The Stolen Chapters by James Riley Page B

the Magister, who smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Kiel quickly pushed back, then stepped away. “Well, gotta go!” he said, and raised a hand into the air.
    â€œYou don’t have your teleport button,” the Magister pointed out.
    â€œCharm’s got it,” Kiel said as she took his hand.
    â€œGood luck, my boy,” the Magister said.
    â€œMagi,” Kiel said, avoiding his teacher’s eyes, “if you ever find out something that turns your whole life upside down, like I just did, try not to turn crazy and evil. As a favor to me.”
    The Magister smiled. “You have my word.”
    Kiel sighed, then disappeared with Charm from the Magister’s tower, reappearing in the middle of a dark library.
    â€œI really wanted to hit him,” Charm said. Kiel mumbled some words and the disguise spell faded, revealing Bethany in Charm’s place.
    â€œDid you see him hug me?!” Kiel shouted at her, his face contorted with disgust. “UGH. I need to bathe.”
    â€œBut he’s the Magister!” Owen said from where he sat on a nearby table. “You love him.”
    â€œIt’s amazing what happens to your relationship when your adopted father tries to kill you,” Kiel said with a shrug. “Plus, if he hadn’t forget-spelled the magic out of my head, I’d never have had to steal my own spell book in the first place.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiny still-sulky book, which quickly expanded into a normal-size still-sulky spell book.
    â€œSo you’re sure this book has the spell?” Bethany asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously.
    â€œTrust me,” Kiel said, winking at her. He tried to open the cover, and the book snapped at him. “Hey!” he shouted. “Bad book! Don’t do that again.” He pointed a finger in warning at the book, and it pouted, then flipped open to the right page. Kiel held the book up for Owen and Bethany to see.
    Illumination of Location, the page said.
    â€œSo who wants to find Bethany’s father, then?” Kiel asked, grinning widely.
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    The memory hit Kiel hard, and it almost staggered him.
    Just like it did to Owen, who looked around almost in disbelief, his head throbbing. Where had that come from?

CHAPTER 15
    01:42:56
    M emories weren’t supposed to almost knock you over. Since when did that happen? And why had it hit him so suddenly, out of nowhere? For a second Owen almost lost track of where he was, but the sight of a police officer filling out paperwork at the counter of the police station reminded him quickly enough.
    Someone bumped into him, and Owen looked up to find a burly man who smelled like burned hair staring down at him. Owen quickly backed up into the police officer, who pushed him back toward the man.
    One meaty hand hit Owen’s shoulder. “Excuse me,” the man said politely. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to bump into you.” And with that, he pulled off a beard and tossed it onto the counter, followed by his stinky overcoat.
    As the man peeled off his disguise, he revealed a tailored suit, hair that wasn’t even mussed by a wig, and a face with no smile lines. He patted Owen’s shoulder once, then dropped the rest of the disguise onto the counter and turned to walk away.
    â€œHow’d it go, Inspector?” the officer at the counter shouted.
    The man in the suit jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, and Owen turned to find police officers dragging in what looked to be an entire criminal gang, all dressed in black. “Book ’em,” the man in the suit said. “These boys are going away for a long time.”
    Just then one of the officers yelled, and before Owen knew it, the largest of the criminals broke free and grabbed a gun from an officer’s holster, aiming it right at Owen. “Let me go or the kid gets it!” the man shouted.
    The