Page 27 of Enchanted Hero (The Secret Enchanters #1)

T here was no time to consider what could happen – what would happen – if someone saw him.

No time to worry whether cameras were already pointed at the yacht.

It would be a crash course in the impossible, with him the unwilling teacher.

Yet as another scream pierced the air, there simply wasn’t a choice.

The distressed ship was now covered in flames, smoke pouring from its once pristine sides. Sirens sounded in the distance, but they were too far, and too slow. It was up to him.

“Everleigh is locked in my bedroom. Get the ship as far away as possible,” he instructed Dashal Bennet, captain of the Waterstone and fellow member of the Incantare. “I’m going to teleport.” Alexander called his power. The world swirled in diamond sparkles.

“Stop!” Alexander halted as Carter appeared out of his own signature red mist. As head of security for the Incantare, he’d do anything to protect their secret, yet as a police officer, he safeguarded lives above all else. “I want to help.”

“The more people involved, the greater the risk of exposure.” Alexander rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll take care of the fire. Stay here with the captain and Everleigh.”

Carter grimaced, but didn’t argue. “At least put on a disguise. There’s no tornado here to shield you.”

He hesitated, then nodded. It might not prevent discovery, but a disguise would make it less inevitable. With a flick of his wrist, he was once again covered in black, including a mask that concealed his features. He called his magic, and the world disappeared.

An instant later, he arrived in a firestorm .

He’d teleported to the interior to reduce the risk of being seen, into the heart of the scorching heat.

Billows of white surrounded him, filling his nostrils, burning his lungs.

He turned rapidly, yet the room was empty save for the noxious smoke.

Crackling, splintering and shattering played a symphony of danger, as a scream pierced the air, louder than before, closer, desperate .

He lunged forward, to the door that led to the belly of the boat. Like ordinary humans, he was vulnerable to fire and smoke, although he healed far quicker. He called his power, creating a bubble of air around him. In an instant, the heat from the flames decreased to a gentle warmth.

Flames licked the world around him, devouring everything in their path, as he sprinted through a fractured doorway. Wood creaked and beams splintered as the shadow-drenched world turned even blacker. Fiery tendrils grasped at his bubble, hungry and demanding.

“Help us!” Voices screamed from down below, punctuated by raspy, guttural coughing.

The boat listed from side to side as Alexander darted down a narrow staircase.

The flames disappeared as he went; clearly, the fire had started on the upper decks and hadn’t reached the lower levels yet.

The floor shook violently, like a raft on a stormy sea, as he reached a landing.

He focused his superhuman hearing, narrowing on a single door, before shooting a ray of power at it, instantly shattering it into a thousand pieces.

He discarded the bubble of air as he leapt through the portal.

A family was huddled on the floor, cowering in a rapidly-diminishing pocket of air. A man cuddled a crying little girl, while a woman held a tiny baby to her chest.

There was no time for explanations. “Let’s go!” Alexander shouted.

They stared in shock. He could teleport the whole family to safety if necessary, but that would result in inevitable exposure. If there was a way to save them without compromising his people, he would. “The door,” the man choked out. “It was melted closed. How? Who–”

“It’s open now.” Alexander helped him to his feet. “Let’s get your family out of here.”

The man nodded. Together he and Alexander assisted the others, as they raced against flames and ever-diminishing seconds. When the man turned toward the main staircase, Alexander stopped him. “It’s engulfed in fire. Is there another way to the deck?”

“Isn’t that how you came?” The man peered closer, before shaking his head. “There’s a back stairway.”

“Let’s go.”

Thankfully, the flames had yet to reach the back of the boat. The adults carried the two children up three flights, finally bursting into the star-studded night. The air was clear and sweet, as the smoke dispersed. The family beamed and smiled, yet Alexander’s relief fled.

A cacophony had overtaken the world.

The peace of earlier had vanished, yielding to a circus of lights, sounds and action.

Siren-blaring boats rode the waves, as roaring helicopters soared through the sky, encircling the flaming ship.

A police boat had attached itself to the side of the yacht, and rescuers were climbing the side two by two. In moments, they would reach the deck.

