“What are they waiting for?” Josh murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. There was something about the way the figures stood, the way they held themselves: something that suggested an animal. He’d seen a National Geographic documentary in which an alligator had been waiting in a river for deer to cross. It too had stayed completely still-until it had exploded into action.

Abruptly, a sound like snapping wood cracked shockingly loudly across the quiet alleyway, followed by what seemed to be the sound of cloth tearing.

“They’re changing,” Sophie breathed.

Beneath the green coats, muscles rippled and spasmed, arching the creatures’ spines, pushing their heads forward. Arms visibly lengthened, and the hands that poked out of the overlong sleeves were now thickly furred and tipped with ragged curling black claws.

“Wolves?” Josh asked shakily.

“More bear than wolf,” Nicholas answered quietly, looking around the alleyway, eyes narrowed. “And more wolverine than bear,” he added as the vaguest hint of vanilla touched the air.

“And no threat to us,” Sophie announced, suddenly standing straighter. Raising her right hand, she pressed the thumb of her left hand against the gold circle burned into the flesh of her wrist.

“No,” Nicholas snapped, reaching out to push the girl’s hand down. “I’ve told you; you cannot use your powers in this city. Your auras are too distinctive.”

Sophie shook her head indignantly. “I know what these things are,” she said firmly. Then a tremor crept into her voice. “I know what they do. You can’t expect us just to stand here while these things eat you. Let me take care of them-I can cook them to a crisp.” Her anger quickly turned to excitement at the prospect, and she smiled. For an instant her bright blue eyes winked silver and her face became hard and sharp, making her look far older than her fifteen years.

The Alchemyst’s smile was grim. “You could do that. And I doubt we’d get a mile down the road before something much more lethal than these creatures caught up with us. You have no idea what walks these streets, Sophie. I’ll take care of it,” he insisted. “I’m not entirely defenseless.”

“They’re going to attack,” Josh said urgently, interpreting the creatures’ body language, watching how they moved into an assault pattern. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he found himself wondering how he knew this. “If you’re going to do something, you need to do it now.”

The Genii Cucullati had spread out, each taking up a position before Flamel and the twins. The creatures were hunched over, their backs arched, parkas stretched across broad chests, bulging shoulders and muscular arms. In the shadow of their hoods, blue-black eyes glowed over jagged teeth. They spoke to each other in what sounded like yips and growls.