Chapter 40

Jerome

       "I still think Nolan should be here for the attack," Ryder said. "They're going to show up any minute and we don't have a plan."

        "Well, you all should have thought of a backup plan just in case Nolan wasn't ready in time," I said. "We continued training, even at home during the night since he's usually up until three in the morning anyway, and he improved a whole lot. I think him knowing he won't be here during the attack took the stress off of him. Trust me, if the attack was in a few weeks, maybe even next week, he would have been ready."

       Ryder sighed. "I just don't know what else to do with Dirk and his team. We need to take them down once and for all, and that can't just be by taking down Dirk. We need to take down all, if not most of them."

       "And the best way to do that is to kill Dirk, but apparently, we're not allowed to do that," I said. "Look, I say you should all just let me kill him. The Protector Circle won't be able to do anything to me about it. I'm too important."

       Ryder snorted. "Yeah, right."

       "I'm sorry, do you have a problem with me?"

       "Yes."

       "Then what is it? Because I've never done anything to you."

       "You're dating my baby brother. If you ever hurt him, I'll kill you."

       "Good to know?"

       We went back to waiting for Dirk's team to show up for their 'surprise' attack. We still had no idea what we were going to do about it. All we knew was that he had to fight back, and hopefully beat as much as them as we could to send them to the Tribunal.

       If we didn't, we were going to be fighting them for a long time, and I was certain they were going to start killing more people again just to get their message across.

       Ryder's cell phone beeped with a message, so he pulled it out of the pocket to look at the message. "They're here," he said. 

       "Okay, to be clear, I'm allowed to kill Dirk, right?" I asked.

       "By all means, if you want to get in trouble with the Tribunal, go ahead."

       I was taking that as a yes because if it came down to it, Dirk could be dying tonight.

       Only as a last resort. I, unfortunately, wouldn't kill Dirk as soon as I saw him. It was only going to come to it if my life was on the line. Or if anybody's else's life was on the line.

       Dirk's team had definitely planned more than they discussed in their hideout because everybody on his team was here. Except for him. There was no way he would have skipped out on the attack if it meant taking us down. His ego was too big.

       He was somewhere else in the HQ, away from everyone else, and I was going to be the one to find him.

       Nobody bothered trying to fight me. Well, they tried, but I just blew them away with my magic. I didn't have time to fight with people that were going to lose against me anyway. 

       I couldn't find Dirk anywhere in the HQ. I checked everywhere, even in the labyrinth and he wasn't there. There was no way he wouldn't be a part of this. He was the strongest one they had, and they were pretty much useless without him. That was why his team worked so hard to get him back.

       My cell phone buzzed in my pocket and when I pulled it out to look at the caller, I was very confused when I saw Nolan's name flashing on the screen but I answered it anyway. "You do realize we're under attack right now and it's best for me not to talk on the phone, right?" I asked.

       "Well, you could have ignored the call, but I figured you would be on your own looking for Dirk," Nolan said. "He's on the rooftop, by the way."

       "How do you know that?" I asked. "And why would he be there?"

       "I'm guessing to shut off the power," Nolan said. "Our source of power is up there. If he shuts it off, the HQ will be pitch black since there are no windows or any other light sources. I'm guessing they have something prepared to see in the dark, so we'll be completely screwed. Well, most of us. Not Alan."

       "Okay, but how do you know that's where he's heading?" I asked. "You're not here, are you?"

       "Oh, no," Nolan said. "I used my laptop to patch into the security system. I figured I could try to make myself as useful as I could when I'm staying back here. You better hurry to the rooftop, though. Once Dirk shuts off the power, it's game over for us."

       "Not on my watch," I said before hanging up, then heading to the staircase leading to the rooftop.

       I got there right before Dirk was about to shut off the power, but he heard the door open so he looked over. "Well, I guess it's time for a little one on one," Dirk said. "Don't think you're going to win this battle."

      Dirk sent some of his magic towards me, and I quickly dove out of the way. I would have sent some of my own to him, but he was right in front of the power source. If he moved out of the way in time, I would have been the cause of the power shutting off.

