Mirror Soul

Chapter Eighteen: Grounded

Bruce slumped back in his seat. "And that's all I know so far. So please, shut up." Kai sat on the bed, arms crossed and eyes closed. "Okay, I think I get the gist of it." He said. "Mystics, Nadirs, secret societies, rouge mystic users trying to kill you."

Bruce blinked at the brief description. "I just spent the past hour explaining that to you!" Bruce yelled. "And you sum it up in a paragraph?" Kai winked at him.

"What can I say? I catch on fast."

Bruce belched as he patted his stomach.

"Oh look, the ozone layer just got ten percent weaker." Said Kai as he stacked the dirty dishes. Fordnay had brought up plenty of food while Bruce told Kai about his time with the Horizon Guards.

"Shut up." Bruce slapped Kai's arm. "Or else I'll call Layva in here to finish you off."

Kai laughed. "You know, when I found out you were hiding something I assumed you were dating Layva."

Bruce cringed. "How'd you come to that of all things?"

Kai shrugged. " You invited her to sit at our table, despite hating everyone Autumn and I have tried to bring over. And you came to school with her one day in someone else's clothes, so I just assumed you two were..."

Bruce laughed. "You know my taste better than that. I like my women like I like my roads," Kai rolled his eyes. "This should be good." He muttered under his breath in anticipation.

"Dark, smooth, and with plenty of curves." Bruce finished. It was Kai's turn to cringe.

"Funny, considering you don't know how to drive." Kai walked over to his friend, a wicked smile on his face.

"Even if you could get on a road like that you'd run out of gas before you even made it a block."

Bruce activated his soul, grabbed Kai's arms, and tossed the boy into the air of the high ceiling room.

Kai screamed as he twisted and turned in the air. Bruce held out his hand and caught him with ease.

"You were saying?" Bruce smirked at the shaken up boy.

"I was saying," Kai righted himself. "That when I master my mystic I'll remember this." Bruce laughed. "I can't wait to watch Layva break you in, you won't be able to feel your legs for days."

"I've handled Layva's kind before. I've been waiting for something like this my whole life. I always thought that a wizard would knock on my door, or a dragon egg to appear on my doorstep... getting Kai-napped by a man who reeked of axe body spray wasn't what my young adult novels prepared me for."

"That's why you shouldn't read them. All YA books are the same anyway, a normal teen turns out to have special powers and saves the day." Bruce chimed in.

"How would you know? All you read is manga and comics. Speaking of which, can we go home now? It's been kinda a crazy day for me."

Bruce wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulder. "It's been a crazy month for me. But we're here, you're alive, Didrick is... out of commission, and my family is safe. I think everything is finally back to normal."

...

There were police cars outside of Bruce's house. He had told Kai to drop him off a block away, so he could collect himself. When he saw the flashing lights a ball of dread formed in his stomach. Didrick came for her! He couldn't get me and went for her!

He sprinted the rest of the way and charged at one of the cops. "What happened? Is she ok?" Bruce grabbed the cops shoulders as he panicked.

The annoyed cop pushed Bruce off of him. "If you mean your mother she is fine. You're the one we were worried about, son."