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.
What happened what happened back there? Sophie asked.
Josh s smile broadened into a wide grin. You saved us, with your newly
Awakened powers. You were incredible: you had a silver whip energy thing, and
every time it touched one of the cats or birds, it changed them back into
their real forms. He trailed off as she started to shake her head. You
don't remember anything?
A little. I could hear Perenelle talking to me, telling me what to do. I
could actually feel her pouring her aura into me, she said in awe. I could
hear her. I could even see her, sort of. She suddenly drew in a deep,
shuddering breath. Then they came for her. That'sall I can remember.
Who did?
The faceless men. Lots of faceless men. I watched them drag her away.
What do you mean, faceless men?
Sophie s eyes were wide and terrified. They had no faces.
Like masks?
No, Josh, not masks. Their faces were smooth no eyes, no nose, no mouth,
just smooth skin.
The image that formed in his head was deeply disturbing, and he deliberately
changed the subject. Do you feel different? He chose the word carefully.
Sophie took a moment to consider. What was wrong with Josh, why was he so
concerned? Different? How?
Do you remember Hekate Awakening your powers?
I do.
What did it feel like? he asked hesitantly.
For a moment Sophie s eyes flickered with cold silver light. It was as if
someone had flipped a switch in my head, Josh. I felt alive. For the first
time in my life I felt alive.
Josh felt a sudden inexplicable pang of jealousy. From the corner of his eye,
he spotted Flamel and Scatty leaving the diner, arms piled high with bags.
And how do you feel now?
Hungry, she said. Extremely hungry.
They ate in silence: breakfast burritos, eggs, sausage, grits and rolls,
washed down with soda. Scatty had fruit and water.
Josh finally wiped his mouth with a napkin and brushed bread crumbs off his
jeans. It was the first proper meal he d had since lunchtime the day before.
I feel human again. He glanced sideways at Scatty. No offense.
None taken, Scatty assured him. Believe me I ve never wanted to be human,
though there are, I believe, some advantages, she added enigmatically.
Nicholas bundled up the remains of their breakfast and shoved them into a
paper bag. Then he leaned forward and tapped the screen of the satellite
navigation system set into the dashboard. Do you know how this works?
Josh shook his head. In theory, I guess. We put in a destination and it
tells us the best way to get there. I ve never used one before, though. My
dad s car hasn t got one, he added. Richard Newman drove a five-year-old
Volvo station wagon.
If you looked at it, could you make it work? Flamel persisted.
Maybe, Josh said doubtfully.
Of course he can. Josh is a genius with computers, Sophie said proudly from
the backseat.
This is hardly a computer, her twin muttered, leaning forward and hitting
the On button. The large square screen flickered to life, and an incredibly
patronizing voice warned them about typing addresses into the system while
driving, then instructed Josh to hit the OK button, acknowledging that he d
heard and understood the warning. The screen blinked and immediately showed
the position of the Hummer on an unnamed backroad. Mount Tamalpais appeared
as a little triangle at the top of the screen, and arrows pointed south to
San Francisco. The little track that led to Hekate's Shadowrealm wasn't
shown.
We need to go south, Flamel continued.
Josh experimented with the buttons until he got the main menu. Okay. I need
an address.
Put in the post office at the corner of Signal Street and Ojai Avenue in
Ojai.
In the backseat, Scatty stirred. Oh, not Ojai. Please tell me we re not
going there.
Flamel twisted in his seat. Perenelle told me to go south.
L.A. is south, Mexico is south, even Chile is south of here. There are lots
of nice places that lie to the south .
Perenelle told me to take the children to the Witch, Flamel'said patiently.
And the Witch is in Ojai.
Sophie and Josh looked quickly at each other, but said nothing.
Scatty sat back and sighed dramatically. Would it make a difference if I
told you I didn't want to go?
None at all.
Sophie crouched between the seats to stare at the little screen. How long
will it take? How far away are we? she wondered ou
t loud.
