After a brief consultation with the head of school security who was definitely not a mercenary – which Kyle now knew because he had stated it several times – they headed off. The ‘security contractors’ formed a perimeter around the herd of students and teachers while Kyle took the lead and Jones pulled up the rear.

Things were going really well. And that was scaring the heck out of Kyle because he could see and feel the currents of magic twisting, in preparation for another manifestation. The longer it took, the bigger the monsters were going to be.

However, there weren’t any new monsters coming out to attack them. The people who had cheered Kyle and Jones on their gauntlet to the school were relatively quiet. By relatively, they were cheering like mad. Some screaming for the group to take shelter inside their building. Others asked to join them.

“Please stay inside your buildings.” Kyle shouted to those who wanted to come with them. “We are relocating because the school’s magic shielding has been compromised. If you are safe, don’t leave safety.” It became monotonous as he repeated it whenever someone requested to join.

Only one small group of a few bank tellers joined them. Two were bloodied and bedraggled and they were supporting a third between them.

“We don’t have access to the apartments upstairs and the manager,” the breathless blonde speaking gestured to a gray-haired elderly man draped between her and a dark-skinned man in his twenties wearing the slickest purple suit with all the accoutrements, “is unconscious and can’t get us into the vault.” It took only a quick survey of the ruined row of ground to ceiling windows for Kyle to realize that there was no safety there. “The only reason we aren’t all dead is because the monsters trying to eat us went after you two on your way through here earlier.”

“Fall in with everyone else.” The definitely not a mercenary cocked an eyebrow when Kyle said it loud enough for the whole group to hear. They shared a look which said neither of them liked the idea. But Kyle wasn’t about to abandon someone he’d already accidentally saved.

They continued on without incident. When they reached the barricade with the S.W.A.T team they’d passed earlier, the officers helped pull the civilians over the barricade. Despite congratulating Kyle and Jones on a job well done, they weren’t effusive in their praise. They were quiet and speculative. The captain nudged Jones as he passed and murmured low so that his voice wouldn’t carry.

“Can everyone at the museum do that?” The captain gestured towards Kyle with a nod in the warlock’s direction and Jones smirked, shaking his head negatively.

“You should help us get the kids out of here.” The officer in charge jumped at the unexpected closeness of the voice as Kyle came up behind him.

“We were supposed to…” He tried to argue that they had orders, but Kyle stopped him.

“Another big one is coming. The other barricades were overrun before we got through there. There’s no one to back you up if you stay. But if you help us your vehicles will get this group to safety at the Plaza de Saint Germain hotel.” Something about the look on Kyle’s face must have made his point and the officers started loading up the refugees into their vehicles.

Not everyone could fit inside but a few of the older boys volunteered to ride on the running boards holding on to the vehicles’ exteriors. An excited hope that was quickly squashed by every adult present. The children were safely ensconced within the vehicles. When necessary for someone to ride outside, it was an adult, usually one of the S.W.A.T. officers.

Jones, Anna, and the principal were all bundled into the museum vehicle that Kyle and Jones had driven there with a couple more kids. Kyle was standing on the running boards next to Anna’s window. She was behind Jones in the driver’s seat so Kyle could talk to her and Jones through Anna’s window without blocking the driver’s line of sight. There were two security personnel standing on the running boards on the side opposite Kyle. Jones had one of the communication scrolls from the school’s security personnel, which the principal was holding for him in the front passenger’s seat.

There was a girl on the far side of the back seat that kept giving him the oddest wide-eyed look which was making Kyle wonder if she was suffering from magic sickness. And between that girl and Anna was a boy sitting next to his sister. Kyle narrowed his eyes at the young man suspiciously through a murder-red haze of hate. The boy looked slightly older than Anna which automatically made him an ‘older boy’ and therefore not allowed to be that close to Anna.

Now was not the time for that. He’d get ‘Uncle Michael’ to deal with it later. Or maybe he’d just let slip to one of the pantheons that a boy might like Anna, then stand back and watch. It would be like the Little League debacle all over again. Word would spread. Boys wouldn’t risk sitting next to Anna Wattkins ever again. A tight determined smile ghosted across his overly-protective big brother face.

