Page 90 of Enchanted Hero

“You have some interesting items.”

A ghost of a smile played on Alexander’s lips. “Thank you.”

“They’re real, right? I mean they’re not toys or computer-driven novelties.”

One of the items disappeared into thin air, a far better answer than any verbal one. “They’re real.”

“I guess you didn’t find them in an antique shop?”

He shook his head.

“So they’re yours?”

“That’s right.”

She inhaled deeply, said in a whisper, “Supernatural relics for a supernatural person.”

He inclined his head, and his eyes flashed. Not figuratively, but literally, as if lit by a blue LED.

She froze.

She’d suspected for weeks, known for minutes, but nothing prepared her for the undeniable proof. He was a supernatural creature, undoubtedly the powerful hero who’d been saving people. “You knew I was in here?”

“Of course.”

She exhaled, looked up. “You set me up. Again.” How could she ever think he’d allow his privacy to be invaded unless he accepted it, desired it even? “You wanted me to find these? Why?”

“So you’d understand why I have no choice.” He edged closer, spearing her space. “To protect my people, I have to keep you.”

Her heart drummed a rapid tattoo. As predicted, the hero was taking all control. How could she fight a man who commanded a tornado? “You can’t keep me.”

He took another step closer. “I can do pretty much anything I want.”

“You can fly.”

He nodded.

“And teleport.”

He nodded again.

“And make things appear out of nowhere.”

He inclined his head once more.

“But how? Was it some sort of chemical accident, some sort of nuclear event?” She clutched on to the slimmest of chances that he was… well, human.

The slim chance was soon diminished to nothing. “This is who I am. I was born with powers.”

“So you’re not…” She stopped, couldn’t even form the words.

“Human?” he guessed softly. “To be honest, we don’t know what we are. Most of us have some human DNA, since our people mate with ordinary humans. Our genes are dominant, because the offspring of an Incantare and a human is generally as powerful as the child of two Incantare. We do not know our exact history, but it is generally believed we originated from…” His gaze turned upward. “Elsewhere. But that was many years ago. All Incantare living today, their parents, grandparents and grandparents’ grandparents were born on Earth. We’re just different.”

“You don’t look different.” Although that wasn’t entirely true. She’d never seen such a perfect man. “Wait.” She swallowed. “You’re not a shapeshifter, are you?”

He softened. “No, Everleigh. This is the body I’ve always had. I’m not really a three-foot green man.”

“Of course not.” Yet his guess wasn’t far from what she’d envisioned. “How is it possible? I’m no scientist, but even I can tell you don’t follow the rules of physics. How do you do these things?”