Flamel took a long time before replying. Finally, he said. There are some
things you must know first about the Book of Abraham the Mage. He saw Josh
open his mouth and he pressed on quickly. Let me finish. I always knew the
Codex was old, he began, though I never knew just how old. Yesterday Hekate
said she was there when Abraham created it and that would have been at least
ten thousand years ago. The world was a very different place then. The
commonly held view is that mankind appeared in the middle of the Stone Age.
But the truth is very, very different. The Elder Race ruled the earth. We
have scraps of the truth in our mythology and legends. If you believe the
stories, he continued, they possessed the power of flight, they had vessels
that could cross the oceans, they could control the weather and had even
perfected what we would call cloning. In other words, they had access to a
science that was so advanced, we would call it magic.
Josh started to shake his head. This was too much to take in.
And before you say this is all far-fetched, just think how far the human
race has come in the past ten years. If someone had told your parents, for
example, that they would be able to carry their entire music library in their
pocket, would they have believed it? Now we have phones that have more
computing power than was used to send the first rockets into space. We have
electron microscopes that can see individual atoms. We routinely cure
diseases that only fifty years ago were fatal. And the rate of change is
increasing. Today we are able to do what your parents would have dismissed as
impossible and your grandparents as nothing short of magical.
You haven t answered my question, Josh said. He was watching his speed
carefully; they couldn t afford to be pulled over.
What I m saying to you is that I do not know what the Elder Race was able to
do. Was Abraham making predictions in the Codex, or was he simply writing
down what he had somehow seen? Was he aware of the future,
see it? He swiveled around in the seat to look at Scatty. Do you know?
She shrugged, lips curling into a little smile. I m Next Generation; much of
the Elder World had vanished before I was even born, and Danu Talis was long
sunk beneath the waves. I ve no idea what they could do. Could they see
through time? She paused, thinking. I ve known Elders who seemed to have
that gift: Sibyl certainly could, and so could Themis and Melampus, of
course. But they were wrong more often than they were right. If my travels
have taught me anything, it is that we create our own future. I ve watched
world-shaking events come and go without anyone making predictions about
them, and I ve also seen prophecies usually to do with the end of the
world that also failed to happen.
A car overtook them on the narrow country road, the first they had seen so
far that morning.
I m going to ask you the question one more time, Josh said, struggling to
keep his voice even. And this time, just give me a straight yes-or-no
answer: was everything that just happened predicted in the Codex?
No, Flamel'said quickly.
I hear a
The Alchemyst nodded. There is a little
about Hekate or the Shadowrealm, nothing about Dee or Bastet or the Morrigan.
But He sighed. There are several prophecies about twins.
Twins, Josh said tightly. You mean twins in general or specifically to do
with Sophie and me?
The Codex speaks of silver and gold twins, the two that are one, the one
that is all. It is no coincidence that your auras are pure gold and silver.
So yes, I am convinced the Codex is referring to you and your sister. He
leaned forward to look at Josh. And if you are asking me how long I ve known
that, then the answer is this: I began to suspect only yesterday, when you
and Sophie came to my aid in the shop. Hekate confirmed my suspicions a few
hours later when she made your auras visible. I give you my word that
everything I ve done has been for your protection.
Josh started to shake his head; he wasn't sure he believed Flamel. He opened
his mouth to ask a question, but Scatty put her hand on his shoulder before
he could speak. Let me just say this, she said, her voice low and serious,
her Celtic accent suddenly pronounced. I ve known Nicholas Flamel for a very
long time. America was barely even colonized when we first met. He is many
things dangerous and devious, cunning and deadly, a good friend and an
implacable enemy but he comes from an age when a man s word was indeed
precious. If he gives you his word that he s done all this for your
protection, then I am suggesting that you believe him.
Josh eased on the brake and the car slowed as it rounded a corner. Finally,
he nodded and let out his breath in a deep sigh. I believe you, he said
aloud. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he kept hearing Hekate's last
words to him Nicholas Flamel never tells anyone everything and he had the
distinct impression that the Alchemyst still wasn't telling everything he
knew.
Suddenly, Nicholas tapped Josh s arm. Here stop here.
Why, what s wrong? Scatty demanded, reaching for her swords.
Josh signaled and pulled the Hummer off the road to where a roadside diner
sign had flickered into life.
Nothing s wrong. Flamel grinned. Just time for some breakfast.
Great. I m famished, Scatty said. I could eat a horse. If I weren t a
vegetarian and liked horse, of course.
And you weren t a vampire, Josh thought, but kept his mouth shut.
Sophie woke up while Scatty and Flamel were in the diner ordering breakfast
to go. One moment she was asleep, the next she sat bolt upright in the
backseat. Josh jumped and was unable to prevent a little startled cry from
escaping his lips.
He swiveled around in the driver s seat, kneeling up to lean over the back.
Sophie? he asked cautiously. He was terrified that something strange and
ancient would look through his sister s eyes again.
You don't want to know what I was dreaming about, Sophie said, stretching
her arms wide and arching her back. Her neck cracked as she rotated it. Ow.
I ache everywhere.
How do you feel? Well, it sounded like his sister.
Like I m coming down with flu. She looked around. Where are we? Whose car
is this?
Josh grinned, teeth white in the shadows. We stole it from Dee. We re
somewhere on the road out of Mill Valley, heading back into San Francisco, I
think.