It s going to take most of the day, Josh said, leaning forward to squint at
the screen. Where his hair brushed his sister s, a tiny spark crackled
between them. We need to get to Highway One. We go across the Richmond
Bridge His fingers traced the colored lines. Then to I-580, which
eventually turns into I-5. He blinked in surprise. We stay on that for over
two hundred and seventy miles. He hit another button, which calculated some
totals. The entire trip is just over four hundred miles, and will take at
least six and a half hours. Before today, the farthest I ve ever driven is
about ten miles!
Well, this will be great practice for you, then, the Alchemyst said with a
smile.
Sophie looked from Flamel to Scatty. Who is this Witch we re going to see?
Flamel'snapped his seat belt into place. We re going to see the Witch of
Endor.
Josh turned the key in the ignition and started the car. He glanced in the
rearview mirror at Scatty. Someone else you've fought with? he asked.
Scathach grimaced. Worse than that, she muttered. She s my grandmother.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
T he Shadowrealm was breaking down.
In the west, the clouds had vanished and huge patches of the sky had already
disappeared, leaving only the blinking stars and the overlarge moon in the
black sky. One by one the stars were winking out of existence, and the moon
was beginning to fray at the edges.
We don't have much time, the Morrigan said, watching the sky.
Dee, who was crouching on the ground, gathering as many icy fragments of
Hekate as he could find, thought he could hear a note of fear in the
Morrigan s voice. We have time, he said evenly.
We Can't afford to be here when the Shadowrealm disappears, she continued,
looking down at him, her face expressionless. But he knew by the way she
hugged the cloak of crow feathers about her shoulders that she was nervous.
What would happen? Dee wondered aloud. He d never seen the Crow Goddess
like this before, and he took pleasure in her discomfiture.
The Morrigan raised her head to look at the encroaching darkness, her black
eyes reflecting the tiny spots of stars. Why, we d disappear also. Sucked
away into the nothingness, she added softly, watching the mountains in the
distance turn to something like dust. The dust then spiraled up into the
black sky and vanished. A true death, the Morrigan murmured.
Dee was crouched among the melting remains of the Yggdrasill, while all
around him Hekate's elegant and beautiful world was turning to dust and
blowing away on invisible winds. The goddess had created her Shadowrealm out
of nothingness, and now, without her presence to hold it together, it was
returning to that once more. The mountains had vanished, blown away like
grains of sand, whole swathes of the forest were slowly fading and blinking
out of existence like lights being turned off and the overlarge moon hanging
low in the sky was losing shape and definition. Already it was nothing more
than a featureless ball. In the east, the rising sun was a golden orb of
light and the sky was still blue.
The Crow Goddess turned to her aunt. How long before it all disappears? she
asked.
Bastet growled and shrugged her broad shoulders. Who knows? Even I have
never witnessed the death of an entire Shadowrealm. Minutes perhaps
That'sall I need. Dee laid the sword Excalibur on the ground. The smoothly
polished stone blade reflected the blackness creeping in from the west. Dee
found three of the largest chunks of ice that had once been Hekate and placed
them on the blade.
The Morrigan and Bastet leaned over his shoulders and stared at the sword,
their reflections rippling and distorted. What is so important that you must
do it here? Bastet asked.
This was Hekate's home, Dee replied. And here, right here, at the place of
her death, the connection to her will be strongest.
Connection , Bastet growled, and then nodded. She suddenly knew what Dee
was about to attempt: the darkest and most dangerous of all the dark arts.
Necromancy, Dee whispered. I m going to talk to the dead goddess. She
spent so many millennia here that it is part of her. I m wagering her
consciousness remains active and attached to this place. He reached out and
touched the handle of the sword. The black stone glowed yellow and the carved
snakes around the hilt came briefly alive, hissing furiously, tongues
flickering, before they solidified once again. As the ice melted, the liquid
ran over the black stone, covering it in a thin oily sheen. Now we shall see
what we shall see, he muttered.
The water on the blade began to bubble and pop, sizzling and crackling. And a
face appeared in each bubble: Hekate's face. It kept flickering through her
three guises, only the eyes butter-colored and hateful remaining the same as
she glared at him.
