Super Secret | Half Hero Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 11: Yipee-Ki-Yay

"So, wait," Aaron pressed, munching on his slice of thick crust pepperoni pizza. "You were crawling through the air vents and fought bad guys in an elevator?"

I nervously watched my mom finish off her second glass of red wine while I poked at the remnants of the garden salad on my plate. I wasn't allowed to say much about the attack, and I could tell it was frustrating the living hell out of my family.

"Yeah, pretty much," I nodded, glancing up to see Varun staring at the bracelet around my wrist.

"Holy shit!" Aaron leaned back in his chair with a grunt. "You were basically living Die Hards one-through-five! Did you have any cool one-liners? Please tell me you said yippee-ki-yay-mother-fu-"

"Moses in the morning," our mom sighed her own unintentional adage while pouring herself a third glass of wine.

Regardless of her daughter's supernatural powers, she hated hearing about the turmoil that seemed to follow me around everywhere.

"I'm just trying to build Ella's brand, mom," Aaron tried to reassure her. "Her fans want to know these kinds of things!"

"I wish they'd stop caring about her brand, and focus on her safety," our mom lamented into her wine.

"They do," he insisted. If anyone knew what they were talking about, it was Aaron. He was in regular contact with my fans (and my haters) online. "I get hundreds of hits a day asking how she's being treated. They do care, mom. A lot. Hell, one lady asked if Ella was more of a Blossom or a Bubbles, whatever the hell that means."

"I'm probably a Buttercup," I cringed, recognizing the names of one of my favorite cartoons to watch as a teenager while high as a kite and skipping school.

In those days, Kris, my best friend (and worst influence) would come over with whatever pills she'd been able to score from her step mother's medicine cabinet. We'd turn on the Cartoon Network while my mom was at the diner. It felt like a hundred years ago and the memories were hazy (probably from all the drugs.) Much like my dad, Kris was one of those forbidden memories that I rarely recalled, for self-preservation purposes.

Aaron squinted down the arch of his nose to see if I was kidding and we both erupted into childish cackles while our mom continued to fret.

"I think we're glazing over an important fact," Varun piped up, resting his fork and knife on the edges of his plate. "Ella's quick thinking and superior abilities have kept her safe in some very scary situations. I wouldn't worry, my love. Your daughter might very well be the strongest person on the planet."

"Strongest person on the planet and I can't get a simple answer out of Galen?" I snickered, shaking my head.

"Do not mistake strength for power," Varun cautioned me with a knowing smile.

"Now that's a catchphrase!" Aaron laughed, pointing at Varun across the table.

"It was merely an observation," Varun shook his head and continued to eat his fast-casual Italian food with unnecessary grace. "The department hasn't been forthcoming, which I expected. Anything I've found, I've had to seek out myself."

"Oh yeah? And, what do you know?" I asked jokingly.

"Not much yet, but I have my sources," he replied easily while my jaw unhinged at his candid response. "We'll find out what they were after."

His inclusive language wasn't lost on me, and it watered the seed of hope he'd just planted.

"Do you think it was a server heist?" Aaron asked, his eyes widening with enthusiasm.