“He wasn’t hot, he was evil,” said Tamara.
“Evil, yeah. Everybody knows that, too,” said Gwenda. She waved across the room. “Kai! Rafe! Over here!”
Kai and Rafe were standing over by a huge soup tureen. They looked at each other and shrugged before moving to join the table. They both nodded at Call before digging into their food.
“Jasper and Celia are back together again,” Gwenda said, gesturing with her fork. Call followed her gaze and saw that Jasper and Celia had indeed taken their trays to a table by themselves and had their lips fused together like two snorklers. Jasper had his hands in Celia’s blond hair.
“After the whole battle at Master Joseph’s, Celia decided Jasper was a hero,” said Rafe. “Instalove.”
“Instabacktolove,” corrected Gwenda. “Since she dumped him before that.”
Soon they were all chatting about who at school had broken up or gotten together, who the new Masters were, and what movies were showing in the Gallery. Aaron stayed quiet in Call’s mind, listening. It felt normal — so normal that Call started to relax.
Just then Celia pulled away from Jasper and caught Call’s eye. Her look was icy. Jasper tried to draw her back, but she was on her feet, stalking over to Call’s table.
“You,” she snapped, pointing at him. The whole room fell silent, as if they’d been waiting for this. “You’re the Enemy of Death, you liar.”
Tamara bolted to her feet. “Celia, you don’t understand —”
“I do understand. I understand everything! He lied to all of us! Constantine Madden was sneaky and evil, and now Call has snuck back into the Magisterium and Aaron Stewart is dead because of him!”
It’s not because of you, Aaron thought quietly. Don’t listen.
But Call couldn’t avoid listening.
“Celia,” Jasper said, coming up behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders. “Celia, come on. He’s more like the Frenemy of Death.”
But she shook him off.
“I have family who would still be alive today if it wasn’t for you,” Celia said. “Constantine Madden killed them. And that means you killed them, just like you killed Aaron.”
“I didn’t kill Aaron,” Call managed to say. His whole face felt hot and his heart was speeding. Everyone in the whole Refectory was looking at them.
“You might as well have!” Celia said. “The Enemy of Death’s Chaos-ridden and his minions were all looking for you. They were fixated on you. You’re the only reason any of them were at the Magisterium.”
Miserably, Call couldn’t think of anything to say to that.
It’s not your fault, Aaron said, but Aaron was wrong.
“I’m sorry,” Call finally replied. “I don’t remember being anyone but Call, but I would do anything to have Aaron back. I would do anything for him to have not died in the first place.”
Celia looked as though the wind had gone out of her sails. She looked around at the people sitting at Call’s table, at Tamara. Celia’s eyes got a strange shine, like maybe she was blinking back tears.
“You’re trying to make me look bad, like I’m the mean one,” Celia said.
“Remember how you spread rumors about Aaron?” Tamara asked. “You’re not perfect, Celia.”
Celia’s neck flushed a painful red. “Call is the Enemy of Death. He’s a megalomaniacal monster, but I guess because he doesn’t gossip, it’s okay.”
“Call is a good person,” Tamara said. “He’s a hero. Because of him, the Enemy’s minions are disbanded. Master Joseph is dead.”
That one was me, Aaron said, which almost made Call snort with surprised laughter. If he had, the whole Magisterium might have decided Celia was right about him.
“It’s a trick,” Celia said. “I know it’s a trick, even if you’re all too stupid to see it.” With that, she turned on her heel and stomped out of the Refectory.
“We’re, uh, still working stuff out,” Jasper said, hurrying after her.
Call stood up, not wanting to be there anymore either. Everyone was staring at him and he just wanted to go to classes and be alone with Tamara and Master Rufus. He couldn’t keep on pretending everything was normal.
An announcement came echoing through the room: “All apprentices should make their way to the main entrance hall. Classes will be canceled for the first half of the day for a general assembly.”
With a sinking feeling, Call was sure that this had something to do with him.
STANDING IN THE great entry hall, Call remembered being there for the first time, listening to Master Rufus speak, his heart beating as hard then as it was beating now. He remembered marveling at the glittering mica floor, the flowstone walls, the enormous stalagmites and hanging stalactites, the bright glowing blue river snaking through the room, making you have to be careful where you stood, even though the place was enormous.
Back then he’d been worried about eyeless fish and getting lost in the tunnels. Now, those worries seemed to belong to a different person.
Tamara took his hand and squeezed it, surprising him.
Did that mean she still liked him? Did that mean they might get back together after all? Jasper had gotten back together with Celia and he was a pill, so maybe Call had a chance.
Celia is also a pill, Aaron said, which was mean for Aaron. She shouldn’t have said that stuff to you.
“I thought you liked Celia,” Call said, and Tamara looked at him in surprise. He’d spoken quietly, but not quietly enough.
“I do,” she said. “I did. But when she says those things to you — I mean, she’s insulting all of us. I know she thinks we’re brainwashed minions.” She flushed with anger. “Celia can go eat an eyeless fish.”
More and more students were crowding into the entry hall. Call was forced to move slightly closer to Tamara, which was fine with him. “What happened to reaching out to people with understanding?”
“I took a break from it,” said Tamara. “Look, Celia might come around, she’s just very —”
A sound like a massive metal gong being struck rang through the room. Metal magic — Call felt Miri, strapped to his hip, vibrate in tune. There was the rush of air being displaced and suddenly Master Rufus was hovering above them all, looking down. Beside him were some other mages, familiar teachers and unfamiliar ones. Master North loomed to one side, with Master Rockmaple and Master Milagros on the other.
Call hadn’t seen Master Rufus since the battlefield. A shudder went up his spine at the memory. He had been so close to dying. And even closer to losing everything that mattered to him.
“Students,” Master Rufus boomed, his voice amplified by air magic. “We have called you here because we know that rumors and anxiety are running rampant among you. This is indeed a time of great instability in the magical world. Master Joseph, a minion of the Enemy of Death, tried to destroy the mage world in the name of Constantine Madden. But he was defeated.” The word boomed out defiantly. “We have all known people who went over to the side of the Enemy out of selfishness and out of fear.”
There was a murmur. Call realized quite a few people were looking at Jasper and flashed suddenly to an almost-buried memory of an Assembly guard dragging Jasper’s father away from the battlefield with his hands bound.