Page 52 of Enchanted Hero (The Secret Enchanters #1)

A cell phone soared by Kyla's head, missing by mere inches.

She watched in horror as it flew straight for a young reporter, and only at the last minute gathered her wits enough to send it on a collision course with the ground.

Her signature pink mist materialized, but thankfully no one noticed in the chaotic scene.

The wind swirled and twirled, carrying the scent of enchantment only she would recognize.

Great Melaleuca trees hurled this way and that, bending like straws in a hurricane.

Reporters careened, stumbled and fell, all but jerked off their feet by the hearty gusts. This was no wind machine.

This was enchantment.

If she didn't do something soon, people would get hurt.

Ignoring her fear, Kyla called the power to her.

Although another enchanter cast the spell, few people matched her in strength.

She focused all her might into breaking the enchantment.

The vines of her power threaded through her, and a moment later, a powerful boom sounded as her magic fought its battle and emerged victorious.

The wind ceased; airborne objects raced each other to the ground.

In seconds, she stopped no less than a dozen projectiles from hitting the scrambling public.

Kyla glanced to the front, but the powerful professor was nowhere to be seen.

Where had he gone? She had to make sure he wouldn't find the source of the enchantment before her, but crisis control came first. Before the reporters called in the military and sequestered everyone present, she had to create a logical and scientific explanation for what happened.

If such a thing was possible.

Time and hope dwindled as reporters rapidly spoke into microphones, as influencers typed into cell phones and security poured in.

Observers wrote down notes and snapped pictures and videos with every flavor of phone.

Kyla closed her eyes, shutting out the chaos around her.

What could pass as a legitimate explanation for the sudden windstorm?

She opened her eyes, as the answer came in life-saving glory.

She could make the good professor’s suggestion come to life, a wind machine powerful enough to cause such a storm, or at least something convincing enough to play the part.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t a clue how to construct a wind machine, which meant enchanting a working version would be all but impossible.

Perhaps a big fan would work. Of course, it wouldn't survive close scrutiny, which meant she would need to retrieve it before they investigated how it worked, or rather didn't work.

Hopefully it would satisfy the scientists temporarily and prevent a full-scale army escalation.

Kyla gathered spiraling thoughts, arranging and rearranging images in her mind. She would create a big fan, a.k.a. wind machine, and hide it somewhere. But where?

She pivoted, stopped at a copse of trees close to her location. Perfect. She breathed deeply and once again beckoned her power. She imagined a wind machine and willed its presence behind the trees. A faint pink mist appeared and then solid silver behind it. It was done.

Staying far, she used her enchantment to see through the trees, frowned at what suspiciously resembled a gizmo from a Saturday morning cartoon she loved as a kid.

Before she could adjust it, a reporter gasped and pointed, yelling to his colleagues.

Kyla released a breath and moved further away.

If she were connected with its creation, it would be an immediate Game Over with no free lives.

Yet panicked fear turned to wary acceptance to honied relief, as a sweet melody of "I told you so's" sang as people viewed the wind machine.

This might even help explain the first incident.

One catastrophe avoided, at least temporarily, as Kyla turned from the machine and threaded through the crowd.

Yet all relief disappeared as she scanned the throngs of people.

Where was Oliver, the enchanter she assumed responsible for this debacle?

As the seconds ticked by, the logic of his culpability faded.

Why would he create such a public display of enchantment in front of dozens of scientists and reporters?

A small demonstration in front of his girlfriend was ill-advised, but a full out circus in front of the world's audience? It went against everything he’d been taught.

Oliver may be irresponsible, but he wouldn’t sabotage their entire people.

Unless it hadn't been Oliver.

She steadied her breathing and tapped into her power.

Although enchanters possessed empathic powers, they could block the psychic connection, hiding their thoughts and even their presence.

But Kyla’s powers were strong, and she reached out with all her strength.

She stopped with a gasp. There was not a single Incantare present. There were two .

She swung around, scanning the hundreds of faces that littered the once-peaceful campus.

