“It doesn’t matter where I am. What matters is that you children are all in a great deal of trouble,” Master Rufus said. “An enormous amount of trouble and also a great deal of danger. Callum Hunt, you are already on thin ice. Aaron Stewart, you are a Makar and you have responsibilities — responsibilities that include behaving responsibly. And you, Tamara Rajavi, of the three of you, I expected you to know better.”
“Master Rufus,” Jasper began, in his sweetest tattletale voice, “I’ll have you know that I never —”
“As for you, Jasper deWinter,” Master Rufus said, cutting him off. “Maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you really are more interesting than I originally imagined. But the four of you must return to the Magisterium immediately.”
Jasper looked horrified, probably for several reasons.
“Are you back at the Magisterium?” Call asked.
Master Rufus appeared highly peeved by that question. “Indeed I am, Callum. After spending most of yesterday and all of today fruitlessly searching for you children, one of you must have lost your protection against scrying. I see that you’re in some kind of vehicle. Pull over, tell me where you are, and some mages will be along to get you shortly.”
“I don’t think we can do that,” Callum said, heart pounding.
“And why not?” Master Rufus’s eyebrows twitched with barely contained annoyance.
Call hesitated.
“Because we’re on a mission,” Tamara said quickly. “We’re going to recover the Alkahest.”
“I’m the Makar,” Aaron said. “I’m supposed to save people. They’re not supposed to save me — they resent having to save me. And I’ve been told plenty that I can’t succeed doing stuff alone, so Call is here to be my counterweight. Tamara is here because she’s clever and crafty. And Jasper is …”
“Comic relief?” Call ventured under his breath.
“I’m your friend, too, you idiot!” Jasper burst out. “I can be clever!”
“Anyway,” Aaron said, trying to recover the situation. “We’re a team and we’re getting the Alkahest back, so please don’t send any other elementals after us.”
“Send any other elementals after you?” Master Rufus sounded genuinely confused. “What on earth do you mean?”
“You know what I mean,” Aaron said in that flat voice he used when he was angry and trying not to show it. “We all know. Automotones nearly killed us, and he came from the Magisterium. You released him to hunt us down.”
Now Master Rufus looked shocked. “There must be a mistake. Automotones is here, our prisoner; he has been for hundreds of years.”
“It’s not a mistake,” Tamara said. “Maybe the other mages didn’t tell you, because we’re your apprentices. But it absolutely happened. Automotones murdered a woman, too. Burned her house down.”
Tamara’s voice shook.
“These are lies,” Master Rufus said.
“We’re not lying,” Aaron told him. “But I guess that means you trust us about as much as we trust you.”
“Then you’re being lied to,” said Master Rufus. “I don’t know — I don’t understand yet — but you must come back to the Magisterium. It’s more important now than ever. This is the only place where I can protect you.”
“We’re not coming back.” Surprisingly, Jasper was speaking. He turned to Call. “Hang up the phone.”
Call stared at ghostly Rufus. “I, uh, don’t know how.”
“Earth!” Tamara yelped. “Earth is the opposite of air!”