“It took teams of LEP warlocks to slow down time for a few hours; the magic required to open a door to the tunnel was stupendous. It would be easier to shoot down the moon.Opal tapped this into her notepad.Reminder. Shoot down the moon? Viable?”

“OK,” Josh said evenly, “I’ve seen men made of mud, I guess I can accept spying rats. Do they talk?” he wondered aloud.Don’t be ridiculous,” Flamel snapped, “They’re rats.”Josh really didn’t think it was a ridiculous suggestion.”

“Who knew hitting my head and passing out would be so much fun?”

“I am charging you with the protection of my mother and friends, not to mention keeping my younger self off the Internet. He is as dangerous as Opal.”

“When you are angry try your best to go to sleep, it keeps you away from speaking, writing and thinking while you are angry.”

“I bet,” said Mulch, “that you would set the world on fire just to watch it burn.”Opal tapped the suggestion into a small electronic notepad on her pocket computer.Thanks for that. Now, tell me everything.”

“If an apology is followed by an excuse or a reason, it means they are going to commit same mistake again they just apologized for.”

“So, have a little fun. Soon enough you’ll be dead and burning in Hell with the rest of your family.”

“Sometimes, the simple things are more fun and meaningful than all the banquets in the world …”

“Humm humm haaa. Rahmumm humm haaaa,” intoned Opal, finishing her chant. “Peace be inside me, tolerance all around me, forgiveness in my path. Now, Mervall, show me where the filthy human is so that I may feed him his organs.”

“You don’t have to make something that people call art. Living is an artistic activity, there is an art to getting through the day.”

“My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them.My dream holiday would be a) a ticket to Amsterdam b) immunity from prosecution and c) a baseball bat.”

“Are you a female dog?””What?” Massie asked. “Why?””Because you are acting like a real bitch!”