“The wolf will be fine,” Alma said.
“Okay,” Aaron said after a long moment. “I’ll promise to come back, but you can’t keep Havoc. You don’t need collateral. You have my word.”
“We trust you, Makar, but not that much. Quickly, children. Decide. We can hide you or we can turn you over to the mages. But you must know they’ll trade Havoc to us in exchange for the four of you.”
Call didn’t doubt that — not at this point. “Fine. Same deal as before. But no experiments on him.”
Alma looked well satisfied. “Good. Agreed. All of you, follow me.” She led them out the back door of the cottage. They hustled across the green space between the buildings.
Call felt horribly exposed. He could see shadows moving through the trees circling the clearing and hear raised voices. The Masters, shouting their names. Hurrying after Tamara, he saw she had one hand clasped around Jasper’s wrist, keeping him from running in the opposite direction. Call thought he heard Master Rufus’s voice. He grabbed Havoc’s collar and pulled him along faster. The wolf looked up at him as though he suspected something bad was about to happen.
If they ran into the woods, they’d be caught. Their only choice was to follow Alma — who was totally scary, who had once worked with Constantine Madden and Master Joseph, who wanted to experiment on Havoc, who probably qualified to have a pretty long Evil Overlord list of her own — and hope that she’d make good on her promise to hide them.
With a sigh, Call kept on going. Alma took a key ring with several keys out of a pocket of her saffron dress and unlocked the door to the central building.
Immediately, they were startled by the sounds of barking and keening and crying. The building they went into was lined on all sides with cages of various sizes, and in them were Chaos-ridden animals. From brown bears with wild swirling eyes to gray foxes to a single bobcat that roared as Call came into the room.
“This is the worst zoo ever,” Jasper said.
Tamara’s hand came up to cover her mouth. “So this is where you keep them.”
Alma guided Call over to one of the cages. “Get your wolf inside. Quickly. I need to get you settled and then go deal with the mages.”
“How do we know you’re as good as your word?” asked Aaron, apparently pushed beyond the fear of offending.
“Makar, look at the creatures we have here,” she said. “They were dangerous to obtain. They are dangerous to keep. But you are more dangerous than any of them. We wouldn’t cross you lightly. We need your help.”
Outside, voices got louder. Master Lemuel was arguing with another mage.
Taking a deep breath, Call put Havoc in the cage and let Alma lock it. She took the key and tucked it into her pocket, then led them to another room. It was windowless and full of boxes.
“Stay in here until I come back for you. It won’t be long,” said Alma before she shut the door. They heard the lock turn and then her footsteps receding.
Tamara whirled on Call and Aaron. “How could you agree to letting them take Havoc? He’s our wolf!”
“He’s my wolf,” Call pointed out.
“Not anymore,” Jasper said, examining his fingernails.
“And you,” Tamara said to Aaron. “Agreeing to some stupid deal. Both of you are idiots.”
Call threw up his hands. “What else were we supposed to do? We needed them to hide us — and now they have. If we break out — and get Havoc out, too — while they’re talking to the Masters, we can sneak away without anyone knowing. And then Aaron doesn’t have to come back.”
Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but Call cut him off. “Don’t say anything about keeping your promise. That wasn’t a real promise.”