The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #6) Read Online Free PDF

shook his head. “Too limiting and too time-consuming. We would only be able to see whatever wasreflected in glass or pools of water. We need a bigger picture.” He stopped suddenly and grinned. “Do you remember Pedro?” he asked.
    Perenelle looked blankly at him, and then her face lit up with a smile. “Pedro. Of course I remember Pedro.”
    “Who is Pedro?” Niten asked.
    “Was. Pedro is no more. Gone almost a hundred years,” Perenelle said.
    “King Pedro of Brazil?” Prometheus asked. “Pedro of Portugal? The explorer, the inventor?”
    “The parrot,” Perenelle said, “named in honor of our great friend, Periquillo Sarniento. For decades we had a Timor Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. I say ‘we,’ though in truth, he was bonded to Nicholas and only tolerated me. We found him as an abandoned chick when we were searching the ruins of Nan Madol in the eighteen hundreds. He was with us for almost eighty years.”
    Prometheus shook his head. “I really do not see—” he began.
    “Parrots are the most remarkable birds,” Nicholas continued, ignoring him. He stretched out his left arm and the merest hint of mint touched the salt air. His lips moved, his breath hissing softly between them. There was a sudden flutter of wings and a spectacular red-headed green-bodied parrot settled onto his outstretched hand. It tilted its head to one side, and a large silver and gold eye regarded him quizzically; then it slowly began to sidle up his arm. The Alchemyst ran the back of his finger down its breast. “Parrots are extraordinarilyintelligent. And their eyesight is marvelous. There are some species whose eyes weigh more than their brains. They can see into the infrared and ultraviolet spectra; they can even see waves of light.”
    “Alchemyst …,” Prometheus said.
    Nicholas focused on the parrot, blowing gently across its iridescent plumage. The parrot rubbed the top of its head across Flamel’s forehead and started to groom his bushy eyebrows.
    “Alchemyst,” Prometheus repeated, a note of irritation in his voice.
    “John Dee and his kind use rats and mice as eyes to spy for them,” Perenelle explained. “But over the years, Nicholas learned to see through Pedro’s eyes. It’s a simple transference process. You wrap the creature in your aura and then gently direct it.”
    “Pedro saved our lives on more than one occasion,” Nicholas said quietly. “It got so that he would scream at even the hint of Dee’s sulfur stench.” He brought his face close to the Cherry-Headed Conure and it ran its beak back and forth across his forehead, now grooming his close-cropped hair. “Prometheus, would you hold on to me now?” he continued. “I’m going to get a little dizzy.”
    “Why?” Niten asked, puzzled.
    “I’m going flying,” the Alchemyst whispered. He cocked his head and the parrot mimicked the movement. For an instant, they were eye to eye. The salt air turned sharp with mint and the conure shivered. As he stroked the bird, Flamel’s fingers left shimmering trails of green that were almostinvisible against the parrot’s feathers. Nicholas closed his eyes … and the parrot’s yellow eyes turned pale, almost colorless.
    Then, with a sudden flapping of wings, the bird took to the air, and Prometheus caught the Alchemyst as he slumped to the ground.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    “A
re you really our parents?” Sophie asked.
    “What a question!” Isis snapped.
    Sophie and Josh looked at one another. The twins were sitting in two narrow seats directly behind Isis and Osiris. Virginia Dare crouched on the floor behind them. Josh had attempted to give her his seat, but she’d told him she preferred not to be strapped in. She patted his face as she thanked him, and the touch sent a flush of heat through his entire body.
    Richard Newman—Osiris—swiveled around in the black leather seat and smiled. “Yes, we really are your parents. And we really are archaeologists and paleontologists—or at least, we