The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

on Danu Talis ten thousand years ago.
    “So, you need my help?”
    “Yes, I thought you might be able to assist me,” he admitted. “We are so close now, victory is almost at hand. I do not want to leave anything to chance.”
    “Very wise.” Bastet swept out her right hand, claws shredding the fog. “Is this yours? It is a nice touch.”
    “Thank you. I thought you would approve.”
    “The humani have always feared the nights. Especially foggy nights. Deep in their genetic memories, they must remember what it was like to be hunted.” The goddess showed her teeth in a feral grin.
    Quetzalcoatl lifted his hand and pointed to the right. Through the billowing fog, the merest outline of metal was barely visible. He blinked and his pupils changed shape, and he suddenly saw the world in shades of red and black. “The Golden Gate Bridge is here.” He pointed to the left. “I’m not sure if you can see it, but over there is Alcatraz. . . .”
    “I can see it. Do you forget what I am, what I became?” she hissed bitterly.
    “The Change altered all of us,” Quetzalcoatl said carefully.
    “Some more than others.”
    “Indeed.” The Feathered Serpent continued. “Beyond Alcatraz is Treasure Island, and just behind the island is the Bay Bridge.”
    Bastet turned up the collar of her fur coat. “I did not come here for a geography lesson.”
    “This fog covers everything within a hundred-mile radius. Nothing is moving on land or sea. I have ensured that there have been countless accidents. The authorities are stretched to the limit. The Golden Gate and Bay Bridges are already closed.” He consulted an overlarge watch on his wrist. “Soon a fuel tanker will cross the central divide on Dumbarton Bridge and burst into flames.”
    “How do you know?” Bastet asked.
    “I don’t believe in leaving anything to chance.” He checked his watch again. “In five minutes, there will be a series of accidents at the tollgates on the San Mateo Bridge, which will completely seal the bridges. And in ten minutes, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which supplies most of the power to this side of the country, is going to suffer a devastating series of computer failures.” Quetzalcoatl grinned, showing his own savage teeth. “Everything will go dark.”
    “Can you do that?”
    “Indeed. I experimented a couple of years ago on the East Coast. The great Northeast blackout was a success.”
    “This is all very impressive. So, what do you want me for?” Bastet asked.
    “You know we have creatures on Alcatraz?”
    “I know that.”
    “And you know that Dee has betrayed us.”
    “I know he was declared
utlaga
.”
    “He was supposed to release the beasts from the island, but he didn’t, and now he’s vanished.”
    “Don’t you have people you can use?” Bastet hissed. “I have no servants left this far north.”
    “I put two of my best people on the job. Billy the Kid and Black Hawk.” He paused and coughed. “They were accompanied by the Italian immortal, Machiavelli.”
    Bastet hissed. “There are certain humani we should have butchered and eaten a long time ago. The Flamels, for example, and Dee, and certainly Machiavelli. You know I love Italian food.”
    Quetzalcoatl sighed. “I agree with you. Machiavelli and Billy went to the island to loose the monsters into the city.”
    “And?” Bastet turned toward San Francisco and tilted her head to one side, listening. “I’m not hearing any screams.”
    “They failed,” Quetzalcoatl said quietly. “I don’t know how. I did see the Lotan swim in toward the Embarcadero, but it was slain by the Flamels. I’ve lost touch with Billy and Machiavelli, and Black Hawk has simply disappeared. I can only assume that they are all dead.” He ground his teeth in frustration. “We are so close, mistress. So very close. We have an island full of monsters less than a mile away from the city streets, and when we do manage to get one almost ashore, we are defeated by a couple of immortals.”
    “How many immortals?”
    “A handful. Flamel, his dangerous wife, the Japanese warrior and, unfortunately, our own Prometheus.”
    Bastet wrapped her arms around her body and shivered. “I thought he never left his Shadowrealm.”
    “It is no more. Faded to shadows and dust.”
    “Curious. And what of the supposed twins of legend? The Flamels and Dee were convinced they had them. Again.”
    Quetzalcoatl’s teeth flashed in a smile. “They have vanished from the