       "Come on, hit me with your best shot," Dirk said. "Or are you too afraid to?"

       "Afraid?" I asked. "Of you? Please, I've handled way worse."

       "Then you have no idea what I'm capable of," Dirk said before sending more magic towards me. And even though I saw it coming, I wasn't able to move out of the way in time and it knocked me to the ground.

       I tried getting up, but Dirk hit me with more magic and I could already feel the exhaust starting to hit me.

       "I'm going to have so much fun getting rid of you," Dirk said, conjuring more magic. I attempted to stand up, but I just didn't have the energy.

       Dirk wasn't able to hit me with his magic, however, because right as he was about to, yellow energy suddenly hit him harshly, knocking him to the ground unconsciously.

       The next thing I knew, Nolan was by my side, helping me sit up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

       "Yeah," I said. "Yeah, just a little weak. What are you doing here?"

       "I felt you got hurt," Nolan said. "So I made a portal and here I am. I, uh... I deciphered the last spell in the spell book. It was one to knock someone out cold for three days. The was the only thing on my mind when I saw Dirk about to hurt you so..."

       I looked over at Dirk laying on the ground. "At least he's down so far," I said. "I really hope everyone else is doing well taking down the others."

       My cell phone took the right moment to buzz in my pocket, so I pulled it out to answer it. "Hello?"

       "Okay, so I assume you're somewhere safe and away from others since you answered the phone," Ryder said. "There's good news and bad news. The good new is everyone was captured except for Janelle. She was able to take off."

       "What? Really?" I asked. "How did you capture everyone?"

       "We are just that awesome," Ryder said. "Well, actually, Alan had an amazing idea. For those of us who have throwing weapons, like Orchid's throwing knives and Tulip's slingshot, we just dip them in a little elixir that knocked them out cold for a few hours. And now we feel bad because Alan had been trying to tell us that idea for a while, but nobody listened to him."

       "Yeah, you should feel bad about that," I said. "Anyway, what's the bad news?"

       "We can't find Dirk," Ryder said.

       "Oh, I found him," I said. "The good news is he'll be out cold for three days."

       "Three days?" Ryder asked. "How on earth did you do that?"

       "Simple," I said. "I didn't. My wonderful boyfriend did. Nolan showed up. He deciphered the last spell in the spell book and it was one that could knock someone out cold for three days."

       "Nolan showed up?" Ryder asked. "See? This is why you never showed have underestimated him."

       "I did not," I said. "I didn't want to stress him out. He agreed with me and he didn't want to show up. He only did because I got hurt."

       "Because you suck."

       "Bye." I hung up my phone and put it in my pocket.

       "Everyone was captured?" Nolan asked.

       "Everyone but Janelle," I said. "She left the HQ during the fight, I guess." I stood up, and Nolan stood up as well. "So I guess the revolution is actually over. That seemed easy. A bit too easy."

       "Don't jinx it," Nolan said.

       "I'm pretty sure it's not jinxing it," I said. "Everyone was captured, Nolan. There's nothing wrong with it being too easy. And just think, now that it's over, the we'll have more time to get you to control your magic. Although, I don't think you'll have much of a problem now."

       "No, I still think I won't be able to right away," Nolan said. "Like I said, I was only able to do it because I saw you in trouble. I didn't want anything to happen to you because I... I love you, Jerome."

       I gave Nolan a smile. "I love you too." I then pulled Nolan in for a kiss, but it didn't last long because Nolan's cell phone beeped with a message. "I swear, we never have a moment alone."

       "If it's one of my siblings, it's probably revenge for me always cockblocking them," Nolan said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. As soon as he read the message, his face turned completely pale.

       "What's wrong?" I asked.

       Nolan tried speaking, but no words were coming out so he showed me the message he received from Alan.

       Grandpa was hurt in the fight. We can't find a pulse.

_______________

THE END.

lol im horrible. I WARNED EVERYONE but people still like to leave me on read. Idk how man Genes I have to kill for people to get the message.

OH WELL. At least the second book is coming soon. I just have to make the cover, then I'll work on the first chapter right away. KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR IT.