The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

his other hand held high, each bony finger tipped with a dancing yellow flame like a candle. When he peered out into the gloom, his eyes burned red and round, reflecting the flames. He barked like a dog, then reverted to English. “Where are you, Nicholas Flamel? Let me see you before you die.”
    The Alchemyst stepped forward and allowed his green aura to illuminate him. “What will you do, monster, with no boat to bring your beasts ashore? It seems you are trapped on the island with me.”
    Xolotl waved his burning hand vaguely toward the city of San Francisco, scattering flame. “There are more boats, Alchemyst. Dee purchased a small fleet of the tourist boats for this eventuality. Even as we speak, they are making their way toward us, or they will when the fog clears.” He shook his head. “I did tell my brother that the fog was a mistake. But until the boats arrive, how shall we amuse ourselves?” The dog’s jaw gaped in a grin. “Why, by hunting you down.” He pointed toward the Alchemyst with his burning hand and a dozen silent anpu raced to his side. “Bring them to me. Alive! I will have the pleasure of killing you myself, Alchemyst,” Xolotl promised.
    Nicholas clapped his hands together and a wall of green flame sprang up on the hard earth directly in front of him. The intense heat drove the jackal-headed warriors back, their fur singed and smoking.
    “This is an island, Alchemyst, there is no place to hide,” Xolotl howled.
    “I am not hiding,” Nicholas said, stepping away from the flame. “I am coming for you, monster.”
    “You will die on this island!”
    “And you will die with me.”
    Nicholas turned back to Perenelle and the Crow Goddess. “We need to awaken Areop-Enap now. She is our only hope.”
    “And what if we cannot?” the Crow Goddess asked.
    Perenelle and Nicholas looked at her, saying nothing. Finally Perenelle spoke. “We will awaken her,” she said shortly. “Or we will die trying.”
    “And probably be eaten,” Nicholas added with a smile.
    “Is it always this exciting around you two?” the Crow Goddess asked.
    “Even for us, this last week has been . . . exceptional,” Nicholas said.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
    “STAY HERE. DO not leave the room,” Isis ordered.
    “Touch nothing,” Osiris added. “The age of most of the artifacts here can be measured in tens of millennia.”
    “Do not leave the room,” Isis repeated. “When we leave, lock the door behind us. Do not open it for anyone.”
    “What about you?” Josh asked.
    Isis frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “You said not to open it for anyone—does that include you?”
    She sighed. “Josh, you’re being deliberately stupid now. Of course you’ll open it for us. We’ll be back in less than an hour to take you up to be presented to the council.”
    Osiris rubbed his hands together eagerly, and in that moment resembled the man the twins had called Dad. “We were able to speak to some Elders already, so everyone knows you’re here. There will be huge excitement when you arrive.”
    “Yes. Everyone is talking about you,” Isis added. “Now, remember . . .”
    “Lock the door,” Josh finished.
    “Don’t leave the room,” Sophie added.
    Isis nodded, but there was no smile on her face. She clearly didn’t find the twins’ attitude funny. She pulled the heavy door behind her as she left and it closed with an echoing boom. Josh struggled to turn the massive circular key the Elders had left in the lock. It finally clicked into place, leaving the twins alone in one of the largest rooms they had ever seen.
    “It’s enormous,” Josh breathed. “You could fit a football field in here.”
    Sophie walked toward the center of the floor. “More than one,” she said, looking left, then right. The twins stood in a windowless room so big that they couldn’t see the walls to their left or their right through the gloomy shadows. The wall directly in front of them slanted inward at an angle.
    Sophie pointed toward it. “That must be the outer wall of the pyramid.”
    “It looks like this room runs the entire length of the building,” Josh said.
    “That would make it about a mile and a half long.”
    “Now, that’s a big room,” he said. “I’m surprised it’s not divided up into smaller rooms. It would make more sense.”
    “Josh, these people make worlds, they create entire Shadowrealms. They are never going to divide up a room just to be practical.” She paused for a moment, then