Alex shook his head. “The Alkahest is gone. If he’s the one who got it, they’re not going to bother with prison. He’ll be dead as soon as they find him. That’s why I figured you ought to know. Warn him, before it’s too late.”

Call wondered how Alex knew this stuff and then remembered his stepmother was on the Assembly. So instead he asked, “Why are you helping me?”

“Because you helped me,” he said. “Gotta go.”

Call nodded and Alex slipped out.

If Alastair were murdered by the mages, it would be Call’s fault. He had to do something, but the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that there was no safe way to get Alastair a message. Master Rufus would be watching for that — would use it to catch Alastair if he could. But if Call could find his dad in time, maybe he could warn him in person.

Thinking of Alastair made Call remember the room in the basement, set up for a ritual, and the small, boy-size cot in the corner. It made Call remember how Havoc had whined and the sound his father’s head had made when it hit the wall.

If he found his father and his father had the Alkahest, what would Alastair do with it?

Call knew he had to focus. Call knew his dad better than anyone. He should be able to guess where Alastair was hiding. It would be a place that was out of the way, one he knew really well. A place the mages wouldn’t think to look. One that wasn’t easily traceable back to him.

Call sat up straight.

Alastair bought a lot of broken-down antique cars to strip for parts — way too many to store in the garage of the house or in his shop, so he’d rented the dilapidated barn of an elderly lady about forty miles from where they lived … and paid her in cash. That barn would be a perfect hideout — Alastair had even slept there sometimes, when he was working late into the night.

Call slid off the couch, causing Havoc to tumble to the ground with an annoyed grunt. He reached down to stroke the wolf’s head. “Don’t worry, boy,” he said. “You’re coming with me.”

He headed into his bedroom and pulled his canvas duffel out from under the bed. He stuffed it quickly with clothes, tossed Miri in, and, after a moment of thought, returned to the main room to add what was left of the Ruffles chips. He’d need to have something to eat on the road.

He was just swinging the bag over his shoulder when the door opened again and Tamara and Aaron came in. Aaron was carrying a pile of books, his and Tamara’s, and she was laughing at something he’d said. For a moment, before they saw Call, they looked carefree and happy, and he felt his stomach tighten. They didn’t need him, not as a friend, not as a part of their apprentice group, not as anything but a cause of strife and argument.

Tamara caught sight of him first, and the smile slid off her face. “Call.”

Aaron shut the door behind them and set down their books. When he straightened up, he was staring at the boots on Call’s feet and the duffel in his hand.

“Where are you going?” Aaron asked.

“I was going to walk Havoc,” Call said, indicating the wolf, who was darting merrily between them.

“And you needed to pack for a week?” Tamara pointed at his duffel. “What’s going on, Call?”

“Nothing. Look, you don’t need to — you don’t need to know about this. That way, when Master Rufus asks you what happened to me, you don’t have to lie.”

Tamara shook her head. “No way. We’re a group. We tell each other things.”

“Why? So you can tell all our secrets?” Call asked, seeing Tamara flinch. He knew he was being a jerk, but he was unable to stop. “Again?”

“That depends on what you’re doing.” Aaron’s jaw was set the way Call rarely saw it. Usually Aaron was so forgiving, so immensely nice, that Call often forgot that underneath, there was the steel that made him the Makar. “Because if it’s something that’s gonna put you in danger, then I’ll tell the Masters myself. And you can be mad at me instead of her.”

Call swallowed. Aaron and Tamara faced him, blocking the door. “They’re going to kill my dad,” he said.

Aaron’s eyebrows went up. “What?”

“Someone — and I can’t tell you who, you’re just going to have to trust me — said that the Alkahest is missing. And since my dad went on the run, they’re not going to put him in prison or give him a trial —”

“The Alkahest is gone?” Tamara echoed. “Your dad really stole it?”

“There’s a mage prison?” Aaron asked, wide-eyed.

“Sort of. There’s the Panopticon,” Tamara said grimly. “I don’t know that much about it, but it’s a place where you’re always watched. You’re never alone. If your dad really did —”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Call. “They’re going to kill him.”

“How do you know that?” Tamara asked.

Call looked at her for a long moment. “A friend — a real friend — told me what he heard.”

She blanched. “So what are you going to do?”

“I have to find him and get the Alkahest back before that happens.” Call hitched his duffel higher on his shoulder. “If I return it to the Collegium, I can convince the mages that my dad’s no threat to them — or to you. I swear, Aaron, my dad wouldn’t hurt you. I swear he wouldn’t.”

Aaron rubbed a hand over his face. “We don’t want your dad to get hurt, either.”

“Die, not get hurt,” Call insisted. “If I don’t find him, he’s going to be killed.”

“I’m coming with you,” Tamara said. “I can pack in ten minutes.”

I don’t want you to come. Call didn’t say it. He wasn’t even sure it was true. He was sure he was still angry, though. He shook his head. “Why would you want to do that?”

“This is my fault. You’re right. But I can help you evade the mages while you look for your dad, and I can help you convince the Collegium to take back the Alkahest and stop hunting him. My parents are on the Assembly.” She took a step toward her room. “Just give me ten minutes.”

“You guys don’t really think that I’m going to stay here while you both go on a mission, do you?” Aaron said. “Last time, you both saved me. Now I get to help with the saving part.”

“You definitely can’t come,” Call said. “You’re the Makar. You’re too valuable to be running around looking for my dad, especially since everyone’s worried he’s going to hurt you.”

“I’m the Makar,” Aaron said, and Call thought he heard the shadow of all the things Aaron had overheard that summer in his words. “I’m the Makar and it’s my job to protect people, not the other way around.”

Call sighed and sat down on the couch. He pictured the long journey ahead of him, buses and walking and loneliness with no one but Havoc to keep him company. Nothing to distract from the voice in his head that said: Your father is going to die. Your father might want you dead. Then he thought about having Aaron and Tamara with him, Aaron’s steady presence, Tamara’s funny remarks, and felt reluctantly lighter. “Fine,” he said in a rough voice. He didn’t want to let on how relieved he was. “Just don’t take too long. If we’re going to go, we have to get out of here. Now. Before someone notices.”