Josh.
Wake up.
Josh. Wake up.
Josh.
And Josh woke up, hearing Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel’s voices ringing in his head.
He remembered lying down on the uncomfortable couch in Prometheus’s guesthouse; then there was a dream… a long, boring dream.
Or was it a dream?
He was sitting on a high stool in a modern-looking apartment, with Dr. John Dee and the almost-familiar-looking young woman from his dream watching him.
“You’re awake!” Dee said, sounding surprised.
Confusion gave way to fear, which quickly turned to anger. “What have you done to me?” Instinctively, Josh snatched Clarent from the table and slid off the stool, holding the sword in both hands. Instantly, he felt its familiar heat flow up his body, and his aura started to harden into gold-plated armor around his flesh. He looked around quickly, trying to get his bearings. “Where am I? Where’s my sister? What have you done with Sophie?”
Keeping the Codex pressed close to his chest, Dee stepped right up to the tip of the outstretched blade. “Do you remember the dream, Josh? The dream of the long drive?”
Josh took a step backward and nodded.
Dee stepped forward. “That was no dream.”
“What did you do-put a spell on me?” he said, horrified by the thought.
Dee shrugged. “I don’t like the word spell -it’s so old-fashioned. Technically, I asked Mars Ultor to call you. You are connected to him; you will remain connected to him for the rest of your life.”
“Where am I?” Josh asked, though he already had an inkling of the answer.
“You know where you are: in San Francisco, just below Coit Tower, in the offices of Enoch Enterprises, my company.”
Clarent was shivering in Josh’s grip. Golden gloves had formed around his hands and forearms, but the metal around his palms and fingertips where he held the sword was stained rust-red.
“So thank you for coming,” Dee continued, smiling as if nothing were out of the ordinary. He half turned. “This is my associate, Miss Virginia Dare.”
The woman nodded but didn’t smile. Josh noticed that she had a wooden stick-a flute?-in her hand.
“Miss Dare is, like myself, an immortal.” Dee turned quickly to Josh. “Would you like that, do you think? Would you want to become immortal?”
Josh blinked in surprise. Listening to Nicholas, then Scathach and Aoife talking about it, he’d vaguely wondered what it would be like to live forever, but he’d never actually thought about it seriously. “I’m not sure,” he said.
“I can’t make you immortal, nor can Virginia, but we know Elders who could grant you that gift,” Dee continued. “In fact, Mars would probably make you immortal if you asked.”
Completely confused now by the bizarre situation, Josh looked from the Magician to the woman. “I’m not sure I…”
“He’s too young to become immortal,” Virginia said abruptly. “He’s still a boy. He would be trapped as a boy forever. Ask him again in five years’ time.”
Dee smiled, gray eyes sparkling. “In five years. Yes, what a good idea. We’ll put that question to you then. Think about it,” he said lightly. “To be twenty-one forever.”
“I want to go,” Josh said, looking around for a way out.
“Of course.” The Magician pointed with the hand holding the Codex. “There is a lift over there, and a staircase in the corner.”
Josh blinked in surprise. “I can just leave?” he asked.
“Of course.” Dee laughed. “Josh, I am not your enemy. I have never been your enemy. I told you the last time we met who the Flamels were- what they were. Didn’t I?”
Josh nodded and he slowly lowered the sword.
“You’ve been with them-what?-a week. I daresay you’ve discovered some unpleasant things about them yourself.”
Josh nodded again.
“And the question is, of course: what else have they lied to you about?”
“We learned about the other twins,” Josh admitted. He was reminded again of the great difference between Dee and Flamel. The Alchemyst always seemed to be talking down to him; the Magician spoke to him as an equal.
“Did they tell you how many?”
Josh shook his head. “I got the impression that there had been a dozen, something like that.”
Dee shook his head. “Hundreds,” he said. “Well, hundreds that we know of. When they could not find twins, they went hunting individuals with gold and silver auras-and when they could not find gold, they took any shades they could find: bronze, orange, even reds, and when there was no silver to be found, they used gray, alabaster, even white. Some children went willingly with them, others they bought, some they even kidnapped.”
“What happened to them?” Josh asked in a horrified whisper. “Flamel said some survived.”
“Flamel lies.”
“Tell me what happened to them!” Josh demanded this time, his voice rising to a shout.
Dee turned away, shaking his head. “It is too horrible to even think about. Did you ask the Alchemyst?”
“He didn’t give us a real answer.”
