The Magician | Page 2

would be his. Then the smile faded as he
felt the cell phone in his back pocket buzz silently. For an instant he was
tempted to ignore it; he d given his staff strict instructions that he was
not to be disturbed unless it was absolutely critical. He also knew they were
so terrified of him that they would not phone unless it was an emergency.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the ultraslim phone and glanced down.
A picture of a sword pulsed gently on the large LCD screen.
Machiavelli s smile vanished. In that second he knew he was not going to be
able to buy the Kabuki masks this century. Turning on his heel, he strode out
of the room and pressed the phone to his ear. Behind him, he could hear the
auctioneer s hammer hit the lectern Sold. For two hundred and sixty thousand
euro
I m here, Machiavelli said, reverting to the Italian of his youth.
The line crackled and an English-accented voice responded in the same
language, using a dialect that had not been heard in Europe for more than
four hundred years. I need your help.
The man on the other end of the line didn t identify himself, nor did he need
to; Machiavelli knew it was the immortal magician and necromancer Dr. John
Dee, one of the most powerful and dangerous men in the world.
Niccol Machiavelli strode out of the small hotel into the broad cobbled
square of the Place du Tertre and stopped to breathe in the chill night air.
What can I do for you? he asked cautiously. He detested Dee and knew the
feeling was mutual, but they both served the Dark Elders, and that meant they
had been forced to work together down through the centuries. Machiavelli was
also slightly envious that Dee was younger than he and looked it. Machiavelli
had been born in Florence in 1469, which made him fifty-eight years older
than the English Magician. History recorded that he had died in the same year
that Dee had been born, 1527.
Flamel is back in Paris.
Machiavelli straightened. When?
Just now. He got there through a leygate. I ve no idea where it comes out.
He s got Scathach with him .
Machiavelli s lips curled into an ugly grimace. The last time he d
encountered the Warrior, she d pushed him through a door. It had been closed
at the time, and he d spent weeks picking splinters from his chest and
shoulders.
There are two humani children with him. Americans, Dee said, his voice
echoing and fading on the transatlantic line. Twins, he added.
Say again? Machiavelli asked.
Twins, Dee added, with pure gold and silver auras. You know what that
means, he snapped.
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Yes, Machiavelli muttered. It meant trouble. Then the tiniest of smiles
curled his thin lips. It could also mean opportunity.
Static crackled and then Dee s voice continued. The girl s powers were
Awakened by Hekate before the Goddess and her Shadowrealm were destroyed.
Untrained, the girl is no threat, Machiavelli murmured, quickly assessing
the situation. He took a breath and added, Except perhaps to herself and
those around her.
Flamel took the girl to Ojai. There, the Witch of Endor instructed her in
the Magic of Air.
No doubt you tried to stop them? There was a hint of amusement in
Machiavelli s voice.
Tried. And failed, Dee admitted bitterly. The girl has some knowledge but
is without skill.
What do you want me to do? Machiavelli asked carefully, although he already
had a very good idea.
Find Flamel and the twins, Dee demanded. Capture them. Kill Scathach if
you can. I m just leaving Ojai. But it s going to take me fourteen or fifteen
hours to get to Paris.
What happened to the leygate? Machiavelli wondered aloud. If a leygate
connected Ojai and Paris, then why didn t Dee ?
Destroyed by the Witch of Endor, Dee raged, and she nearly killed me, too.
I was lucky to escape with a few cuts and scratches, he added, and then
ended the call without saying good-bye.
Niccol Machiavelli closed his phone carefully and tapped it against his
bottom lip. Somehow he doubted that Dee had been lucky if the Witch of Endor
had wanted him dead, then even the legendary Dr. Dee would not have escaped.
Machiavelli turned and walked across the square to where his driver was
patiently waiting with the car. If Flamel, Scathach and the American twins
had come to Paris via a leygate, then there were only a few places in the
city where they could have emerged. It should be relatively easy to find and
capture them.
And if he could capture them tonight, then he would have plenty of time to
work on them before Dee arrived.
Machiavelli smiled; he d only need a few hours, and in that time they would
tell him everything they knew. Half a millennium on this earth had taught him
how to be very persuasive indeed.
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CHAPTER TWO
J osh Newman reached out and pressed the palm of his right hand against the
cold stone wall to steady himself.
What had just happened?
One moment he d been standing in the Witch