she was even more powerful. Those traits that made Flamel'such a brilliant
alchemyst his attention to detail, his knowledge of ancient languages, his
infinite patience made him a poor sorcerer and a terrible necromancer. He
simply lacked the imaginative spark of pure visualization that was needed for
that work. Perenelle, on the other hand, was one of the most powerful
sorceresses he had ever encountered.
Dee pulled off one of his gray leather gloves and dropped it onto the seat
beside him. Leaning toward Perenelle, he dipped his finger in the puddle of
mud dripping from one of the Golems and traced a curling symbol on the back
of the woman s left hand. Then he painted a mirror image of the symbol on her
right hand. He dipped his hand in the sticky black mud again and was
inscribing three wavy lines on her forehead when she suddenly opened her
bright green eyes. Dee abruptly sat back in his seat.
Madame Perenelle, I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is to see you again.
Perry opened her mouth to speak, but no words would form. She tried to move,
but not only were the Golems gripping her arms tightly, her muscles refused
to obey.
Ah, you must excuse me, but I ve taken the liberty of placing you under a
warding spell. A simple spell, but it will suffice until I can organize
something more permanent. Dee smiled, but there was nothing humorous in his
expression. His cell phone trilled, playing the theme from
he flipped it open. Excuse me, he said to Perenelle.
You got the photo? Dee asked. Yes, I thought that would amuse you: the
legendary Perenelle Flamel in our hands. Oh, I m quite sure Nicholas will
come after her. And we ll be ready. This time he will not escape.
Perenelle could clearly hear the cackle of laughter on the other end.
Yes, of course. Dee reached into an inside pocket and took out the
copper-bound book. We have the Codex. Finally. He began to turn the thick
rough-edged pages as he spoke. His voice fell, and it was unclear whether he
was talking to the caller or to himself. Ten thousand years of arcane
knowledge in one place
Then his voice trailed away. The phone dropped from his hand and bounced
across the floor of the car.
At the back of the book, two pages were missing, roughly torn out.
Dee closed his eyes and then licked his lips with a quick flicking movement
of his tiny tongue. The boy, he rasped, the boy, when I pulled it from his
hand. He opened his eyes and began to sCan'the preceding pages carefully.
Maybe they re not important , he murmured, lips moving as he followed the
shifting, moving words. He concentrated on the bright illuminated letters at
the top of every page, which gave a clue to what followed. Then he stopped
abruptly, clutching the book in trembling fingers. When he raised his head,
his eyes were blazing. I m missing the Final Summoning! he howled. Yellow
sparks danced around his head, and the rear window behind him bloomed a
spiderweb of white cracks. Tendrils of yellow-white power dripped from his
teeth like saliva. Go back! he roared to the driver. Go back now. No,
stop, cancel that order. Flamel's no fool. They ll be long gone. He snatched
the phone off the floor and, avoiding Perenelle s eyes, took a moment to
compose himself. He drew in a deep shuddering breath and visibly calmed
himself, then dialed. We have a slight problem, he said crisply into the
phone, voice calm and unemotional. We seem to be missing a couple of pages
from the back of the book. Nothing important, I m sure. Perhaps you would do
me a courtesy, he said very casually. You might convey to the Morrigan that
I am in need of her services.
Dee noticed that Perenelle s eyes had widened in shock at the mention of the
name. He grinned in delight. Tell her I need her special talents and
particular skills. Then he snapped the phone shut and looked over at
Perenelle Flamel. It would have been so much easier if they had just given
me the Codex. Now the Morrigan is coming. And you know what that means.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The twins had grown up in New York and had spent most of their summers in
California, so encountering a rat was nothing new. Living in San Francisco, a
port city, one quickly got used to seeing the creatures, especially early in
the morning and late at night, when they came out of the shadows and sewers.
Sophie wasn't especially frightened of them, though like everyone else she
had heard the horror stories, urban legends and FOAF friend of a
friend stories about the scavengers. She knew they were mostly harmless
unless cornered; she thought she remembered reading somewhere that they could
jump to great heights. She d also read an article in the
Sunday magazine that said that there were as many rats in the United States
as there were people.
But this rat was different.
Sleek and black, rather than the usual filthy brown, it crouched, unmoving,
at the mouth of the alleyway, and Sophie could have sworn that its eyes were
bright red. And watching them.
Maybe it was an escaped pet?
Ah, you've noticed, Flamel murmured, catching her arm, urging her forward.
We re being watched.
Who? Josh asked, confused, turning quickly, expecting to see Dee s long
black car cruising down the street. But there was no sign of any car, and no
one seemed to be paying them any special attention. Where?
The rat. In the alleyway, Nicholas Flamel'said quickly. don't look.
But it was too late. Josh had already turned and looked. By a rat? A rat is
watching us: you cannot be serious. He stared hard at the rat, expecting it
to turn and scuttle away. It just raised its head and looked at him, its
mouth opening to reveal pointed teeth. Josh shuddered. Snakes and rats: he
hated them equally though not as much as he hated spiders. And scorpions.
Rats don't have red eyes, do they? he asked, looking at his sister, who, as
far as he knew, was afraid of nothing.
Not usually, she said.
When he turned back, he discovered that there were now two jet-black rats
standing still in the alleyway. A third scuttled out of the gloom and settled
down to watch them.
OK, Josh said evenly, I ve seen men made of mud, I guess I can accept
spying rats. Do they talk? he wondered aloud.
