Super Secret | Half Hero Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 33: In and Out

"Wha-?" My brain felt as though it were being flayed open like that awful scene from the movie Scanners.

"I was the first person to ever take the Scion serum," Mac interrupted my reeling. "For whatever reason, I survived, the same as you, Ella. It strengthened my immune system and repaired damaged cells faster than any other technology invented. Varun and Arnie thought they had built the foundations for the world's first superhumans. 

"No one told us that it was killing people in refugee camps by the truck-full," Mac shook his head with a look of pure self-loathing. "So, your dad stole two vials to try and save your life. I volunteered to take the first dose, so your dad knew what we were giving you was safe. But it wasn't safe. Not at all.

"When I woke up from the crash," Mac continued while I gaped like a fish. "I went straight to Varun because he'd moved on to the private sector after Project Scion. Plus, he hated Hamm as much as I did, so I thought he wouldn't rat me out. He hid me from those kids, told me the government had killed every survivor. I could have helped them. Or warned them. Now, C.E.'s got Arnie's research and a bunch of Varun's experimental tech," he sighed heavily. "My guess is they're going to sell it to a rogue government, or they're looking to offload with whoever hired them, and that could be happening as we speak. That's probably why your buddy Galen is down here. Either way, none of us wants to risk this falling into worse hands. Are we all caught up? Because I'm hankering for a nap."

"Really, old man?" I exploded. "You can sleep at a time like this?"

"Oh, so easily," Mac mumbled, leaning back to close his eyes. "Worrying about everything won't change the outcome, believe you me."

"I'll take your word on it, Father Time," I commented, shuffling off to the closest window.

If Aaron or my mother lost their lives because of this, I was sure my (already fragile) mental state would deteriorate into sheer madness. I'd come too close to losing them already. We had to win this. If not for us, than to honor everyone else that lost their lives' to the unlimited and unchecked ambition of powerful men.

How Mac could sleep while the rest of my world came crashing down around my ears felt oddly just about right for our weirdo-friendship. Every terrible question I ever had about my dad's grisly death flitted through my whirligig brain. Who else was on that helicopter? Did Mac know that Hamm had ordered my dad's murder? Could he have somehow stopped it from happening? 

You know, all the things I couldn't say out loud (but probably would when my temper inevitably got the best of me). I'm nothing if not consistent in my bad decisions. 

Mac's breathing was leveling into a dozy cadence when a fine mist of electric purple sparkles traced a wide circle in the middle of the room. The ethereal lights cast a peculiar lilac glow on his beard as Mac clenched his jaw to wait for a report.

Valentina's long bare legs stepped through Isla's portal, raising a hand to settle our pulses.

"We found Galen," she said while Isla joined us to close off her perplexing doorway. "I tracked him to a nightclub, but it looks like he's following someone. Cyrus wants to find out if Ella knows who it is."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" I asked, glancing down at my casual attire.

"We can sneak in through the kitchen, it's closed," Valentina assured us. "There's a side door to the club. Basem is holding it open for us, so we have to go now."

"In and out, right?" Mac questioned Valentina, rubbing his beard as if this troubled him too.

She gave him a confidant smile that dimpled her left cheek while gesturing for me to get up. I rolled up off my sodden bunk, pulling on my sneakers in a series of uncoordinated hops.