Chapter 34

Ryder

       Alan and I seemed to be the only Protectors worried about Nolan. Everyone kept saying that he was fine and was probably one his way to Jerome's right now.

       They were either too dumb to get that Nolan should have been there by now, or they were holding on to false hope.

       If it was the latter, they had to realize that false hope did nothing. We needed to be logical about this, and there was no way Nolan would have taken this long to get home. He hated being on his own outside for too long. He wouldn't have made any stops.

       I was in the training room right now, letting off some steam by punching a boxing bag. I was so annoyed at everyone else right now. Sure, when Alan told me Dirk's team was planning on kidnapping Nolan and he wasn't at Jerome's, I did have hope that he was taken.

       But I actually pushed the hope away when I got the proof I needed. Nolan's cell phone was found in an alleyway. How couldn't anyone see what it meant?

       While I was punching the bag, I ended up glancing by the entrance of the training room to see Mae standing there, so I stopped. "Hey," she said. "Are you okay?"

       "Not really, no," I said. "My little brother was most likely taken by Dirk's team, and nobody else except for Alan is taking it seriously. They're all saying that he probably went to the store or took a different route home."

       "I'm not saying he wasn't taken, but is there a chance that he did go to the store or take a different route?" Mae asked.

       "No, no way," I said. "This is Nolan we're talking about. He only does things he's familiar with unless he's with someone else. He wouldn't have taken a different route and as much as he loves food, he wouldn't have gone to the store alone. He always needs someone to go with him."

       "Is there anything you can do?" Mae asked. "Track them down to find him?"

       I sighed. "I wish. Alan knows where their hideout is and went back there, but he said nobody was there. If they did take Nolan, which they most likely did, they're going to take him somewhere we won't think of. And I really don't think of anything else we can do. We're going to have to give them Dirk."

       "I just don't understand why they're all doing this," Mae said. "They keep saying Protectors are controlling us supernaturals, but you're not. If it weren't for all of you, there would be a lot of chaos and killing innocent people. You're all just keeping us safe."

       "I know, but there are always going to be imbeciles out there who can't see clearly," I said.

       A portal suddenly opened and Jerome walked out, almost collapsing to the ground but Mae was close and quick enough to stop him from toppling over and keeping him standing upright.

       "Jerome, what's wrong?" Mae asked.

       "I don't know," Jerome said. "I just... I feel so weak and it took way too much energy just to open up a portal."

       "Why do you feel weak?" I asked.

       "I think... I think it's because of Nolan," Jerome said. "He still hasn't returned home and the prophecy said that if we're too far from each other for two long, disastrous things can happen. I think this is the start."

       "Okay, Mae, can you take him the the infirmary?" I asked. "I'll talk to my grandpa and get Martha here. She'll know what to do."

       Mae nodded before leading Jerome to the infirmary, and I headed to Grandpa's office and knocked on the door, walking in once I heard him call, "Come in!"

       Grandpa looked over at me. "Any word on Nolan yet?"

       "Uh, I said what happened to Nolan," I said. "Grandpa, I know you don't want to think anything bad can happen to him, but I literally found his cell phone in an alleyway."

       "It could have fallen out of his pocket," Grandpa pointed out.

       "It could have, but there would have been no way he would have been in the alleyway in the first place," I said. "And now, Jerome is starting to feel very weak. He said it took way too much energy just to open up a portal and if the Protector and sorcerer in the prophecy are too far from each other for too long..."

       "Disastrous things can happen," Grandpa finished. 

       "Trust me, I don't want anything bad happening to Nolan, but it's not going to do us any good if everyone is just telling themselves that he's fine," I said. "Jerome said he thinks he's feeling weak because of Nolan, and he's bounded to him. We have to trust Jerome's instinct."

       "Okay, I'll give Martha a call since she knows a lot about the prophecy, and we'll need her to help us out with this," Grandpa said. "In the meantime, I'm going to send some Protectors out to see if they can locate them."

       "They'll be far away," I said. "Probably not even in Miami, let alone Florida. You might want to contact other Protector HQ's and get them to look around or keep an eye out."

       "Smart thinking," Grandpa said. "I'll start contacting everyone and send an announcement out to everyone here."

       "I'm going to head to the infirmary where Jerome is with Mae to see if he's getting any worse," I said.

       I headed to the infirmary, where Jerome was now laying on a bed and Mae was sitting beside him.

       "I told my grandpa, and he's not only getting Martha here, but he's also going to contact all other Protector HQ's," I said, walking over to them. "They're most likely out of Florida if they wanted to start the disasters fast."

       "I hate to admit it, but they're smart," Mae said.

       "They're still a bunch of imbeciles," I said. "They were just able to be one more step ahead of us for once." I looked at Jerome. "How are you doing?"

        "Not good," Jerome said. "Even laying down is exhausting, and my side is starting to hurt. Look, whatever happens, do not trade off Dirk."

        "Are you kidding?" I asked. "Jerome, if you and Nolan stay too far apart..."

       "We can handle it," Jerome said. "Or at least think of a way to get him back without trading off Dirk."

       I wished he was right, but at the rate of how he was being affected, I just didn't see it happening.

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(too bad nobody cared about nolan last chapter :( only two people were upset that he was taken)