01_-_The_Alchemyst

this evening is also Hekate, and in the morning, you will meet a young girl
who is Hekate as well.”
“The Goddess with Three Faces,” Flamel reminded them.
“Hekate is cursed to age with the day. Maiden in the morning, matron in
the afternoon, crone in the evening. She is incredibly sensitive about her
age.”
Josh swallowed hard. “I didn’t know….”
“No reason why you should have—except that your ignorance could
have gotten you killed…or worse.”
“But what did you do to the table?” Sophie asked. She looked at the ruin
of the circular table: it was split down the middle where Scatty had cut it
with her knife. The wood on either side of the split looked dry and dusty.
“Iron,” Scatty said simply.
“One of the surprising side effects of the artificial metal,” Flamel said,
“is its ability to nullify even the most powerful magics. The discovery of iron
really signaled the end of the Elder Race’s power in this world.” He held up
the black stone arrowhead. “That’s why I was using this. The Elders get
nervous in the presence of iron.”
“But you’re carrying iron,” Sophie said to Scatty.
“I’m Next Generation—not pure Elder like Hekate. I can bear to be
around iron.”
Josh licked his dry lips. He was still remembering the green light
buzzing in Hekate’s palms. “When you said ‘turned into green slime,’ you
didn’t really mean…”
Scathach nodded. “Sticky green slime. Quite disgusting. And I
understand the victim retains some measure of consciousness for a while.”
She glanced at Flamel. “I cannot remember the last person to cross one of the
Elders and live, can you?”
Flamel stood. “Let’s hope she doesn’t remember in the morning. Get
some rest,” he said to the twins. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”