Call tried to look sullen, but his guts were churning. Here was his chance to help the Assembly. But help them how?

He took a deep breath. He needed to give them an idea of the forces they were going to be up against. A rough head count of elementals and Chaos-ridden and mages. They were going to want that. And they’d want to know that Master Joseph was dead.

“Don’t come back,” Aaron whispered to him.

Call shook his head. “And leave you here? No.”

Aaron said nothing more. He didn’t insist, didn’t explain.

“I heard that,” Alex said. He looked like a dark bird of prey, wrapped in black, glaring with hooded eyes at the mages of the Assembly. “I will be watching to see if you run to them, Call. If you try to turn traitor. And if you do, then I will command every one of the Chaos-ridden to attack and not stop until they kill you.”

Kimiya gave a little gasp. Call turned to see that a fiery line was spreading from the line of the Assembly mages across the empty grass, toward Alex’s forces.

The grass didn’t burn — the fire seemed to sail over it, expanding as it flew. Alex narrowed his eyes. “They’re coming for us,” he said. “Call, help me order the Chaos-ridden —”

“No.” Kimiya put her hand on Alex’s wrist. “It’s Ravan.”

“She’s attacking!” Alex’s voice rose to a screech, but Ravan had already reached them. She had become a column of blaze and fire, rising from the grass, gray smoke streaked with orange lines of flame.

The smoke coalesced. It became more and more solid, until a gray girl stood in front of them. She was solid and real-seeming. The folds of a gray smoke dress blew around her. Her hair was long, and had once been black. Now it gleamed dusty silver. Her face reminded Call of Tamara, and he felt a twisting deep inside.

Three of the mages sent up an icy shield between her and Alex’s forces but she only laughed.

“I will escort Callum Hunt to the site of parlay,” she said. “I am peaceable now, but if you strike me I will burn the earth for a mile around.”

Could she really do that? Call wondered. How bad was this magical battle going to get?

“Monster,” said Kimiya in a revolted voice.

Ravan gave a little, tilted smile. “Sister,” she said to Kimiya, and reached out a hand to gesture Call to walk in front of her. “Callum. We must hurry.”

Call gave Aaron a look that said that he would come back, before he walked around the ice shield and followed Tamara’s sister across the grass.

Everything was eerily quiet. There was hardly even any wind as they moved across the grass, allowing Ravan to keep her human shape. As they grew closer to the other side, Call saw that three figures were waiting for him. Master Rufus’s dark skin stood out in contrast to his dark olive Assembly robes. Beside him was Tamara, in her school uniform, her hair very black against the white. And next to Tamara was Jasper. His face was blank and angry as he watched Call approach.

As Call reached them, Ravan began to scatter. Ash flowed away from her in waves. For a moment, as she dissolved, she looked at Call. Her eyes were orange, full of flames.

“Don’t hurt my sister,” she whispered. “She cares for you.”

And then she was gone.

Call came to a stop in front of them — his friend, his once-girlfriend, and his former teacher. None of them spoke.

“Call —” Tamara started.

“I don’t have a lot of time,” Call interrupted her. He didn’t think he could bear to hear what she had to say. He started talking fast, not looking at any of them directly. He began to outline what Alex’s army consisted of and what had happened to Master Joseph. As he spoke, one of the Assembly members — Graves — broke free of the others and strode over to them. He’d never been a big fan of Call’s, and Call tried to ignore that he was there.

As Call wound down, Master Rufus’s expression changed from neutral to concerned.

“Callum,” he interrupted, finally. “You’re telling me that Master Joseph is dead? And that Alex Strike and Anastasia Tarquin are leading the troops?”

Call nodded. “Mostly Alex, though. Look, I surrender! I surrender! This was all a huge mistake. Just promise that nothing is going to happen to Aaron and I’ll do whatever you want.”

At his name, all of their expressions darkened. Graves pointed a skinny finger at him. “Callum Hunt, what you have done may have created a rift in the mage world that can never heal. The dead are not meant to return. Aaron must be destroyed, for the sake of his soul, if for no other reason.”

“Is that what you think?” Call turned to Tamara.

Her eyes were shimmering as if she was holding back tears, but her voice was firm. “I think you brought back part of Aaron but not all of him,” Tamara told him. “I don’t think he would want to live like this.”

But what if I’m starting to understand what I did wrong? he wanted to ask her, but he already knew the answer. It was too late. What if I can still fix it? Fix him?

Call wasn’t sure that was possible. It was just the germ of a thought in the back of his mind. Something about Aaron’s body, a body that had been dead — his own body had been living when Constantine had pushed his soul into it —

But what he was thinking about might be something that could never be done.

Should never be done.

“Let it be Aaron’s choice,” Call said, looking at his shoes.

“As if he can make choices,” Graves snorted. “Can he even talk?”

Tamara reddened. Call glared at Graves. “Yes, he can choose to do things. He’s the one who killed Master Joseph, and he did it all on his own.”

Tamara caught her breath. “Aaron killed Master Joseph?”

“Yes,” Call said. “And he should be allowed to decide if he lives or dies and where he goes! I brought him back. I owe him that.”

“It hardly matters,” said Graves, though he looked shaken. “You cannot come back to the Magisterium.”

“Then send me back to the Panopticon,” said Call. “Put me in prison. Just not him.”

“You can’t come back to us, Callum,” Rufus said gently, but Graves interrupted him:

“We didn’t parlay with you to offer you and your monster help. We asked to speak with you because your family and friends believe you can be persuaded to do the right thing.” He looked around as if he couldn’t believe how stupid Call’s friends were.

“The right thing?” Call echoed, not at all sure what they were suggesting. The only thing he was sure of was that he wasn’t going to like it.

Graves went on. “We have gone to war against the forces of the Enemy before. And yes, perhaps Alex is much diminished, but his forces aren’t. He is a Makar and there is no Makar fighting on our side anymore.”

Call opened his mouth, but Jasper shook his head, and for once, Call shut it. He wished that his father had been allowed to come to this parlay. He imagined that Alastair must have argued for it, but he understood why they hadn’t let him come. Alastair would cut to the chase and tell him what was really happening.

“We have had more traitors and defectors than we supposed. There’s only one way to end this for good. You must use your chaos magic to destroy Alex Strike — and yourself.”