The Alchemyst Read Online Free PDF Page A

cracking. He swallowed hard, conscious now that his heart was thumping in his chest. What had started out as just another ordinary Thursday afternoon had turned into something strange and terrible. He played a lot of computer games, read some fantasy novels, and in those,
elder
always meant ancient and dangerous. “Elder, as in old?”
    “Very old,” Flamel agreed.
    “You mean there are more like Dee, like you?” Josh said, then winced as Sophie kicked his shins.
    Flamel turned to look at Josh, his colorless eyes now clouded with anger. “There are others like Dee, yes, and others like me, too, but Dee and I are not alike. We were never alike,” Flamel added bitterly. “We chose to follow different paths, and his has led him down some very dark roads. He too is immortal, though even I am not sure how he retains his youth. But we are both human.” He turned to the cash register, which was lying broken open on the floor, and started scooping out the money as he spoke. When he turned to look at the twins, they were startled by the grim expression on his face. “Those whom Dee serves are not and never were from the race of man.” Shoving the money into his pockets, he grabbed a battered leather jacket off the floor. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
    “Where will you go? What will you do?” Sophie asked.
    “What about us?” Josh finished the thought for her, as she often did for him.
    “First I have to get you to a place of safety before Dee realizes that the pages are missing. Then I’ll go in search of Perenelle.”
    The twins looked at each other. “Why do you have to get us to a safe place?” Sophie asked.
    “We don’t know anything,” Josh said.
    “Once Dee discovers that the Book is incomplete, he will return for the missing pages. And I guarantee you, he will leave no witnesses on this earth.”
    Josh started to laugh, but the sound died in his throat when he realized that his sister was not even smiling. “You’re…” He licked suddenly dry lips. “You’re saying that he would kill us?”
    Nicholas Flamel tilted his head to one side, considering. “No,” he said finally, “not kill you.”
    Josh heaved a sigh of relief.
    “Believe me,” Flamel continued. “Dee can do much worse to you. Much worse.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    T he twins stood on the sidewalk outside the bookshop, glass from the broken windows crunching under their feet, watching as Nick produced a key. “But we can’t just leave,” Sophie said firmly.
    Josh nodded. “We’re not going anywhere.”
    Nick Fleming—or Flamel, as they were beginning to think of him—turned the key in the lock of the bookshop and rattled the door. Within the shop, they could hear books sliding onto the floor. “I really loved this shop,” Flamel muttered. “It reminded me of my very first job.” He glanced at Sophie and Josh. “You have no choice. If you want to survive the rest of the day, you have to leave now.” Then he turned away, pulling on his battered leather jacket as he hurried across the road to The Coffee Cup. The twins looked at each other, then hurried after him.
    “You’ve got keys to lock up?”
    Sophie nodded. She produced the two keys on their Golden Gate Bridge key ring. “Look, if Bernice comes back and finds the shop closed, she’ll probably call the police or something….”
    “Good point,” Flamel said. “Leave a note,” he told Sophie, “something short—you had to leave suddenly, some sort of emergency, that sort of thing. Say that I accompanied you. Scribble it; make it look as if you left in a hurry. Are your parents still on that dig in Utah?” The twins’ parents were archaeologists, currently on loan to the University of San Francisco.
    Sophie nodded. “For another six weeks at least.”
    “We’re still staying with Aunt Agnes in Pacific Heights,” Josh added. “Aunt Agony.”
    “We can’t just disappear. She’ll be expecting us home for dinner,” Sophie said. “If we’re even five