Back in the direction of the school the previous monster had dissipated its false matter back into the ambient magic. The arcanes had begun twisting darkly. Whatever it was, it was coming fast. There was no time to waste on nonsense.

“Let’s go people.” Kyle called, slapping the roof of the vehicle for emphasis before throwing his arm forward so that the other drivers could see his command. He pointed repeatedly in the forward direction and the principal repeated the command on the scroll in her lap, relaying it to dozen or so vehicles around them. “Go now!”

Every person with even a little bit of magic sensitivity had to have felt that. The vehicles moved out, lurching forward in a line. But it wasn’t fast enough. Kyle twisted his body so that he was facing backward. He watched as a part of the street began heaving behind them.

A creature erupted out of the ground, asphalt rupturing around it. It snarled, snapping its teeth as the rat grew and mutated faster and faster. Organic mutations were fast. Kyle knew their impromptu convoy wasn’t going to make it. There was only one thing to do. Around him, the S.W.A.T. members and security personnel riding outside the vehicles were firing their wands and munitions at the monster scrabbling after them. Its huge beady eyes jerking from target to target as if it was dazed. Or it just couldn’t make up its mind. Bending down he took a moment to speak to Anna.

“Hey, Snow Cone.” Anna, the boy beside her, and the girl on the other side of the vehicle were all turned around facing the direction they were fleeing. Fear was plain on the children’s faces. The principal hadn’t turned but her gaze was riveted on her view in the sideview mirror, and her hands were unconsciously clawing at the magical scroll in them. Anna turned to Kyle, and he could see in her eyes that she knew what he was going to say.

“I’ll come help you.” Before he could even say anything, she was reaching for the door to open it when the child safety lock clicked on all the doors as Jones activated it from the front seat. His sister hadn’t had any time to recover from her standoff with her last monster and she swayed in her seat as the vehicle went over a bump. “Let me out.” Her head turned to glare at Jones, but Kyle drew her attention back to him.

“Hey. It’s going to be okay, Snow Cone.” His lips drew back over his teeth in a snarled grin as he tried to pretend that everything was going to be okay. Because it would be. It was just going to be, well, there wasn’t going to be an easy way. “I’ve got awesome armor and I’m going to use that spell I’ve always wanted to try but there was never enough magic around for it. So, I need you to make sure everyone gets away.”

“Kyle...” Anna nodded, tears filling her eyes because she hated that he was going into danger without her.

“Good enough. Get my sister to safety, Jones.” He shouted then leaped off the back of the vehicle where he’d been standing guard.

“What? Kyle, no!” Anna shouted as she turned to look behind them. She saw her brother facing off against a monster far faster and meaner than the thing he’d previously fought. She immediately tried to get out of the vehicle and Jones enabled the child safety locks. “Let me out. I have to go and help him.” She started crying harder.

“No. Anna.” Jones told her as stoically as he could. “You really don’t.” She turned in her seat as Liam tried to comfort her and keep her calm. The sky was still blue and clear. The bright sun illuminated everything clearly. Kyle looked so small compared to the thing rising up behind them.

“Anna. Anna.” The principal had turned around when she’d heard Kyle and wanted clarification. “Anna, I need you to focus for a minute. What spell is Kyle talking about?” Anna’s face drained of what little color it had regained since her epic display of magic use. “What tier is it? How much distance do we need?”

“Oh, shit.” The teen breathed as her mind registered what her brother had meant. “More. We need more distance. As far as we can get. Then turn so there’s a few city blocks cutting off a direct line of sight.” Tense silence filled the vehicle as it sped away from the following monster. Anna watched her brother grow smaller and smaller until her view of him was cut off as Jones took a sharp right. She angled her head to look up at the sky knowing what to expect.

Clouds began rolling in. Dark. Heavy. Ominous. Within moments the bright sunny day had transitioned to an unnatural twilight. Her fellow passengers became concerned. From the driver’s seat, Jones looked up at the sky and murmured “Oh shit…” before refocusing his eyes on the road to keep driving. A few seconds later a booming voice rang out.

It sounded like Kyle, but also not. Tinged with an unnatural power of the divine. The sky flashed brilliantly, painting the thick cloud cover with stark shadows of skyscrapers.

“WRATH OF ZEUS!”

Kyle the Apprentice Warlock

Chapter 52