mouth to show hundreds of triangular teeth in what might have been a smile.
a series of short hops and took to the air with a crack of wings.
don't say a word, Sophie warned her brother. Josh s quips and comments were
always getting him into trouble. Whereas Sophie had the ability to see
something and keep her mouth shut, her brother always had to make a comment
or observation.
You re not the boss of me, Josh snapped, but his voice was shaky. Josh had
a fear of snakes going back to the time he d gone camping with their father
and had fallen into a rattlesnake nest. Luckily, the deadly serpent had just
fed and had chosen to ignore him, giving him the seconds he d needed to
scramble away. He d had nightmares about snakes for weeks after that, and
still did occasionally, when he was particularly stressed usually at exam
time. The huge, serpentlike pterosaurs belonged to his darkest nightmares,
and when they d come hopping out of the night, he d felt his heart hammering
so powerfully that the skin on his chest had actually pulsed. When that
long-toothed face had leaned toward him, he d been sure he was going to
faint. Even now, he could feel the icy sweat trickling along the length of
his spine.
Sophie and Josh followed Scathach through Hekate's house. The twins were
aware now of movement in the shadows, floorboards creaking underfoot, wooden
walls popping and cracking as if the house were moving, shifting, growing.
They were also conscious that the voices, the screams and shouts of earlier,
had fallen silent.
Scathach led them to an empty circular room where Nicholas Flamel was
waiting. He stood facing away from them, hands clasped tightly against the
small of his back, and stared out into the shadowed night. The only light in
the room came from the huge moon now starting to dip toward the horizon. One
side of the room was bathed in harsh silver-white light, the other was in
darkness. Scatty crossed the room to stand beside the Alchemyst. She folded
her arms across her chest and turned to the twins, her face an expressionless
mask.
You could have been killed, Flamel'said very softly, without turning
around. Or worse.
You Can't keep us here, Josh said quickly, his voice sounding too loud in
the silence. We re not your prisoners.
The Alchemyst glanced over his shoulder. He was wearing his tiny round
glasses and, in the gloom, his eyes were hidden behind the silver circles.
No, you re not, he said very quietly, his French accent suddenly
pronounced. You are the prisoners of circumstance, of coincidence and
chance if you believe in such things.
I don't, Scathach muttered.
Neither do I, Nicholas said, turning around. He took off his glasses and
squeezed the bridge of his nose. There were dark circles under his pale eyes,
and his lips were pinched in a thin line. We are all prisoners of a sort
here prisoners of circumstance and events. Nearly seven hundred years ago, I
bought a battered secondhand book written in an incomprehensible language.
That day I too became a prisoner, trapped as securely as if I were behind
bars. Two months ago, Josh, you should never have asked me for a job, and
you, Sophie, should never have started working in The Coffee Cup. But you
did, and because you made those decisions you are both standing here with me
tonight. He paused and glanced at Scathach. Of course, there is a school of
thought that suggests that you were fated to take the jobs, to meet Perenelle
and me and to come on this adventure.
Scathach nodded. Destiny, she said.
You re saying that we have no free will, Sophie asked, that all this was
meant to happen? She shook her head. I don't, for one minute, believe
that. The very idea went against everything she believed; the idea that the
future could be foretold was simply ludicrous.
Neither do I, Josh said defiantly.
And yet, Flamel'said very softly, what if I were to tell you that the Book
of the Mage a book written more than ten thousand years ago speaks of you?
That'simpossible, Josh blurted, terrified by the implications.
Ha! Nicholas Flamel'spread his arms wide. And is this not impossible?
Tonight you encountered the nathair, the winged guardians of Hekate's realm.
You heard their voices in your heads. Are they not impossible? And the Torc
Allta are they not equally impossible? These are creatures that have no right
to exist outside of myth.
And what about us? Scathach asked. Nicholas is nearly seven hundred years
old, and I am so old I have seen empires rise and fall. Are we not equally
impossible?
Neither Josh nor Sophie could deny that.
Nicholas stepped forward and put a hand on Josh s and Sophie s shoulders. He
was no taller than they were and looked directly into their eyes. You must
accept that you are trapped in this impossible world. If you leave, you will
bring destruction onto your family and friends, and in all probability, you
will bring about your own deaths.
Besides, Scathach added bitterly, if you re mentioned in the Book, then
you re supposed to be here.
The twins looked from Scatty to Flamel. He nodded. It s true. The book is
full of prophecies some of which have certainly come true, others which may
yet come to pass. But it does specifically mention the two that are one.
And you believe ? Sophie whispered.
Yes, I believe you may be the prophecy. In fact, I am convinced of it.
Scathach stepped forward to stand beside Flamel. Which means that you are
suddenly much more important not only to us, but also to Dee and the Dark
Elders.
Why? Josh licked dry lips. Why are we so important?
The Alchemyst glanced at Scatty for support. She nodded. Tell them. They
need to know.
The twins looked from Scatty back to the Alchemyst. There was a sense that
what he was about to tell them was of immense importance. Sophie slipped her
hand into her brother s, and he squeezed her fingers tightly.
The Codex prophesies that the two that are one will come either to save or
to destroy the world.
What do you mean,
one or the other, right?
The word used in the Codex is similar to an ancient Babylonian symbol that
can mean either thing, Flamel explained. Actually, I ve always suspected
