Alex took that in. He thought again of the little plinth in the catacombs, where only the Head was allowed, and the unnatural extra eye carved into the skull that lay upon it. He swallowed.
Lintz, seemingly of the opinion that Alex was disturbed by the magic itself, nodded. “Grotesque, is it not?” he said.
Alex tried to organize his racing thoughts. “So when you say necromancy is the cousin of anima,” he said, “do you mean that you steal a person’s life magic, then use that essence to form a homunculus?”
Lintz blinked. “You…are marvelously well-informed,” he said, eyes narrowing.
Too far, a little voice in Alex’s mind cautioned. “Just something I overhead,” he said quickly. He glanced at the clock on the wall, then pretended to be surprised.
“Is it already three?” he said. “I told someone I would meet them.”
Lintz’s eyes remained narrowed, but he only took another sip of his drink before folding his hands over his large belly. “Be on your way, then. And leave this necromancy nonsense alone.”
“Yes, sir. Of course.”
Alex rose from his seat, but hadn’t gone two steps before Lintz called after him.
“Webber.”
Alex turned back, a politely inquisitive expression on his face.
“Sir?”
For a moment, Lintz seemed unsure of himself. He chewed at his lip, one eyebrow twitching. Then he spoke.
“Do not speak to Professor Derhin of this.”
Alex blinked. He had been meaning to talk to Derhin the next day. “Why not, sir?”
Again, it took a moment for Lintz to reply. “It’s not that he’s a bad man,” he said carefully. “He’s a good man. Great, even. I am happy to call him a friend, it’s just…” He trailed off, his words jumbling together.
The sky outside flickered, and then turned suddenly gray. Rain began to slash the window, filling the air with a hard pattering sound.
“He has had to do things to get where he is,” Lintz said, and there was a strange look on his face. Alex noticed the way his lips tightened, the way the veins on his neck seemed to bulge. Before he could speak, Lintz continued. “Things that, frankly, I wish he hadn’t done. He did them for me, some of the time, but all the same, I…well. Take me at my word and do not speak to him of this. Nothing good will come of it.”
Alex licked his lips, nodded once, then turned away and stepped out into the hallway beyond. Students walked along it, some laughing with their friends, some with their noses in books. Alex recognized the strange expression on Lintz’s face. It had been similar to Aamir’s.
Fear.
Alex was sitting in the library, watching the rain sweeping the grounds, when Natalie finally found him. She sat down opposite him, and it wasn’t until he looked up that he noticed the sleek gleam of her hair, her darkly lined eyelids, and the vivacious shine of her cheeks.
“What…?” he began, staring at her. She looked like she was made of plastic, or porcelain. More like a doll than a person. It was unsettling. “What happened to you?”
She burst into angry tears, covering her face.
“Esmerelda tried to teach me beauty magic,” she wailed. “Don’t look at me! It is not my face!”
“But why on earth would she do that?” he asked, bewildered.
“I asked her about necromancy. But she thought I was trying to learn something daunting, to impress a boy. And then she did this to me!”
Alex frowned. “That seems like a strange thing to do, change your face so much. Makeup is one thing, but this…I mean, I thought you looked pretty before.”
She glanced at him through her fingers, then lowered her hands.
“Really?” she asked, the natural sparkle in her eye visible through the glamor.
“Yeah,” he said, feeling suddenly embarrassed but glad at least that she’d stopped crying. “This looks weird to me. I hope it wears off soon.”
“Well,” she sniffed, “I hope so too.” But she looked a little happier.
“Did she say anything about necromancy?” Alex asked, hoping it had at least been a productive visit.
Natalie let out a long sigh, drooping and leaning her chin on her hand. “No. It was a dead end.”
The two of them had spent the entire previous day scouring the library for anything on the subject. There wasn’t so much as a book referencing the topic, however. Ultimately, it had been Jari who’d confirmed that the magic did exist, but that the methods had simply been locked away from students.
