Chapter 5 - Magic and Friends

                                    

                                          
A month had passed, and I was still getting used to the new kids. Having people in your home all of a sudden was a big change. I didn't even get the time to mourn Mom before having to wrangle these kids out of trouble. 
              Well, some more than others...
              Claggor was a good dude to go over plans with.
              His mind worked in interesting ways. I loved to go over complex pas of the Lanes because he always found the best routes to go down when we would start running jobs. I didn't want to run jobs, but we had to eat somehow. So Claggor and I were smart about it. We planned ahead.
              Mylo was still an ass who needed a slap upside with head ever now and again.
              He loved to be the center of attention. It was annoying to say the least. He was such a classic boy that it made me roll my eyes and want to vomit everywhere. I saw Dad shake his head subtly whenever Mylo got up to mischief. He told me that he was glad he didn't have to raise him from the beginning which made me laugh really hard. He also liked to pick on Powder which made me angry.
              Speaking of...
              Powder was still adorable, and I loved her enthusiasm for everything mechanic related. Her mind was attuned to all things that ran on gears and grease. It was amazing to see how she drew up schematics and tinkered away on the junk she got when she went scavenging.
              And Vi was...
              Vi was... okay.
              I didn't think the pink-haired brute would bow down that fast, but our fight and talk seemed to do the trick. I was impressed by how fast she pivoted. It didn't make her weak though. If anything, it made her even stronger and that fire in my belly burned even brighter. Only Dad could ever spar properly with me so having another person who could keep up with me got my blood pumping.
              Right now, I was walking to my Dad's office so he could explain what the hell had happened to me on the bridge. 
I didn't care if he didn't want to or if it was inconvenient.
              I needed answers.
              And I was going to get them.
              Who else was supposed to give them?
              Mom was dead...
              It was her blood that ran through my veins too. I knew logically that it probably had something to do with her. Dad was as normal as they could come except for his monstrous strength and Mom had magic.
              I wasn't dumb.
              As I opened Dad's door, I could see that he was talking with Sevika. Sevika was his right-hand woman who was also best friends with Mom. She was a badass who could fight with the rest of them. She could take me in a fight, but Dad wanted me to wait till I was a little older to start training with her. She could get ruthless, and Dad didn't want me to get injured for no reason. I knew she was taking her death hard to, but neither of them would show that emotion in front of others. Dad's brows were pinched and Sevika's forehead vein was popping out of her head. I knew they had probably just argued. They argued a lot these days. It started after the enforcers slaughtered the people of the Lanes like we were nothing. I may have only been 14, but I could see both sides of the argument.
              "Ah. Dina..." Dad said as his eyebrows rose in surprise at seeing me.
              "We need to talk." I said.