The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #6) by Michael Scott Page A

water?”
    Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel nodded.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
     
    “I
understand there was a little … unpleasantness earlier,” Osiris said.
    “No,” Virginia said evenly. She was watching as the servants laid out a round gold and silver table in the back garden of the circular house. None of the servants were human. Both males and females had the bodies of humans, and their features were almost—though not quite—those of animals. The females appeared to have cat genes, while the males had either dog or pig. And no two were identical.
    A trio of cat-girls appeared. One was lightly furred, another had a long curling tail and the third had the speckled pattern of a leopard across her face and bare shoulders. All had whiskers. They laid out baskets of fruit on the table and scampered silently away on all fours.
    “Genetic manipulation?” Virginia asked.
    “Something like that,” Osiris said. “A combination ofEarthlord, Archon and Great Elder expertise, fired by our auras. Isis and I are creating endless Shadowrealms. We need to populate them. And the humani are not suitable for every world. The average humani struggles to survive even in this world. So we tweak them a little, give them some advantages. The cat-women, for example, will do well in a jungle world, and we’ll try out the dogs and pigs as hunters and trackers. They are flexible enough to go into any number of environments.”
    “It is science or magic?” Virginia asked.
    “Who was it who said that any sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic? Einstein? Newton?”
    “Clarke,” she said quietly.
    “The humani are essentially a vulnerable race. We are giving them some of the advantages nature forgot.”
    “Humans have spread all across the globe, in any number of environments, without your advantages,” Virginia said icily. “They adapt—always have, always will. What you are doing is wrong.”
    “We shall have to agree to disagree.”
    “I hate that phrase.”
    Osiris and Virginia Dare were sitting on either side of a round pool in a small enclosed courtyard. Overhead, a patterned silk awning protected them from the slanting sunshine. The air was bright with flowers and heavy with perfume. Virginia had grown up in the forest and later trained as a botanist and horticulturalist, yet she recognized few of the plants. Enormous water lilies covered the surface of the pool,and almost transparent thumbnail-sized frogs moved slowly across the leaves, following the sun. The frogs hissed like cats.
    Osiris had changed into a loose white linen shirt and white trousers that ended high above his ankles. His feet were bare, and the American immortal noted that his toenails were painted black.
    “What happened with the anpu?” Osiris asked.
    Virginia’s slate-gray eyes blinked gold as she looked away from the table. “Oh, that,” she said lightly. “They got in my way.”
    “They would have stepped out of your way if you had identified yourselves. It was a mistake.” Osiris smiled, but it was nothing more than a movement of his lips, and there was no genuine emotion in it.
    “Their mistake was trying to stop me.”
    “Do you usually deal so harshly with those who get in your way?”
    “Yes.” Her smile matched the Elder’s. “I resent anyone—or anything—who attempts to curtail my liberty.”
    “I will remember that.”
    “Do. I grew up with nothing. No clothes, no food, no money, no possessions. All I had was my liberty. I learned to value it.”
    Osiris steepled his hands before his face. “You are an interesting person, Virginia Dare.”
    “Not really. I’m actually very simple, and my rule is equally simple: stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”
    “I will remember that also.”
    Sophie’s laugher rang out and they both turned towardthe sound. Through a wall of glass, they caught a glimpse of Sophie and Josh exploring the vast circular house.
    “First time I’ve heard her laugh,”