run away, Assemblyman Graves,” Aaron said, standing up straight. He was still wearing the outfit he’d gotten from the thrift shop, though it was covered in dirt and blood now. He was a thirteen-year-old kid and his stupid haircut had grown out some, but when he spoke, everyone looked at him. Call could see the expressions of the Assembly members softening. They wanted to listen to Aaron. That was what Constantine had possessed; that was what Tamara meant when she said charming. “This summer, I talked to many members of this Assembly and many mages in the community. All of them stressed to me that I was the only weapon that would stop the Enemy. Well, it seems to me that I owe it to everyone to make sure I don’t hide away in the Magisterium when I’m needed.”

  There was a brief silence, and Graves cleared his throat. “Your enthusiasm is admirable, but if you really did think you were needed to take down Alastair Hunt, why did you not deal with him when you caught up to him? Why is he still with you?”

  A flame of anger lit in Call’s chest.

  “It’s not like that,” Tamara said. “You have to hear the whole story.”

  “Tamara Rajavi, we would have thought that after what happened to your sister, you would have better sense,” chided Master North. Tamara’s face crumpled. The flame in Call’s chest burned hotter.

  “And you, Callum Hunt,” said Master North. “We allowed you into the Magisterium even though your scores were pitiful, and this is how you repay us? Consider your application to be the Makar’s counterweight dismissed, and count yourself lucky if that’s all that happens to you.”

  Master Rufus’s hands were clenched. Call felt as if he were choking down boiling water.

  “You don’t have the right to punish any of us,” Jasper said, eyes blazing. “You sent an elemental to kill us!”

  “Jasper!” Master Milagros looked horrified. “Do you understand where you are, what this is? Lying is not going to help you.”

  “He’s not lying,” Call said. “And we know the Magisterium doesn’t care about the truth. What happened to Master Lemuel? He didn’t really hurt Drew, so why wasn’t he allowed to come back? Why does he have to squat with some animal-experimenting weirdos in the woods?”

  Master Rufus sighed. “He chose not to come back, Call.”

  Call bit his tongue.

  “Lying certainly won’t help your parents’ bid to get back on the Assembly,” Mrs. Rajavi said to Jasper in a low voice, then turned to Alastair. “And where is the Alkahest?” she demanded. “Why don’t I see it on the table?”

  “Master Joseph has it,” Alastair said flatly. Call winced. If he wasn’t particularly charming, he knew who to blame for not teaching him better.

  “Master Joseph?” Mrs. Tarquin spoke coolly. “The Enemy of Death’s second-in-command? The one who first led him down the path of evil?”

  Graves rose to his feet. “You children let this traitor deliver the Alkahest to the Enemy? We should lock up Alastair and lock up all of you with him —”

  “The Enemy of Death doesn’t have the Alkahest,” said Call. “He doesn’t have anything. No thanks to all of you.”

  Graves narrowed his eyes. “How do you know so much about what the Enemy has and doesn’t have?”

  “Callum,” Alastair cautioned.

  But Call wasn’t going to stop. He’d prepared for this moment. He reached into his backpack and gripped a handful of hair. Choking back rage and nausea, he pulled Constantine Madden’s severed head out of his backpack.

  He slammed the head down on the table in front of Master Graves. There was no blood; the wound in Constantine’s neck looked cauterized where Call had sliced it with Miri. The Enemy’s face was smeared with ash, but it was still very recognizably Constantine Madden.

  “Because my dad killed him,” Call said. “He used the Alkahest.”

  The Assembly was entirely silent. Mrs. Tarquin made a choked noise and turned her face away. Master Rufus looked uncharacteristically shocked. Assemblyman Graves looked as though he was about to have a heart attack, and the Rajavis were both staring at Tamara as though they’d never seen her before.

  Into the silence, Aaron spoke, his voice higher, cracking a little. “You cut off his head?”

  Call supposed it wasn’t exactly charming. The head was faced toward the Assembly members and they were staring at it with a mixture of horror and trepidation, as though they were expecting it to speak. Call noticed that an orange Life Saver and a piece of fuzz were stuck to the Enemy’s cheek, but he didn’t want to draw more attention to them by reaching over and flicking either off.

  “I thought that maybe we’d need proof,” Call said.

