“What can we do?” Josh asked. “I can boost Sophie’s powers….”
“No,” Flamel snapped. “You can only use your powers as an absolute last resort. As soon as you activate your aura, it will alert every Elder, Next Generation and immortal within a ten-mile radius, and here, just about every immortal you encounter is allied to the Dark Elders. Also, in this land, it could awaken others, creatures best left sleeping.”
“But you said we’re being followed,” Sophie protested. “That means Dee knows we’re here.”
Flamel urged the twins to the left, away from the statue, hurrying them toward the exit. “I would imagine there are watchers in every airport, seaport and railway station across Europe. Although Dee might have suspected that we were heading to London, the instant either of you activates your aura, he’ll know for certain.”
“And what will he do then?” Josh asked, turning to look at Flamel. In the harsh overhead light, the new lines on the Alchemyst’s forehead and around his eyes were clearly visible.
Flamel shrugged. “Who knows what he is capable of doing? He is desperate, and desperate men do terrible things. Remember, he was on top of Notre Dame. He now has some inkling of your powers; he’s also confirmed that you are the twins of legend. He has to have you.” The Alchemyst reached out and poked Josh in the chest. Paper rustled. Beneath his T-shirt, in a cloth bag hanging around his neck, Josh carried the two pages he’d torn from the Codex. “And, above all else, he must have these pages.”
They followed the signs for the Euston Road exit and were swept along by a crowd of commuters heading in the same direction. “I thought you said there would be someone to meet us,” Sophie said.
“Saint-Germain said he’d try and contact an old friend,” Flamel muttered. “Maybe he couldn’t get in touch.”
They stepped out of the ornate redbrick station onto Euston Road and stopped in surprise. When they’d left Paris nearly three hours ago, the skies had been cloudless, the temperature already creeping into the high sixties; but in London it was raining hard, and the wind whipping down the road was cold enough to make the twins shiver. They turned and immediately ducked back into the shelter of the station.
And that was when Sophie saw him.
“A boy in a green parka, with the hood pulled up,” she said suddenly, turning to Nicholas and concentrating fiercely on his pale eyes, knowing that if she looked away, she would involuntarily glance at the young man who had been hurrying after them. She could see him from the corner of her eye. He was loitering close to a pillar, staring at the cell phone in his hand, fiddling with it. There was something wrong about the way he was standing. Something unnatural. And she thought she caught the faintest taint of spoiled meat in the air.
The smile on the Alchemyst’s face grew strained. “Wearing a hood? Yes, that’s who’s been following us.” The twins caught the faintest tremor in his voice.
“Except he’s not a boy, is he?” Sophie asked.
Nicholas shook his head. “Not even close.”
Josh took a deep breath. “So—should I point out that I can see two more people wearing green hooded parkas, and they’re both heading in our direction?”
“Three! No, not them,” Flamel whispered in horror. “We’ve got to go.” Grabbing the twins’ arms, he pulled them out into the driving rain, turned to the right and dragged them down the street.
The rain was so cold it took Josh’s breath away. Pellets of hard water stung his face. “Who are they?” he demanded, blinking water from his eyes, brushing his hair back out of his face.
“The Hooded Ones,” the Alchemyst said bitterly. “Dee must be desperate, and more powerful than I thought if he can command them. They are the Genii Cucullati.”
Sophie shivered as memories suddenly flickered at the edges of her consciousness. She felt something sour at the back of her throat, and her stomach twisted in disgust. The Witch of Endor had known the Genii Cucullati…and she had loathed them. Sophie looked sidelong at her brother. “Flesh-eaters.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The list grows ever longer, but The Magician would not have happened without the support of so many people…
Krista Marino, Beverly Horowitz, Jocelyn Lange and Christine Labov at Delacorte Press, without whose help, patience, perseverance…
Barry Krost at BKM and Frank Weimann at the Literary Group, for continued support and advice…
A particular mention must go to:
Libby Lavella, who gave Perenelle a voice…
Sarah Baczewski, who gives the best notes…
Jeromy Robert, who created the image…
Michael Carroll, who reads it first and last…
And finally there are:
Claudette, Brooks, Robin, Mitch, Chris, Elaine, David, Judith, Trista, Cappy, Andrea, Ron and, of course, Ahmet, for everything else!
Now, I know I’ve forgotten someone….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An authority on mythology and folklore, Michael Scott is one of Ireland’s most successful authors. A master of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and folklore, he has been hailed by the Irish Times as “the King of Fantasy in these isles.” He lives and writes in Dublin, where he is at work on the third book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series—The Sorceress. Visit him at www.dillonscott.com.
ALSO BY MICHAEL SCOTT
The Alchemyst
Published by Delacorte Press
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
New York
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2008 by Michael Scott
All rights reserved.
Delacorte Press and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scott, Michael.
The magician / Michael Scott.—1st ed.
p. cm.—(Secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel)
Summary: Fifteen-year-old twins Sophie and Josh Newman continue their magical training in Paris with Nicholas Flamel, Scatty, and the Comte de Saint-Germain, pursued by Doctor Dee and the immortal Niccolò Machiavelli.
PZ7.S42736Mag 2008
[Fic]—dc22 2007051598
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
eISBN: 978-0-375-84908-4
v3.0
Michael Scott, The Magician
(Series: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel # 2)
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