The Alchemyst by Michael Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

opposite end of the corridor. Josh was about to take a step toward the door when Flamel’s iron hand clamped onto his shoulder.
    “Don’t move,” he murmured. “Wait. Look. Notice. If you keep those three words in mind, you just might survive the next few days.” Digging into his pocket, he picked out a quarter. Positioning it on his thumb, he flicked it into the air. It spun over and over and began to fall toward the middle of the hallway….
    There was a barely perceptible hiss—and a needle-tipped dart punched right through the metal coin, impaling it in midair and pinning it to the opposite wall.
    “You’ve left the safe and mundane world you once knew,” Nicholas Flamel said seriously, looking at each twin in turn. “Nothing is as it seems. You must learn to question everything. To wait before moving, to look before stepping and to observe everything. I learned these lessons in alchemy, but you will find them invaluable in this new world you’ve unwittingly wandered into.” He pointed down the corridor. “Look and observe. Tell me: what do you see?”
    Josh spotted the first tiny hole in the wall. It was camouflaged to look like a knot in the wood. Once he found the first one, he realized that there were dozens of holes in the walls. He wondered if each hole held a tiny dart that was powerful enough to punch through metal.
    Sophie noticed that the floor did not join neatly with the wall. In three separate places—on both the left-and right-hand sides, close to the skirting—there was a definite gap.
    Flamel nodded. “Well done. Now watch. We’ve seen what the darts can do, but there is another defense….” He took a tissue out of his pocket and tossed it onto the floor, close to one of the narrow openings. There was a single metallic clink—and then a huge half-moon-shaped blade popped out from the wall, sliced the tissue into confetti and slid back into hiding.
    “So if the darts don’t get you…,” Josh began.
    “The blades will,” Sophie finished. “Well, how do we get to the door?”
    “We don’t,” Flamel said, and turned to push on the wall to the left. An entire section clicked open and swung back, allowing the trio to step into a huge, airy room.
    The twins recognized the room immediately: it was a dojo, a martial arts school. Since they were little, they had studied tae kwon do in dojang like this across the United States as they traveled with their parents from university to university. Many schools had martial arts clubs on campus, and their parents always enrolled them in the best dojo they could find. Both Sophie and Josh were red belts, one rank below a black belt.
    Unlike other dojos, however, this one was plain and unadorned, decorated in shades of white and cream, with white walls and black mats dotted across the floor. But what immediately caught their attention was the single figure dressed in a white T-shirt and white jeans sitting with its back to them in the center of the room. The figure’s spiky bright red hair was the only spot of color in the entire dojo.
    “We’ve got a problem,” Nicholas Flamel said simply, addressing the figure.
    “
You’ve
got a problem; that’s nothing to do with me.” The figure didn’t turn, but the voice was surprisingly both female and young, the accent soft and vaguely Celtic: Irish or Scottish, Sophie thought.
    “Dee found me today.”
    “It was only a matter of time.”
    “He came after me with Golems.”
    There was a pause. Still the figure didn’t turn. “He always was a fool. You don’t use Golems in a dry climate. That’s his arrogance.”
    “He has taken Perenelle prisoner.”
    “Ah. That’s tough. He’ll not harm her, though.”
    “And he has the Codex.”
    The figure moved, coming slowly to her feet and turning to face them. The twins were shocked to discover that they were looking at a girl not much older than themselves. Her skin was pale, dappled with freckles, and her round face was dominated by grass