found the one he wanted.
on the page facing an image of Queen Elizabeth I was an old-fashioned etching
of a sharp-faced man with a triangular beard. The clothes were different, but
there was no doubt that this was the man they had encountered.
Sophie took the book from Nick s hands. It says here that Dee was born in
1527, she said very softly. That would make him nearly five hundred years
old.
Josh came to stand beside his sister. He stared at the picture, then looked
around the room. If he breathed deeply, he could still smell the peculiar
odors of magic. That was what he had been smelling not mint and rotten eggs,
but the scent of magic. Dee knew you, he said slowly. He knew you well,
he added.
Fleming moved about the shop, picking up odd items and dropping them to the
floor again. Oh, he knows me, he said. He knows Perry, too. He s known us
for a long time a very long time. He looked over at the twins, his almost
colorless eyes now dark and troubled. You re involved now, more s the pity,
so the time for lies and subterfuge is past. If you are to survive, you will
need to know the truth.
Josh and Sophie looked at one another. They had both picked up the phrase If
you are to survive
My real name is Nicholas Flamel. I was born in France in the year 1330.
Perry s real name is Perenelle: she is ten years older than me. But don't
ever tell her I said that, he added hastily.
Josh felt his stomach churn and rumble. He was going to say Impossible! and
laugh and be irritated with Nick for telling them such a stupid story. But he
was bruised and aching from being flung across the room by by what? He
remembered the Golem that had reached for Perry
dissolved into powder at her touch.
What what are you? Sophie asked the question that was forming on her twin s
lips. What
Nick smiled, but his face was cold and humorless, and for an instant, he
almost resembled Dee. We are legend, he said simply. Once a long time
ago we were simple people, but then I bought a book, the Book of Abraham the
Mage, usually called the Codex. From that moment on, things changed.
Perenelle changed. I changed. I became the Alchemyst.
I became the greatest alchemyst of all time, sought after by kings and
princes, by emperors and even the Pope himself. I discovered the secret of
the philosopher s stone hidden deep in that book of ancient magic: I learned
how to turn ordinary metal into gold, how to change common stones into
precious jewels. But more than this, much more, I found the recipe for a
formulation of herbs and spells that keeps disease and death at bay.
Perenelle and I became virtually immortal. He held up the torn pages in his
hand. This is all that remains of the Codex. Dee and his kind have been
seeking the Book of the Mage for centuries. Now they have it. And Perenelle,
too, he added bitterly.
But you said the Book is useless without these pages, Josh reminded him
quickly.
That is true. There is enough in the Book to keep Dee busy for centuries,
but these pages are vital, Nick agreed. Dee will be coming back for them.
There s something else, though, isn t there? Sophie asked quickly.
Something more. She knew he was holding something back; adults always did.
Their parents had taken months to tell Josh and her that they would be
spending the summer in San Francisco.
Nick glanced at her sharply, and once again she was reminded of the look Dee
had given her earlier: there was something cold and inhuman in it. Yes there
is something more, he said hesitantly. Without the Book, Perenelle and I
will age. The formulation for immortality must be brewed afresh every month.
Within the full cycle of the moon, we will wither and die. And if we die,
then the evil we have so long fought against will triumph. The Elder Race
will claim this earth again.
The Elder Race? Josh asked, his voice rising and cracking. He swallowed
hard, conscious now that his heart was thumping in his chest. What had
started out as just another ordinary Thursday afternoon had turned into
something strange and terrible. He played a lot of computer games, read some
fantasy novels, and in those,
Elder, as in old?
Very old, Flamel agreed.
You mean there are more like Dee, like you? Josh said, then winced as
Sophie kicked his shins.
Flamel turned to look at Josh, his colorless eyes now clouded with anger.
There are others like Dee, yes, and others like me, too, but Dee and I are
not alike. We were never alike, Flamel added bitterly. We chose to follow
different paths, and his has led him down some very dark roads. He too is
immortal, though even I am not sure how he retains his youth. But we are both
human. He turned to the cash register, which was lying broken open on the
floor, and started scooping out the money as he spoke. When he turned to look
at the twins, they were startled by the grim expression on his face. Those
whom Dee serves are not and never were from the race of man. Shoving the
money into his pockets, he grabbed a battered leather jacket off the floor.
we've got to get out of here.
Where will you go? What will you do? Sophie asked.
What about us? Josh finished the thought for her, as she often did for him.
First I have to get you to a place of safety before Dee realizes that the
pages are missing. Then I'll go in search of Perenelle.
The twins looked at each other. Why do you have to get us to a safe place?
Sophie asked.
We don't know anything, Josh said.
Once Dee discovers that the Book is incomplete, he will return for the
missing pages. And I guarantee you, he will leave no witnesses on this
earth.
Josh started to laugh, but the sound died in his throat when he realized that
his sister was not even smiling. You re He licked suddenly dry lips.
You re saying that he would kill us?
Nicholas Flamel tilted his head to one side, considering. No, he said
finally, not kill you.
Josh heaved a sigh of relief.
Believe me, Flamel continued. Dee can do much worse to you. Much worse.