He had to leave – now .

“Is anyone else on the ship?” Alexander gestured toward the bridge. “A captain?”

The man immediately shook his head. “I helmed the ship. There’s no one else.”

Thank goodness. He’d made it in time, and the family would be all right. Yet now a different kind of danger threatened him, his secret and his people.

A chopper with a huge news logos blazed above, followed by a large black one that was clearly government.

The family watched him closely, as if trying to see behind the mask.

So did hundreds of people from other boats and the shore, many with binoculars and poised smartphones.

No doubt dozens of cameras were trained on him this very moment.

“I don’t know how you did it, but thank you.” The man hugged his family close. “Who are you?”

“There they are!” The rescuers had boarded the ship and were sprinting across the deck.

As the family rushed to meet them, Alexander pivoted, yet there was no clear path to escape.

If he reentered the boat, the rescuers would follow, endangering their lives.

He could teleport, yet that would just confirm what he fought so hard to hide.

A single option remained. He lunged toward the edge of the ship.

“Stop!” The rescuers ran after him, but they were too far and too late. He leapt over the railing and dived into the water.

He hit the water with a giant splash. Frigid liquid surrounded him, a shocking contrast to the heated boat.

With his enhanced hearing, he could hear the divers preparing to jump in after him, a wasteful yet not dangerous exercise.

He could escape by teleportation, but would his secret survive?

If they already had him on sonar, he couldn’t vanish without effectively telling the world. Unless…

Underwater waves pounded him as the men splashed into the pool.

Focusing his powers, he sent an electric wave, hopefully strong enough to jam the sensing devices, yet weak enough to not hurt anyone.

Yet nothing could stop the men rapidly swimming in his direction.

He tightened his muscles, called his power… and teleported.

* * * *

Everleigh awoke drenched in fear and sweat, images of burning boats and twisting tornados chilling her clammy body.

For a moment, fantasy and reality mixed, and she chased elusive wakefulness, before remnants of the dream faded.

She shifted in the feather soft mattress, pulled the silken covers higher. She traced the covers again and gasped.

It was not her cover.

Not her bed.

Not her home.

She shot up, scrambled out of the gigantic bed and onto the floor of an opulent bedroom the size of her apartment.

How had she gotten into the burgundy-hued room, with its oversized walnut furniture, Oriental rugs and exquisite antiques?

Sharp pain pierced her skull as dizziness and nausea swirled, and she gripped the bedpost.

Where was she?

The last thing she remembered was being locked in the bedroom of Alexander Stone’s yacht. She’d demanded he open the door again and again, but he never responded. She’d finally given up and plopped onto an oversized, plush recliner. Then she’d woken up here.

Her head ached, the pressure like a vise around her temples.

She couldn’t actually blame that on Alexander, but on the copious amounts of alcohol she sipped, gulped and otherwise consumed before she’d eaten a trace of food.

Such uncharacteristic behavior also explained why she fell asleep and stayed asleep while Alexander moved her.

She wasn’t still on the boat, so obviously he’d taken her home.

Why hadn’t he woken her up? More importantly, why hadn’t he brought her to her home?

The wine also explained other impossibilities, such as that kiss.

In a foggy night, the kiss shone in vivid detail.

Yet despite its extraordinariness, it could never happen again.

Alexander Stone was far too dangerous, too mysterious, too dominating to lower her resolve.

In her alcohol-fueled mind, she’d even linked him with the man in the tornado, as if he could possibly be some supernatural being.

She located her purse in the corner and removed her cell phone. It was already eleven o’clock in the morning – thank goodness it was a Saturday and not a workday. A news alert flashed, and she opened the link.

Impossible.

She read the news headline once and then a dozen times.

There had been another “hero” sighting, and this time he’d saved a family from a boat fire, the same one from last night!

He’d mysteriously appeared, garbed in the same black disguise, and rescued the passengers.

Afterwards, he’d jumped into the water and disappeared – literally.

At least no one could find him, despite an exhaustive search.

It was quite a coincidence – three hero sightings, all near her, all near Alexander .