Super Secret | Half Hero Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 23: Giggle Britches

I waited for Basem to reply, trying not to squirm after making things so stupendously awkward.

According to Mac, the highly unstable new Scion element showed promise in carbon-based subjects by boosting the cellular structure to repair and reinforce itself. Those tests were enough to convince the government that human trials were the next inevitable step. The Rishi brothers were convinced the Scion element could be some kind of super immunization to protect innocent victims from the fallout of chemical warfare.

To avoid the pesky formalities of legal procedure (or basic human decency), Hamm devised a plan to exploit the most vulnerable. Refugees without a country to care for them were all too easy to abuse. Misinformation and secrecy kept men like Hamm in power while he twisted the boundaries of truth and science, making everyone else culpable by association.

Soldiers like my dad were led to believe that some terrible flue was sweeping the war-torn camps. So, they blindly distributed the inoculations, following orders like the elite soldiers they were trained to be.

Many years and several countries later, Project Scion had only a handful of child survivors (out of hundreds.) The abysmal success rate wasn't exactly a track record to be proud of, so they buried it.

"Varun saved us," Basem replied eventually. "He got us out before the government ordered us put to death. Once you've lived that sort of hell, you are willing to accept anything."

The most perplexing side effect of the Scion element was its dormancy. To activate the transformation into a subspecies with superhuman powers, the original form must first perish. Like Schrodinger's fated cat, genetic mutation was forced during reality's collapse in quantum superposition.

In other words, if you survived the shot, you then had to die to become a Scion.

Of course, I was super duper curious to know how Varun figured this out and how the other Scions came to be. Did he have to convince them to die first? Or did they want these freaky powers? That part of the story had been omitted.

"So," I could barely get out the words without sounding like an unmitigated ass, "Why did you run away from Varun?"

I couldn't get a read on how they felt about their adoptive father today. The subject seemed even more painful than the mass murders it probably took to create them.

"I'm sorry," I shook my head self-consciously. "I shouldn't be bringing this up."

"It's actually nice to talk about it," Nawell remarked while her brother readjusted the wood he was juggling. "For once."

"Soup's on!" Mac's booming voice echoed through the door and into the woods.

Basem wedged his foot under his sister's bottom to push her out of his way as he clomped up the porch. Nawell scoffed but stood up to open the door for him, shooting me a pained expression. Their familial bond was adorable, and it really bummed me out.

My heart ached to know if Aaron was all right, or if my mom was with him. Would Varun keep them safe? Or would he side with the government he'd been working for all along?

I wandered behind the twins toward the long picnic table in the front room. Places had already been set for each of us and it was going to be a tight squeeze to add me. Mac strolled in from the kitchen wearing a checkered apron the size of a king bed sheet and holding a platter of roasted bird meat.

"Where's Cyrus?" He sighed, looking to Isla and Valentina as they carried in more bowls of food.

"Probably off in his cave," Isla giggled as she set a pot of mashed potatoes on the table.

She wiped her hands on her stretchy pants, careful to avoid her cropped Misfits top. I liked her punky style and black lips. Isla was a Scion with a rebellious streak.

"Well, go get him!" Mac exclaimed. "I'm starving!"

Isla inched away from the table and closed her eyes while her hands started trailing circles in the air. In the center of her spinning palms grew a violet light that opened up into what looked like a swirling black hole (or a demonic wind-machine). 

She ducked inside the sphere's strange pulsing electrical field and came back dragging Cyrus by his European-cut shirt. He was laughing good-naturedly at his sister's playful gesture, which crinkled his eyes and softened his angular features. That coupled with the impressive cut of his pecks straining against the material of his shirt was almost as distracting as what I'd just witnessed. 

My jaw hung open at a goofy slant while everyone else took their seat like this was normal, everyday behavior.

"I thought you said no portals at the table?" Cyrus remarked, tossing his sister a sly smile as the lavender sparks faded into nothing.

Mac ignored his sarcasm and pointed at a free seat next to me. "We need a family meeting."

Cyrus didn't argue, but Nawell scooted to take the empty spot by my side while Basem focused on filling his plate. I gave her a grateful smile as Cyrus huffed over to the bench to sit next to Valentina. Isla took Nawell's old spot to complete the set, and Mac adjusted himself in the old lawn chair he'd positioned at the head of the table.

"Alright, while Ella's mending we need to do some recon to make sure her family is safe," Mac jumped right in. "Cyrus, I'm looking at you buddy."

"Fine," he grunted, pouring water for Isla and Valentina and me before filling his own glass.

I would have said thank you, but the resentment saturating his tone steeled my reserve.

"You need to make sure Anne and Aaron are alright," Mac continued. "Isla, you're going to provide transport only, got it?"

"What about me?" Valentina flustered.

"You go with Cyrus. We need to know what the government is doing about Ella's disappearance," Mac rattled off easily. "The rest of us will try and heal her up to full power."

"How did I lose my powers in the first place?" I coughed on a sip of chilly water. "Has this happened to any of you?"

"It could be any number of things," Mac agreed. "But my money's on the bracelet Varun gave you."

"And no," Valentina commented in a smug voice. "None of us have ever had, performance issues, like that."

"Then, it's got to be the bracelet," I said slowly, watching carefully for their reaction. "Galen told me the bracelet was a tracker, not that it was draining my powers."

"That was smart of him," Cyrus offered his opinion at the worst possible time. "With a temper like yours, I'd take precautions too."

"You want to compare temperament, giggle-britches?" I challenged him, twisting around to narrow my eyes.

Basem burst into animated laughter that infected everyone at the table, with the exception of Cyrus and me.

"Children!" Mac howled to get our attention. "If you can't be civil, one of you will have to eat on the porch, alone."

"Fine by me," Cyrus shot up, slamming his fists on the table for emphasis.

His tawny eyes flashed with anger as he walked out to slam the door behind him.

Tee Hee, giggle britches!! I can't help it, I love that phrase. It makes me laugh out loud every time. THANK YOU so much for reading along!