“It’s a mystery,” he’d said with his usual theatrical tones. “Nobody knows why!”
Alex, of course, had some idea why. It had to do with a long-dead lord of the manor continuing to walk around.
Alex heard the sound of footsteps approaching them, and swiveled. He was surprised to find Jari looking down on them with a frown on his face. He strode up to the table, and Natalie rolled her head to look at him.
“Sorry to interrupt, uh, whatever this is,” Jari said, “but can I borrow Alex for a bit?”
Natalie could probably use some more cheering up, but Alex rose anyway. There was something off about Jari. The boy’s usual vigor had vanished, leaving him strangely listless. Also, outside of class, it was somewhat rare to see him without Aamir.
“We’ll have to finish our talk later,” Alex told Natalie apologetically, and she nodded, her eyes flicking to Jari. He was staring outside at the rain, his eyes shrouded. Alex had to take him by the sleeve and give him a shake to get his attention.
“Huh?”
“Jari. What’s wrong?”
Jari smiled. “Just something I wanted you to take a look at. Come along!”
He made his customary grab for Alex’s hand, and Alex followed him out of the library. A glance back told him that Natalie was attempting to remove the “beauty charm” herself, looking focused. She would be fine.
They had been walking for a few minutes when Alex realized they weren’t heading back to the dorms.
“Where are we going?” he asked. “Where’s Aamir?”
Jari sighed, shooting a look over at Alex. “I need to ask you something,” he said. “And you aren’t in trouble. I just need you to be honest with me.”
Alex nodded slowly. “Okay, shoot.”
“Did you talk to Aamir about graduation?”
The question hung in the air for a time.
“I suppose,” Alex said. “But it was a while ago—and just in passing.”
Silence.
“I thought that might have triggered it,” Jari said.
Alex found himself almost jogging to keep up with Jari, who may have been small, but didn’t lack for speed.
He waved a hand in the air, his fingers twisting like talons. “Aamir,” he said, “he’s…well, he gets stressed out about graduation. You may have not noticed, but I’ve noticed that, gradually, he’s been throwing himself into his studies more and more of late. It’s gotten to the point where he’s getting…really strange notions.”
Alex blinked. “Isn’t that just Aamir?” he asked. “He always seems intense.”
“To an extent,” Jari admitted. “But this—well, I’ll just let you see.”
Jari led Alex through a door out onto the grounds, through the same exit that led to the older gardens and the cellar. Before Alex could even cover his head against the rain, a shimmering barrier of light burst into life around them, and without so much as breaking stride, Jari made his way across the muddy lawn.
Alex’s boots squelched as they walked, and he looked up in wonder at where the rain was ricocheting away from them. He was about to say something appreciative when a drop of rain punched through, spattering on his cheek. He looked over at Jari, but the boy didn’t seem to notice that his spell was anything but flawless. His eyes were downcast, his hands balled into fists.
They reached the cellar, and Jari motioned for Alex to stand back as he leaned down. As he shoved the layer of ivy back from the door, his magic winked out, and
Alex found himself abruptly drenched in rain. Jari threw open the hatch, seeming not to notice, and Alex was about to step forward when a roar of energy split the air. He staggered back a step, feet slipping in the mud, and Jari pointed two fingers down into the cellar. A burst of light flashed from his fingertips, and for a moment a bright, clear glow emitted from the hole.
“Okay,” Jari said. “Go on in.”
Alex looked at him, dubious. “Aren’t you coming?”
Jari sniffed. “It’s your turn. He’s not being sensible.” Alex supposed he would just have to see for himself whatever was going on with Aamir.
Chapter 21
He found the ladder warm and dry, in spite of the rain. As he descended, the cold was replaced by a searing heat, causing sweat to prickle out over his back and arms. The air in front of him rippled, and he was starting to feel a little lightheaded by the time he dropped down into the cellar.
