01_-_The_Alchemyst

CHAPTER THIRTY
Josh Newman jerked open the door of the black SUV and felt a wave of
relief wash over him. The keys were in the ignition. He pulled open the rear
door and held it while Nicholas Flamel hurried toward the car, carrying
Sophie in his arms. He reached in and gently stretched her out on the
backseat. Scatty burst through the barrier of leaves and came hurtling down
the path, a broad smile on her face.
“Now, that,” she said as she launched herself into the back of the SUV,
“was the most fun I’ve had in a millennium.”
Josh climbed into the driver’s seat, adjusted it and turned the key in the
ignition. The big V6 engine growled to life.
Flamel hopped into the passenger’s seat and slammed the door. “Get us
out of here!”
Josh pushed the gearshift into drive, gripped the leather steering wheel
in both hands and pressed the accelerator flat to the floor. The big Hummer
lurched forward, kicking up stones and dirt as he spun it in a circle and then
set off down the narrow path, rocking and bouncing over the ruts, tree
branches and bushes scraping its sides, scoring lines along its pristine
paintwork.
Although the sun had risen in both the Shadowrealm and the real world,
the road was still in deep shadow, and no matter where Josh looked, he still
couldn’t find the controls for the lights. He kept glancing in the side and
rearview mirrors, expecting at any moment to see the Morrigan or the Cat
Goddess step through the wall of vegetation behind them. It was only when
the path ended in a burst of sunshine and he wrenched the steering wheel to
the right, turning the heavy SUV onto the narrow, winding blacktop, that he
eased off the gas. The Hummer immediately lost speed.