The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

the time she arrives.”
    “She knows that. She said she would avenge us.”
    “That’s very comforting.”
    “She was going to stop off in Wyoming and pick up the Elders Ynaguinid and Macanduc.”
    Prometheus nodded. “Tremendous warriors,” he said. “The bravest of the brave.”
    “. . . who are in Wyoming,” Perenelle said. “Which is no use to us.”
    “Davy Crockett’s driving down from Seattle,” Niten said. “But that is at least a day away. Even with the way he drives.”
    Nicholas finished his coffee and carefully replaced the empty cup in the cardboard holder. “So what you are saying is that a lot of help is coming, but none of it is going to arrive in time.”
    The Elder and the immortal nodded simultaneously.
    “Meanwhile,” Perenelle added, “we already know several Dark Elders live in and around the city. Eris lives just down the road in Haight-Ashbury. . . .”
    Prometheus waved his hand dismissively. “We can ignore her. She’s been quiet for centuries. Nowadays she spends her time crocheting.”
    “Is this the same Eris who caused the Trojan War because she didn’t get a wedding invitation?” Perenelle asked in disbelief. “Do you think she’ll sit quietly by and crochet while the rest of her foul clan invade the city?”
    “Probably not,” Prometheus agreed.
    “So it’s just us,” Nicholas said.
    “I’ve said it before. The island is the key,” Niten said.
    “I’m concerned about Odin and Hel,” the Alchemyst continued. “And Mars, too. When I saw them, Hel was wounded and they were barely holding their own. And I’m particularly worried about Black Hawk. He has completely disappeared. I fear we’ve lost him to the Nereids.”
    “We need to take the battle to the heart of the enemy,” Niten said decisively. “We must regain the initiative. If we delay, the Dark Elders will arrive and we will be forced to fight on two fronts. And that is a battle we cannot win. We need to get to Alcatraz.”
    “How?” Prometheus asked. “Nothing will venture out into the bay in this fog.”
    Nicholas looked at Perenelle. “Do you remember when we were on the Isle of Man and Dee turned up with his trained ghouls? Remember how we got away?”
    Perenelle grinned. “I remember the look on the Magician’s face.” Her smile faded. “But, Nicholas, we were a lot younger then, and a lot—a whole lot—stronger.”
    “Okay, so we’ll burn up a little aura.” He shrugged. “We have nothing to lose.”
    Perenelle leaned in to quickly kiss her husband’s cheek. “True.”
    “How did you get off the island?” Niten asked.
    “We walked.”
    “On water?”
    Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel nodded.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    “I UNDERSTAND THERE was a little . . . unpleasantness earlier,” Osiris said.
    “No,” Virginia said evenly. She was watching as the servants laid out a round gold and silver table in the back garden of the circular house. None of the servants were human. Both males and females had the bodies of humans, and their features were almost—though not quite—those of animals. The females appeared to have cat genes, while the males had either dog or pig. And no two were identical.
    A trio of cat-girls appeared. One was lightly furred, another had a long curling tail and the third had the speckled pattern of a leopard across her face and bare shoulders. All had whiskers. They laid out baskets of fruit on the table and scampered silently away on all fours.
    “Genetic manipulation?” Virginia asked.
    “Something like that,” Osiris said. “A combination of Earthlord , Archon and Great Elder expertise, fired by our auras. Isis and I are creating endless Shadowrealms. We need to populate them. And the humani are not suitable for every world. The average humani struggles to survive even in this world. So we tweak them a little, give them some advantages. The cat-women, for example, will do well in a jungle world, and we’ll try out the dogs and pigs as hunters and trackers. They are flexible enough to go into any number of environments.”
    “It is science or magic?” Virginia asked.
    “Who was it who said that any sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic? Einstein? Newton?”
    “Clarke,” she said quietly.
    “The humani are essentially a vulnerable race. We are giving them some of the advantages nature forgot.”
    “Humans have spread all across the globe, in any number of environments, without your advantages,” Virginia