“Well, that tells you all you need to know,” Dee said. “Josh, let me say this to you again: I am not your enemy. I have always dealt fairly and truthfully with you. And, you’ll admit, I have always answered your questions. Can you say that about the Alchemyst and his wife?”
Josh shook his head. He was frightened now-terrified-because his sister was still with Flamel and the others. He had to get her away from them. A sudden thought struck him. “What about the army of monsters on Alcatraz?”
“There are beasts on the island, that is true. But Alcatraz is, as it has always been, a prison, Josh. When someone like me comes across a monster on this earth, we capture it and imprison it on the island. That is why Perenelle-who is as monstrous as any beast-was there.”
Clarent was now pointing toward the floor, and the gold had gone from most of Josh’s hands. Only his fingertips remained metallic and bloodred where they touched the stone.
“Why did you call me?”
“First to get you away from the Alchemyst and the Sorceress’s influence so you could think for yourself and make your own decisions. And second, to make you an offer.” Dee laid the Codex on the table and crossed the room to slump on a couch. Still holding Clarent, Josh followed and sat directly opposite him. Virginia moved around to stand in the shadows behind Dee.
“You are Gold, Josh. Pure Gold. There have been perhaps a dozen people in the history of the world to have a pure gold aura: Tutankhamen, Moctezuma, Askia, Osei Tutu, Midas, Jason and even the creator of the Codex, Abraham himself. In less than a week, you have been Awakened and trained in Water and Fire.” Dee shook his head. “That is astonishing. But you need to make a decision now. You need to know which side you are fighting for.”
Josh placed the sword on the floor and buried his head in his hands. “I don’t know what to think,” he said, confused and miserable. “I just don’t know. When I’m talking to Flamel… he makes it sound as if you’re the villain… and yet, when I’m talking to you, you sound so reasonable. I think I sort of believe you. Not completely, though,” he added quickly.
“I understand,” Dee said gently. “Truly, I do.” He paused and then leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “There is something I can do for you, a gift I can give you that will allow you to discern the truth for yourself.”
Josh looked up, frowning, suddenly remembering. “When I got here-you said something about being able to teach me one of the most powerful of all the magics, something that not even Nicholas could teach me.” He stopped, cautious about continuing. “Or did I dream that?”
“No, you did not dream it.” Dee stood and dusted off his hands. “There is one art that the legendary Alchemyst never learned.”
Josh stood. “Why not?” he asked.
“Because your friend Nicholas is neither as powerful nor as clever as he likes to appear.” Dee’s eyes sparkled. “Josh, I can give you the power to raise the dead, to talk to them, to command them.”
Josh blinked. “The dead…,” he began, not quite sure how he felt about that. It didn’t sound like a particularly powerful gift.
“Think about it.” Dee grabbed Josh’s arms, and threads of his yellow aura coiled like tiny serpents around the boy’s wrists. “You will be able to question any dead people, from any age, about the Flamels. Ask them whatever you wish-and they can only tell you the truth. While you animate them, you are their master and they must obey you. Find people who knew the Flamels-who knew me, even-and question them. You will be able to determine the truth for yourself. Then decide whom you want to fight for.”
The possibilities shocked Josh into silence. Finally, incredulously, he asked, “Anyone?”
“Anyone.” Dee nodded. “All you need is the smallest fragment of bone.”
“Or a piece of clothing or jewelry,” Virginia Dare said quietly from the shadows. “Or a sword they carried,” she added, indicating the sword lying at his feet.
“Is that how you raised the creatures in Ojai?” Josh asked Dee.
“Yes.”
“You animated animals. Could I bring back dinosaurs?”
“Yes. Anything dead you can bring back to life. It is an awesome power,” Dee said. “Do you want to learn it?”
“Yes,” Josh said eagerly, “what do I have to do?”
“Well, first you can help me push this furniture out of the way. Apparently Miss Dare does not move furniture.”
Josh helped Dee shove a heavy sofa up against the wall. “What’s this magic called, and why are we clearing the floor?”
“I am going to make you a necromancer, Josh.” Dee smiled. “Normally, it would take decades to train you, but there is someone who can grant you this gift instantaneously. All you have to do is summon her.” He indicated the cleared floor. “She’s traveling through a distant Shadowrealm, but we can call her back here.”
“An Elder?”
“Better than an Elder: an Archon. We are going to call Coatlicue, the Mother of All the Gods.”