  “I touched that backpack!” Tamara said. “That is the grossest thing I have ever —”

  Alastair began to laugh, and once he started, he couldn’t seem to stop. Tears rolled over his cheeks. He wiped his eyes and sagged against the table with the force of hilarity. He tried to talk, but he wasn’t even able to get out words.

  Call hoped that the sight of Constantine Madden’s head hadn’t permanently unhinged anyone, least of all his dad. Lots of people in the room looked a little bit unhinged.

  “Callum,” said Master Rufus, recovering himself first. “How did Alastair come to slay the Enemy of Death?”

  “He tricked Master Joseph into bringing him to where Constantine was,” Call said, careful not to lie. “Then he used the Alkahest on the Enemy. After that, Constantine was dead.” Call didn’t mention he’d also been dead before that. “There were a bunch of Chaos-ridden around. We helped fight them off, but when we did, the tomb was destroyed.”

  “And the Alkahest was lost?” Master Milagros asked.

  Call nodded. He was pretty sure the Assembly was supposed to be asking more questions, but they looked too shell-shocked to interrupt. “We think Master Joseph escaped with it as the place was falling apart.”

  At least Alastair’s laughter had finally trailed off.

  “What happened to the Enemy’s body?” asked Master North.

  “It disappeared with the rest of the tomb. Chaos, uh, devoured it.”

  Master Rufus nodded.

  “That’s not what happened,” Jasper said, shaking his head. “You’re leaving important stuff out.”

  Call felt his father tense, Alastair’s fingers digging into his shoulder. He could see Tamara had caught her breath and Aaron was looking daggers in Jasper’s direction.

  “And what is that?” asked Assemblyman Graves, looking as if he was reeling from innumerable shocks.

  “The reason the tomb was destroyed is because of Call,” Jasper said. Because Call is the Enemy of Death. Because Call is Constantine Madden reborn and just as Constantine destroyed the Magisterium, Call destroyed the tomb. Bind his magic; kill him. Call stared in frozen horror as Jasper went on. “Call used void magic to keep back the Chaos-ridden. It got kind of out of control, because it was the first time he’d ever used it.” Jasper gave them all a smug look, like he
knew how much they’d been panicking. “That’s right. Call is a Makar, like Aaron. Now we have two.”

  Call let out a sigh of relief. The Assembly members were staring at Jasper as if he’d grown a second head.

  Finally, for real, Jasper had surprised him.

  At that moment, Anastasia Tarquin rose to her feet. Her back was straight, her silver hair glimmering. She stared directly at Call as she spoke. “The Enemy is dead at last,” she said. “Thanks to you five” — her hand swept out, indicating Call, Alastair, Tamara, Jasper, and Aaron — “Verity Torres and the many lost in the Cold Massacre have finally been avenged.”

  Call thought of Verity’s head nailed to the door of the tomb and swallowed hard.

  Mrs. Tarquin’s words seemed to snap Assemblyman Graves out of his shock. “Anastasia is right,” he declared. “The Treaty is rendered null. The Alkahest must be retrieved, but for the moment, this is a time of celebration. The war,” he said, “is over.”

  The rest of the Assembly members began murmuring, smiles broadening across their faces. Master Milagros began to applaud, and it caught on wildfire-fast, the Assembly members and Masters rising to their feet to clap for them. Tamara looked surprised, Jasper smug, and Alastair relieved. Then Call looked over at Aaron. Aaron wasn’t grinning. He had an odd, conflicted expression on his face as though he was wondering, knowing what he knew about Call, if he was doing a terrible thing by hiding it.

  But maybe Aaron wasn’t thinking that. Maybe he was exhausted and not thinking about anything at all.

  AFTER THAT, THINGS happened quickly. Alastair was squired off by Master Rufus to sleep in a spare Master’s room. The kids were sent to their common rooms to bathe and rest, meaning that Call was a) separated from Jasper and b) reunited with Havoc, both of which he regarded as good things.

  No sooner had Call, Tamara, and Aaron spilled back into their common room to collapse in exhaustion on sofas and chairs than Alex Strike arrived, bearing food from the Refectory — wooden plates and bowls piled high with different sorts of mushrooms and lichen and tuberous puddings, from stuff that tasted like nachos to purple goop that Tamara thought resembled salted caramel to a mushroom that tasted exactly like a breaded chicken finger.