01_-_The_Alchemyst

while others were less well known, like yourself, and a few remained
completely anonymous.”
“And if I—a human—was chosen to caretake this precious Codex,
because your people cannot even look upon it, much less touch it, then it is
obvious that another human must have been chosen to find it,” Flamel said.
“Dee.”
Hekate nodded. “A dangerous enemy, Dr. John Dee.”
Flamel nodded. He could feel the cool, dry pages against his skin
beneath his T-shirt. Although he had possessed the Codex for more than half a
millennium, he knew he had barely even begun to scratch the surface of its
secrets. He still had no real idea just how old it was. He kept pushing the
date of its creation back further and further. When the Book first came to him
in the fourteenth century, he believed it to be five hundred years old. Later,
when he started to do his research, he thought it might be eight hundred years
old, then a thousand years, then two thousand years old. A century ago, in
light of the new discoveries coming out of the tombs of Egypt, he had
reassessed the age of the Book at five thousand years. And now, here was
Hekate, who was ten thousand and more years old, saying she had been
around when the mysterious Abraham the Mage had composed the Book. But
if the Elder Race—the gods of mythology and legend—could neither handle
nor look upon the book, then what was Abraham, its creator? Was he of the
Elder Race, a humani or something else, one of the many other mythical races
that walked the earth in those first days?
“Why are you here?” Hekate asked. “I knew the Codex had been taken
as soon as it left your presence, but I cannot help you recover it.”
“I have come to you for another reason,” Flamel continued, stepping
away from the car and lowering his voice, forcing Hekate to lean close to
listen to him. “When Dee attacked me, stole the Book and snatched Perry,
two humani came to our aid. A young man and his sister.” He paused and then
added, “Twins.”
“Twins?” she said, her voice as flat and expressionless as her face.
“Twins. Look at them: tell me what you see.”