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Ta Her parents clapped politely, as if they were at an opera Ta either of theave her a congratulatory ses that Master Rufus got to pick first and went straight for the top of the list It would have annoyed Call

Master Rufus’s dark eyes raked over the room one more time Call could feel the hush over everyone as they waited for Rufus to call out the next name Jasper was already half out of his seat

"And my last apprentice will be Callum Hunt," Master Rufus said, and the bottoasps fro from the audience as each of them scanned the whiteboards for Call’s naative score

Call stared at Master Rufus Master Rufus stared back, entirely blank Next to hi smile while Tamara looked at him with an expression of total astonishment

"I said Callum Hunt," Master Rufus repeated "Calluet up, but his father shoved him back down into his seat

"Absolutely not," Alastair Hunt said, standing "This has gone far enough, Rufus You can’t have hi up at them as if there was no one else in the room "Come now, Alastair, you know the rules as well as anyone Stopinevitable The boy needs to be taught"

Mages were ascending the bleachers on either side of where Call was sitting, his father holding hies, in their black clothes, looked as sinister as his father had ever described them They looked ready for battle Once they reached Call’s row of benches, they stopped, waiting for his father’s first o; he had to be coes weren’t going to o," he told his father, turning toward hiet kicked out They won’t wantwill be the sa hirip Everyone in the whole rooed, his eyes wide and bulging "Co to have to run"

"I can’t," he re

Call’s dad pulled hi fro to one side or jues on the stairs rushed toward the his balance as they descended

As soon as they hit the floor of the hangar, Rufus stepped in front of Call’s father

"Enough," Master Rufus said "The boy stays here"

Call’s dad ca stop He put his arms around Call from the back, which eird -- his father practically never hugged hi was aching froh the bleachers He tried to twist around to look at his father, but his dad was staring at Master Rufus "Haven’t you killed enough of my family?" he demanded

Master Rufus dropped his voice so that theon the benches couldn’t hear theht hi around is like a fault in the earth waiting to crack open, and if he does crack, he will kill a lot of other people as well as himself So don’t talk to me about death"

"Okay," said Call’s father "I’ll teach hiet him ready for the First Gate"

"You’ve had twelve years to teach him and you haven’t used them I’m sorry, Alastair This is how it has to be"