01_-_The_Alchemyst

“I cannot believe you led them here,” Scatty said, shoving handfuls of
clothes into a backpack.
Nicholas Flamel stood in the doorway of Scatty’s tiny bedroom, arms
folded across his chest. “Everything happened so fast. It was bad enough
when Dee got the Codex, but when I realized there were pages missing, I
knew the twins would be in trouble.”
At the mention of the word twins, Scatty looked up from her packing.
“They’re the real reason you’re here, aren’t they?”
Flamel suddenly found something very interesting to stare at on the wall.
Scatty strode across the small room, glanced out into the hall, to make
sure Sophie and Josh were still in the kitchen, and then pulled Flamel into the
room and pushed the door closed.
“You’re up to something, aren’t you?” she demanded. “This is about
more than just the loss of the Codex. You could have taken Dee and his
minions on your own.”
“Don’t be so sure. It’s been a long time since I fought, Scathach,”
Flamel said gently. “The only alchemy I do now is to brew a little of the
philosopher’s stone potion to keep Perenelle and myself young.
Occasionally, I’ll make a little gold or the odd jewel when we need some
money.”
Scatty coughed a short humorless laugh, and spun back to her packing.
She had changed into a pair of black combat pants, steel-toed Magnum boots
and a black T-shirt, over which she wore a black vest covered in pockets and
zippers. She pushed a second pair of trousers into her backpack, found one
sock and went looking for its match under her bed.
“Nicholas Flamel,” she said, her voice muffled by the blankets, “you
are the most powerful alchemyst in the known world. Remember, I stood
beside you when we fought the demon Fomor, and you were the one who
rescued me from the dungeons of An Chaor-Thanach and not the other way
around.” She came out from under the bed with the missing sock. “When the
Rusalka were terrorizing St. Petersburg, you alone turned them back, and
when Black Annis raged across Manitoba, I watched you defeat her. You