Aamir stood on the other side of the room. He had stripped off his shirt, and his lean frame glistened with sweat. He turned toward Alex, showers of sparks rolling off his body to cascade over the ground, then paused and blinked when he saw Alex standing there. With a flick of his wrists, he shot through the air, landing in front of Alex with a dull impact that made the ground roll under Alex’s feet. Overhead, Jari shut the door.
“Jari is making you check in on me?” Aamir asked.
He was radiant. Wisps of magic flickered around him, gathering in pools on his coffee-colored skin. Staring at him, Alex realized that this was what magic could be. Maybe should be. Not the strange, monotonous routines of the classes, but this raw, burning power.
“Yeah,” he said. “So what’s going on?”
Aamir let out a snort and did not answer. The energy around him faded, and he reached out a hand, his shirt flinging itself from a dark corner of the room and landing on his outstretched palm.
“Jari worries too much,” Aamir said. “I’m just practicing.”
“I can see that,” Alex said, sweat still running down the back of his neck from the heat. “I think he’s worried that you’re overdoing it.”
Aamir’s eyes went flinty. With a complex twist of his fingers, he drew a chair of earth up from the ground, and then a second behind Alex. He motioned for Alex to sit as he slumped down.
“I am graduating in a few months,” Aamir said, his voice hollow. “Just a few months, and then…well, who knows? We spoke of it before; what do you think happens?”
Alex licked his lips. He looked around at the dusty, abandoned cellar, sighing and leaning back in his earthen chair.
“To be fair, we don’t know—”
“Alex.”
Alex looked up, his face grim.
“You disappear like the rest,” he said finally.
Aamir nodded. “At least you admit it,” he grumbled. “Jari, he seems to want to carry on like nothing is wrong. Like I will be able to invite him over for coffee at my New Delhi apartment and we can chat about his studies. But that is not how this works.” Aamir stared at Alex, and his stern mask broke to reveal the pleading face of a boy not much Alex’s senior.
“I am afraid,” Aamir said, his voice cracking. “I do not know what happens, but I do know it will be bad.”
Before Alex could say something reassuring, Aamir was talking again. “I have a plan.”
Alex sat forward, interested. “Tell me.”
Aamir drew in a deep breath, as if trying to decide whether or not to let it out. Then he spoke. “I’m going to challenge one of the teachers for their position.”
The room grew very still. Overhead, Alex could hear the storm still pattering away against the hatch.
“Challenge...?” he repeated.
“A teacher, yes,” Aamir said. “Jari thinks I have lost my mind, but there is precedent. The only permanent staff here are the Head and Finder. All others come and go. The woman who tended the gardens, the men in the pictures on the walls, they are all gone. Students who surpassed them took their places.”
Alex shook his head slowly. “But that’s not a solution. You’ll still be stuck here. I mean, the teachers don’t leave, do they?”
Aamir shrugged. “It’ll buy me time. That’s what matters,” he said, looking tired.
“Who do you plan to challenge? How does it work?”
“Derhin, probably,” Aamir said after a moment of thought. “As for the how, I don’t know. I’m preparing for everything I can.”
Professor Lintz’s terrified face crept into Alex’s mind.
“I wouldn’t recommend Derhin,” Alex said quickly.
Aamir raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“I spoke to Lintz recently, and he seemed afraid of him. I think there’s more to Derhin than it seems.”
Aamir tipped his head in contemplation. “I will think about it,” he said. “But I still think he is the best choice.”
The two boys sat in silence for a long time.
“Jari seems very worried about you,” Alex said at last.
“He is an idiot,” Aamir muttered. Alex was silent, sensing that Aamir wasn’t finished. “He just doesn’t get it. He thinks things will work out, and they just…won’t. I can’t just sit around and wait for my fate to find me. I need to do something, you know?”
Alex thought of Natalie, led away by Finder. The black cat made of shadows. The Head, surrounded by impossible amounts of inky power. His own foot, crossing over that thin, forbidden golden line.