An instant later, she froze. "Not Oliver," she breathed.

" So not Oliver." If only she had taken Alexander's fleeting remark more seriously, then she could have prepared for the man who orchestrated the heinous symphony.

The Incantare's very own criminal stood yards away, watching the scene with stoic intensity and satisfaction .

Donovan turned to her, locking eyes as his lips curled up in a wicked smile. Then… he fled.

Kyla thundered through the crowds of people, barely hearing the security guard announce the presence of the "large fan" that caused their little F1.

In her peripheral vision, another form appeared, the other Incantare in their impromptu reunion.

Oliver stood frozen, observing the scene with undisguised horror.

And she was not the only one who noticed the wayward student.

One very angry and extremely determined scientist made his way rapidly towards the oblivious teenage enchanter.

"Oh no." Kyla swung her gaze back and forth between Oliver, Donovan and Blackburn in a life-changing game of “Who to stop first?” She pivoted toward the professor, yelling telepathically to Oliver, Run!

"Professor! Professor!" She ran as fast as physics allowed, and perhaps a little more, ignoring the stares. "Dr. Blackburn!"

Dr. Blackburn may not be an enchanter, but he was athletic and strong, and it showed as he charged after Oliver.

His track-star stride narrowed the distance, making it impossible for Kyla to reach him before he caught Oliver.

At least not unless she flew, which was of course out of the question.

Oliver’s lanky form could not outrun Blackburn's powerful one, at least not in the thick crowd.

Kyla needed a little help of the enchanted kind.

She looked around, stopped at a thick yet harmless black snake in bush.

With a dash of pink mist, she teleported it into the grass, deep enough no one should notice, at least not until it lifted itself up and hissed at the professor.

She stopped her run, gulping copious amounts of air more from tension than physical exertion.

She waited for the professor to stop. He didn't.

He jumped over the snake.

"Seriously?” Kyla willed her legs to move again.

Did she have to create another tornado to stop his chase?

Blackburn had almost reached Oliver, commanding the clearly panicked student to stop.

She had one last chance to stop him, somehow without him realizing anything otherworldly happened.

Calling her power, she created a vine close to the ground.

She silently mouthed an apology as it snapped to ankle length just as he reached it.

The vine caught his foot, and he almost but not quite caught himself, tumbling to the ground at breakneck speed.

Kyla softened the consistency of the soil to absorb his fall, and hopefully he wouldn’t notice the ground felt astonishingly like a pillow.

Yet she couldn’t let him get hurt. She hurtled towards him, reaching him just as Oliver disappeared into the parking lot.

She closed her eyes, forced her breathing to slow.

Now that Oliver was out of sight, he could find a hidden spot and teleport out of Blackburn's grasp.

Just in case he was too flustered to act, she telepathically messaged him, directing him to her hotel room.

Then, she faced a windswept, filthy and furious Dr. Blackburn.

"Are you okay?" She offered her arm, fighting inescapable guilt, even though she had ensured he wouldn’t be hurt. Her heart skittered as he glared at the now hardened ground. Had he noticed the impossible change?

With a shake of his head, he waved her arm away, then lifted himself up like a wrestler after a planned fall. "He got away," he growled, brushing off twigs and dirt and undisguised anger. He swept his gaze across the parking lot but made no move to resume the pursuit. Clearly, his prey had escaped.

"Who?" Kyla hedged. “Were you chasing someone?”

"The kid. The one who destroyed my lab." Dr. Blackburn clamped his mouth shut, clearly annoyed to have revealed that much. "He may have escaped, but now I know exactly what he looks like. Which means I can find him."

Do not panic. Do not scream. Do not accidentally reveal everything. "There are tens of thousands of students on campus. Won't he disappear now that you've recognized him?"

Not might ? would. She'd make sure of it.

Blackburn gave a predator’s smile. "I have access to all the students' files, including photographs. He's already caught."

Perhaps panicking and screaming would be appropriate. "You're going to look through thirty thousand files for one kid you didn't even see close up? Isn't that a long shot?"