what do we tell her now?
Sophie chewed on her bottom lip, thinking aloud. We should tell her She
hesitated. Tell her we had the things with us at the shop. She knows we have
clothes there. That s not a lie. I hate lying to her.
Got it, Josh said, typing fast. The twins both kept clothes in his locker
in the back room of the bookshop for the occasional evening when they went to
the movies or walked down to the Embarcadero.
Tell her we have no cell service here. Just don't say where here is, she
added with a smile.
Josh looked disgusted. You mean we have no cell phones
I ve still got mine, but the battery is dead. Tell Mom that we ll call as
soon as we get a signal.
Josh continued to type. His finger hovered over the Enter key. Is that it?
Send it.
He hit Enter. Sent!
And you said there was an e-mail from Dad? she asked.
It s for me. He opened it, read it quickly and smiled broadly. He s sent a
jpeg of some fossil shark teeth he found. They look pretty good. And he s got
some new coprolites for my collection.
Coprolites. Sophie shook her head in mock disgust. Fossilized poo! Why
couldn't you collect stamps or coins like a regular person? It s just too
weird.
Weird? Josh looked up, suddenly irritated. Weird! Let me tell you what s
weird: we re in a house with a two-thousand-year-old vegetarian vampire, an
immortal alchemist, another immortal who s a musician specializing in Fire
magic and a French heroine who should have died sometime in the middle of the
fifteenth century. He nudged the sword on the floor with his foot. And
let s not forget the sword that was used to kill King Arthur. Josh s voice
had been rising as he spoke and he suddenly stopped and drew in a deep
shuddering breath, calming himself. He started to smile. Compared to all
that, I think collecting fossil poo is probably the least weird thing around
here! His smile turned to a grin and Sophie smiled, and then they were both
laughing. Josh laughed so hard he got the hiccups, and that made them laugh
even harder, until tears ran down their cheeks and their stomachs hurt.
Oh, stop, Josh moaned. He hiccupped again, and they both dissolved into
near hysteria.
It took a tremendous effort of will to control themselves, but for the first
time since Sophie had been Awakened, Josh felt close to her again. Usually,
they laughed every day; heading into work on Thursday morning was the last
time they d laughed together as they d watched a skinny man in roller skates
and running shorts being pulled along by a huge Dalmatian. All they needed to
do was to keep finding things to laugh at but unfortunately, there hadn't
been too many of those over the past few days.
Sophie sobered up first and turned back to the window. She could see her
brother in the glass and waited until he looked down at the screen before she
spoke. I m surprised you didn't object more when Nicholas suggested that
Francis train me in Fire magic, she said.
Josh raised his eyes and looked at his sister s face reflected in the window.
Would it have made any difference if I had? he asked seriously.
She took a moment to think. No. I suppose not, she admitted.
I didn't think so. You d still have done it.
Sophie turned to look directly at her twin. I have to. I need to.
I know, he said simply. I know that now.
Sophie blinked in surprise. You know?
Josh closed the laptop and dropped it on the bed. Then he picked up the sword
and rested it across his knees, absently rubbing the smooth blade. The stone
felt warm. I was angry, scared no, more than scared terrified when Flamel
had Hekate Awaken you. He didn't tell us about the dangers. He didn't tell us
that you could have died, or fallen into a coma. I ll never forgive him for
that.
He was pretty sure nothing would happen .
Pretty sure isn't sure enough.
Sophie nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
And then, when the Witch of Endor passed her knowledge to you, I was scared
again. But not so much scared for you I was scared of you, he admitted very
softly.
Josh, how can you even say that? Sophie began, genuinely shocked. I m your
twin. The look on his face silenced her.
You haven t seen what I ve seen, he said earnestly. I watched you stand up
to the cat-headed woman. I saw your lips move, but when you spoke, the words
were out of sync, and when you looked at me, you didn't recognize me. I don't
know what you were but you weren t my twin sister then. You were possessed.
Sophie blinked and huge tears rolled down her cheeks. She had only the
vaguest memories, little more than dreamlike fragments, of what her brother
was talking about.
Then, in Ojai, I watched you make whirlwinds, and today yesterday I saw you
make fog out of nothing.
I don't know how I do those things, she murmured.
I know, Soph, I know. He stood up and crossed to the window, looking out
over the rooftops of Paris. I understand that now. I've been thinking about
it a lot. Your powers have been Awakened, but the only way you ll be able to
control them, the only way you ll be safe, is by being trained. At the moment
they are as much a danger to you as they are to our enemies. Joan of Arc
helped you today, didn't she?
Yes, she helped a lot. I don't hear the voices anymore. That s a huge help.
But there s another reason too, isn't there? Sophie asked.
Josh turned the sword over in his hand, the blade almost black in the night,
tiny flecks of crystal in the stone winking like stars. We have no idea what
sort of trouble we re in, he said slowly. But we do know that we re in
danger real danger. We re fifteen years old we shouldn't be thinking about
being killed or eaten or worse! He waved vaguely in the direction of the
door. I don't trust them. The only person I can trust is you the real you.
But Josh, Sophie said very gently, I do trust them. They are good people.
Scatty has fought for humanity for over two thousand years, and Joan is a
kind and gentle person .
And Flamel has kept the Codex hidden away for centuries, Josh said quickly.
He touched his chest and Sophie heard the crackle of the two pages in the bag
Flamel had given him. There are recipes in this book that could make this
planet a paradise, could cure every disease. He saw the flicker of doubt in
her eyes and pressed on. And you know that s true.
The Witch s memories also tell me that there are recipes in the book that
could destroy this world.
Josh shook his head quickly. I think you re seeing what they want you to
see.
Sophie pointed to the sword. But why did Flamel give you the sword and the
Codex pages? she asked triumphantly.
I think I know they re using us. I just don't know what for. Not yet,
anyway. He saw his twin start to shake her head. Anyway, we re going to
need your powers to keep us both safe.
Sophie reached out and squeezed her brother s hand. You know I d never let
anything hurt you.
I know that, Josh said seriously. At least, not deliberately. But what
happens if something uses you, like it did in the Shadowrealm?
Sophie nodded. I had no control then, she admitted. It was like I was in a