Kyle the Apprentice Warlock

Chapter 52

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. Other 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 he 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.