01_-_The_Alchemyst

Concentrating, he directed his auric energy to flow through his fingers into
the floor.
The wood started to glow.
Still watching from the landing, the twins were unsure what Flamel was
doing. They could see the faint green glow around his body, rising off his
flesh like mist, but they couldn’t work out why the furry mass of rats gathered
in the doorway had not burst into the room.
“Maybe there’s some sort of spell keeping them from coming in,”
Sophie said, knowing instinctively that her twin was thinking the same thing.
Scatty heard her. She was systematically shredding the yellow square of
paper she’d taken from the Golem’s mouth to tiny pieces. “It’s just a simple
warding spell,” she called up, “designed to keep bugs and vermin off the
floor. I used to come in here every morning and find bug droppings and moths
all over the place; it took ages to sweep it clean. The warding spell is
keeping the rats at bay…but all it takes is one to break through and the spell
will be broken. Then they’ll all come.”
Nicholas Flamel was fully aware that John Dee could probably see him
though the eyes of the rats. He picked out the largest, a cat-sized creature that
remained unmoving while the rest of the vermin scuttled and heaved about it.
With his right hand still buried in the floorboard, Flamel pointed his left hand
directly at the rat. The creature twitched and, for a single instant, its eyes
blazed with sickly yellow light.
“Dr. John Dee, you have made the biggest mistake of your long life. I
will be coming for you,” Flamel promised aloud.
Dee glanced up from his scrying bowl to see that Perenelle Flamel was
wide awake and watching him intently. “Ah, Madame, you are just in time to
see my creatures overpower your husband. Plus, I’ll finally have an
opportunity to deal with that pest Scathach, and I’ll have the pages of the
book.” Dee didn’t notice that Perenelle’s eyes had widened at the mention of