“I know,” he said, looking Aamir in the eye.
The weather changed with its customary abruptness, the rain fading away and leaving only the sound of the two boys breathing. They stared at each other for a time, then Aamir rose, throwing his shirt aside. Golden lines of power wrapped around him, and as Alex watched, he began to draw snow and ice out of the air. He swirled his hands, the storm gathering around him with little crackles of blue light.
“Tell Jari he is wasting his time,” Aamir said. “My mind is made up. There is no other option.”
Alex knew that feeling, and could not bring himself to dissuade his roommate. Perhaps it was a bad idea, and perhaps it would lead to Aamir’s failure, even his death. But if it were Alex, if he could, he would likely do the same.
Alex watched Aamir as power gathered around him. Then he turned, and clambered up the ladder and out onto the grounds.
The rain had been replaced by a gentle, wintry breeze, suffused with the smell of pine resin and salt. Alex drew in a deep breath as he looked around at the ruined gardens. Jari, it seemed, had left. With a heavy, worried sigh, Alex headed toward the nearest door into the manor.
He’d gone about twenty paces and was crossing under the crooked corpse of a half-fallen tree when he had the sudden feeling that he was being watched. He stopped, glancing around, but around him there was only the wind blowing, cool and sharp.
“Hello,” a voice purred from above him.
Alex jumped back, staring up at the tree’s tangle of leafless limbs. A shadow detached itself from the thicket, one claw dragging a thin black line over the rough bark.
“You again,” Alex said, narrowing his eyes and stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I’m in no mood for riddles today.”
The cat let out a cackle. “Feisty!” it exclaimed.
“Tell me your name,” said Alex, sticking his chin out. “Or I’m walking away.”
The cat’s tail dangled off the branch.
“Elias,” it said. “Nice to meet you, Alex Webber.”
Alex stared at the creature, not even surprised it knew his full name. He wasn’t as disturbed by it as he had been the first time, but he was smart enough to keep his guard up around it.
“And what are you?”
“What indeed,” said the cat. “That, kid, is an excellent question. I wish I knew.”
Alex regarded it, gathering his thoughts, determined not to let the little creature get the best of him this time.
“Homunculus,” he announced.
Th
e cat was silent for a moment, then tilted its head. “Perhaps…”
“Who made you?”
A grin of inky teeth. “Elias made me, and I am Elias.”
Alex opened his mouth, a question on his lips, but Elias chose that moment to slide off his branch. As he did so, he seemed to liquefy, spilling down in a cascade that settled into the form of a long-haired young man of Alex’s height, made entirely out of shadow.
Elias looked Alex up and down, folding his arms.
“I’m not your enemy,” he said.
“Then what are you?”
Elias laughed, clapping his hands together. “A benefactor, of course,” he said. “This time I’ve come strictly to help.”
Alex stared blankly at him, and Elias’s dark face contorted, looking hurt. “Come now,” he said, “don’t give me that. I wanted to tell you something, really!”
Alex was silent for a time, thinking carefully before responding. “And that is?”
Elias smiled, and the expression was somehow even more disconcerting on his human face than it had been as a cat. His lips lifted a little too far, splitting his cheeks almost up to his eyebrows in glee.
“Finder is dead,” he said.
“I know,” Alex said with a huff.
Elias nodded. “I know you know. You’ve been looking for information about necromancy.” He turned away, examining his fingers. “I may know where you could find a book,” he said.
Alex tried to still his suddenly hammering heart. “Where?”
Elias laughed. “What would you do with it?”
Alex observed the shadow coolly. He didn’t trust this creature a bit, and didn’t want to give away the plan he had been formulating since the day before. But he thought of Aamir, throwing himself at the cellar walls, desperate to escape his fate. He thought of Natalie’s desperation the previous day. He thought of his mother, alone and devastated. Their lives might depend on this book.
“Why do you want to know?” he asked, folding his arms.