Talk to me, Dee shouted, I command you. Why did Flamel come here?
Hekate's voice was a bubbling, watery snap. To escape you.
Tell me about the human children.
The images that appeared on the sword blade were surprisingly detailed. They
were all from Hekate's perspective. They showed Flamel arriving with the
twins, showed the two children sitting, fearful and pale, in the battered and
scratched car.
Flamel believes they are the twins of legend mentioned in the Codex.
The Morrigan and Bastet crowded closer, ignoring the rapidly encroaching
nothingness. In the west, there were no longer any stars in the heavens, the
moon was gone and huge portions of the sky had completely vanished, leaving
just blackness in its wake.
Are they? Dee demanded.
The next image on the sword showed the twins auras flaring silver and gold.
Moon and sun, Dee murmured. He didn't know whether to be horrified or
elated. His suspicions were confirmed. From the first moment he d seen them
together, he d started to wonder if the teens were, in fact, twins.
Are these the twins foretold in legend? he demanded again.
Bastet brought her massive head down next to Dee s. Her foot-long whiskers
tickled his face, but he didn't risk brushing them away, not with her teeth
so close. She smelled of wet cat and frankincense; Dee felt a sneeze building
at the back of his nose. The Cat Goddess reached out for the blade, but Dee
caught her hand in his. It was like grasping a lion s paw, and her retracted
claws suddenly appeared dangerously close to his fingers. Please don't touch
the blade; this is a delicate spell. There is time for perhaps one or two
more questions, he added, nodding toward the western horizon, to where the
edges of the earth were crumbling, blowing away like multicolored dust.
Bastet glared at the black blade, her slit-pupiled eyes flaring. My sister
has or should I say had a very special gift. She could Awaken powers in
others. Ask her if she did that with these humani twins.
Dee nodded in sudden understanding; he had been wondering why Flamel had
brought the twins to this place. He remembered now: in the ancient world, it
was believed Hekate had power over magic and spells. Did
you Awaken the
twins magical abilities? he asked.
A single bubble popped. No.
Dee rocked back on his heels, surprised. He had been expecting her to say
yes. Had Flamel failed, then?
Bastet growled. She s lying.
She cannot, Dee said. She answers what we ask.
I saw the girl with my own eyes, the Egyptian goddess growled. I saw her
wield a whip of pure auric energy. I ve never seen such power in my life, not
since the Elder Times.
Dr. John Dee glanced at her sharply. You saw the girl but what of the boy?
What was he doing?
I did not notice him.
Ha! Dee said triumphantly. He turned back to the sword.
The Morrigan s cloak rustled warningly. Make this your last question,
Doctor.
The trio looked up to see that the utter blackness was almost upon them. Less
than ten feet ahead of them, the world ended in nothingness. Dee turned back
to the sword. Did you Awaken the girl?
A bubble popped and the sword ran with images of Sophie rising off the
ground, her aura blazing silver. Yes.
And the boy?
The sword showed Josh cowering in a corner of a darkened chamber. No.
The Morrigan s clawlike hands gripped Dee s shoulders and jerked him to his
feet. He caught his sword and shook the bubbling water droplets into the
rapidly encroaching void.
The mismatched trio towering Bastet, dark Morrigan and small human raced away
as the world crumbled into nothingness behind them. The last remnants of
their army the birdmen and cat-people remained, wandering aimlessly. When
they saw their leaders fleeing, they turned to follow. Soon every creature
was racing to the east, where the last of the Shadowrealm remained. Senuhet
limped after Bastet, calling out her name, begging her to stop and help him.
But the world dissolved too quickly. It swallowed birds and cats, it took the
ancient trees and rare orchids, the magical creatures and the mythical
monsters. It consumed the last of Hekate's magic.
Then the void claimed the sun and the world went dark and was no more.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
T he Morrigan and Bastet burst through the tangled hedges, carrying John Dee
between them. In the next instant the wall of foliage vanished and one of the
many winding paths leading to Mount Tamalpais appeared. They stumbled, and
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