Chapter 16

       When Jerome told me, Orchid, and Mae that he wanted us to go somewhere, I didn't bother questioning him and asked where we were going.

       I should have.

       We used a portal to get there and as soon as we stepped out of the portal, I saw a building I didn't want to go to ever.

       "Why are we here?" I asked, staring at the abandoned hospital in front of it. It was where Miami's vampire clan lived and I always avoided going there on missions.

       I really didn't want to go in.

       "Like I said," Jerome said. "We're creating our own team to take down Dirk's team. No shade to the Protectors, but I think supernaturals could do a lot more than Protectors."

       "Hey, I'm currently mad at Martha, so feel free to shade the Protectors all you want," Orchid said. "And I get that you want to start your own team. But why here?"

       "I think it will be quite effective to have a vampire on our team, don't you think?" Jerome asked. "And I heard that the clan has lost quite a few vampires because they went to Dirk's side, so the leader might be more than happy to join us."

       "Okay, you three can go ahead," I said. "I'll wait here."

       Jerome shrugged. "If you want."

       "You're not going to make me come with you?" I asked.

       "Nope," Jerome said. "Because knowing you, you'd rather come with us than stay outside or the abandoned hospital. Alone. In the dark. With nobody around."

       Jerome say that made me actually want to go inside the building only so I wouldn't stay outside alone. 

       So I followed them into the hospital, but I stayed behind Jerome the whole time so if something happened, he could either protect me or I would push him towards the danger and fend for myself.

       As soon as we walked into the hospital and the door closed, the leader of the Miami clan, April, appeared in front of us. "Protectors aren't allowed in here anymore," she said, looking at me and Orchid.

       "Why not?" Orchid asked.

       "Because yesterday, a bunch of Protectors came in here and did a very harsh interrogation on us," April said. "They were trying to find out if any of us have any part in the uprising."

       "Well, sorry to break it to you, but Nolan and I aren't Protectors anymore," Orchid said.

       April crossed her arms over her chest. "How can I believe you?"

       "You're going to have to take my word for it," Orchid said. "Nolan was kicked out and I left because I'm not letting him go through it alone."

       "Okay, that's even more unbelievable," April said. "I know all about your family, and there is no way Nolan of all people would be kicked out of the Protector Circle when he's too scared to break any rules. What could he have possibly done?"

       "There's a rule that Protectors can't enter a relationship, let alone socialize, with a supernatural," Orchid said.

       "Yes, I'm aware," April said. "We're only talked to by the Protectors when they need information. Other than that, they couldn't care less about us."

       "Yeah, and they couldn't care less about Protectors that break that rule and falls for a supernatural," Orchid said. 

       When April caught on what was happening, she started laughing. "Oh, that's rich! You're telling me that Nolan, the weakest link in your family, broke that rule?"

       I hated when people called me the weak link.

       Jerome seemed to hate it as well because he snapped at April. "Are you going to shut up, or am I going to have to make you?"

       April stopped laughing, but she still had a smirk on her face. "Please? You think you can take me on?"

       "Confidence is never a good thing when you have no idea what the other person is capable of," Jerome said before using his magic to hold April in a bind. She tried escaping, but it was no use. "Look, all I wanted to do was talk to you about the uprising in hope that you would help us take them down, but you just made it onto my bad side by insulting my boyfriend."

       "What, so Nolan actually fell for a supernatural?" April asked.

       Jerome released the bind on April. "You know what? Forget it. Clearly I made a mistake thinking you would want to help us take down the uprising. We'll be leaving now."

       We turned around to leave, but April zoomed to the front of the door so we couldn't. "Sorry," she said. "I'm listening now. What exactly do you have in mind?"

       "We want to start our own team to take down the uprising," Jerome said. "Like the Protectors."

       "Only better because right now, they're currently failing at their job," Orchid said. "And as an ex-Protector, I should know. They're too focused on other matters, so if we started our own team, our sole focus will be taking down Dirk and his team."

       "I'm in," April said.

       "Really?" Mae asked. "You're agreeing just like that?"

       "Of course I am," April said. "I lost a lot of my clan members, my niece included, to Dirk. I may not like the Protectors at times, but I do know they have good intentions so I would never harm them. Dirk is only going to harm not only the Protectors and supernaturals, but humans as well. I want to help stop it."

       "Great," Mae said. "We're going to gather up as many supernaturals as we could but honestly, I don't know if we'll have many to join our side."

       "Hey, as long as there is a different variety of supernaturals, the amount won't matter," April said. "Just don't focus on getting a certain species and it will be fine."

       "I know a werewolf that will be willing to help," Orchid said.

       "We'll got talk to him next," Jerome said. "Once we gather up as much as we could, we'll have a meeting at my place."

       "Sounds good," April said. "Dirk isn't going to know what hit him."

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mainly because i'll hit him with my shovel.

i mean what?

lol