“H-helping Aaron,” Call stammered.

“You cannot meddle with what you have done!” Master Joseph shouted, spit flying from his lips. “Without a resurrection, we are nothing! The mages will overrun us and we will be destroyed. It is only with the power of eternal life that our army can swell to destroy the Assembly!”

On the table, Aaron sat up. He didn’t look intimidated by all the yelling. He just stared at Master Joseph impassively.

“Okay, okay,” Call said, holding up his hands, placating. Alex had backed far enough away from Master Joseph that he was standing against the wall, his face the color of candlewax. Call had never seen Alex like that before and it made him even more scared. “Don’t freak out. Everything’s fine.”

Master Joseph took a step toward Aaron and grabbed his neck, tilting his face and looking him over like an angry car owner trying to determine if his new Mercedes had a scratch on it.

“Callum seems to be determined to show me that he’s more trouble than he’s worth. From the beginning, he defied me. He mocked his role. He made light of the great honor bestowed on him. He threw my loyalty and my sacrifices back in my face, over and over again. Well, Callum, I think I’ve had enough of you ruining my plans.”

“Don’t take it personally,” Call said. “Lots of people find me really annoying. It’s not just you.”

“Call was trying to help me,” Aaron said, jerking back from Master Joseph’s grip. There was something almost terrifying in his expression.

“You don’t need help!” Master Joseph snapped, seizing him by the shoulder this time. “You shouldn’t be tampered with!”

“Get off me,” Aaron said, shoving Master Joseph’s hand away. “You don’t know what I need!”

Master Joseph snarled. “Be silent. You’re not a person. You’re a thing. A dead thing.”

Aaron’s arm shot out and he seized Master Joseph by the throat. It all happened fast — too fast for Call to react in any way but sucking in a sharp breath.

Master Joseph’s hand came up, as though he were going to conjure up fire, but Aaron caught his arm and twisted it behind his back. His other hand tightened on Master Joseph’s throat. Master Joseph thrashed, gasping for air, his gaze going unfocused.

“Don’t!” Call shouted, finally realizing what Aaron meant to do. “Aaron, no!”

But Call had commanded Aaron never to obey him, and Aaron didn’t. His fingers dug deeper into Master Joseph’s throat and there was a popping, snapping sound, like the sound twigs made when you stepped on them.

The light went out of Master Joseph’s eyes.

Call gasped, staring at Aaron, unwilling to believe that his friend had done this, his closest friend, who’d always also been the best person he knew. For the first time, Call was afraid — not for Aaron, but of him.

Alex was making a weird noise that turned out to be the word no said again and again, over and over.

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?