Chapter 23

       "Jerome, I'm telling you, I'm fine," I said. "You already used up way too much energy making sure that girl lives. You don't have to make my wound better with magic when it's already patched up. Just let your magic regain."

       Jerome sighed. "I just... I hate that I was letting you bleed out when I could have done something, anything, right then and there to make sure you weren't in so much pain."

       "Hey," I said softly, resting my hand on his cheek. "If you didn't save that girl, I would have felt so guilty. And I'm fine now. That's all that matters."

       Jerome nodded and gave me a thin smile, and I pressed my lips on his for a lingering kiss. One that was interrupted when someone cleared their throat. We pulled away from each other and looked over to see Martha and two tribunal members standing nearby.

      "The girl is going to wake up any minute," Martha said. "You're going to have to cast a spell on her to make her forget the events that happened today."

       "What?" Jerome asked. "Why?"

       "We can't risk any human knowing about Protectors and supernaturals," Martha said. "It's dangerous, so you need to cast a spell."

       "Okay, two things," Jerome said. "One, it's quite rude to give me orders instead of asking if I can cast a spell because you've been so adamant on not going to supernaturals for help. And two, sorry, but no can do. My magic is drained right now. It's going to take me a while for me to regain my magic enough to erase someone's memories."

       "You can at least try and do the most you can do," Martha said. "Even if you erase most of the memories, that will do."

       "Didn't you hear me?" Jerome asked. "My magic is drained. I can't erase someone's memories right now and if I try, I can seriously harm all her memories, not just the ones from tonight."

       "It will be worth the risk," Martha asked.

       I really missed the time when it was my grandpa who was in charge of this HQ and not Martha. Her rules and decisions were really unjust and quite selfish at times. Our job is to make sure we keep humans safe and she was wanting to risk ruining an innocent girl's memories?

       I was not going to let that happen.

       "No, it won't," Jerome said before I could say anything. "She doesn't deserve to have her memories be tampered with when she was just an innocent bystander who was attakced by someone on Dirk's team."

       Martha ignored Jerome and looked over at me. "You're a Protector, Nolan. You know how crucial it is to make sure humans know nothing about this life. Tell your boyfriend to cast the spell."

       "I'll tell him to cast the spell when he has regained enough magic to do it without risking the memories," I said. "And you're right. I am a Protector. Which is exactly why I don't want Jerome to risk it. That girl could have died and you're fine with Jerome risking taking memories away?"

       "Nolan, you may think you're a smart Protector but recently, you've been letting your emotions get in the way of being logical," Martha said. "You were lucky enough to get a second chance to come here. Don't blow it by constantly defying you."

       "I'm going to keep defying you if the decisions you're making are unfair," I said. "And it isn't a bad thing if some humans know about Protectors and supernaturals, especially if we saved their lives. Look, maybe we can just talk to her. Explain what happened and about the Protectors and..."

       "Not happening," Martha said. "We'll just keep her in the infirmary, make her think it's a hospital, and wait for Jerome to regain his energy."

       "And what if I still refuse to do it?" Jerome asked. "Because I don't know how long it will take for me to be up to trying to spell. Nolan's right. That girl went through a traumatic experience. She's going to want an explanation right away when she wakes up."

       Martha crossed her arms over her chest. "If you both defy me again..."

       "What will you do?" I interrupted. "Lock us up? Send us to Auric? Please, be my guest because right now, we're the best shot you have at taking down Dirk's team, and you know it."

       Martha was silent for a bit before saying, "Fine. Have it your way. But you are going to be responsible for that girl, Nolan. The both of you are. If she puts the Protectors at risk, I won't hesitate to send you both to Auric to be locked up."

       When she and the other two Tribunal members walked away, Jerome said, "You know, you are really hot when you stand up to Martha. Like I just seriously want to make out with you right now. Can we make out?"

       I ignored him and walked into the infirmary so I could be by the girl's side when she woke up. Unfortunately, my side was hurting a bit so I sat down on the other bed.

       Jerome followed my into the infirmary. "I am very much insulted you don't want to make out right now."

       "Like Martha said, the girl is going to wake up any minute and we're responsible for her," I said. "We're going to have to be here when she wakes up for us to explain everything. And reassure her that everything's okay."

       It was a few moments later that the girl began stirring before she opened her eyes. She began panicking when she looked around, not recognizing where she was but Jerome was quick to her side to calm her down. "Hey, it's okay," he said. "You're okay."

       "Where am I?" she asked, a small bit of worry still latched to her voice.

       "That depends," Jerome said. "What do you remember?"

       "Really?" I asked Jerome. "You can't just be upfront?"

       "What? If she didn't remember anything, then we just say a hospital and I wouldn't have to use a spell on her," Jerome said.

       I sighed. It was official. My boyfriend was an idiot.

       "S-spell?" the girl asked. "Wait... You... Y-you had blue energy come from your hands and it... it blasted someone away from me. I was... I-I was getting attacked. By someone with fangs and... What was that?"

       "Okay, so she does remember everything," Jerome said.

       He really was an idiot. We were supposed to be reassuring her everything was okay and he was doing a horrible job.

       I carefully hopped off of the hospital bed, holding my side because it was still hurting. "Ignore him," I said. "He's not very good at this. Are you feeling okay?"

       "Y-yeah, I feel okay," she said. "But... What is going on?"

       "Okay, this will take quite a bit of explaining," I said.

       "Or we could do the shorter version," Jerome said and before I could even stop him, he continued. "The person that attacked you was a vampire. I'm a sorcerer. I healed you. You're going to be okay."

       "Jerome!" I said.

       "What?" Jerome asked. "It's true, isn't it?"

       "A... a vampire was what attacked me?" the girl asked. "But... They're mythical. They're not real. Are they?"

       "Okay, Jerome, this time, let me handle it," I said and Jerome shrugged before I looked at the girl. "Yes, vampires are real. They're normally not dangerous, but they're real. And yes, Jerome over there is a sorcerer. Magic is real and he can use it. But he's on the good side."

       "And... You?" the girl asked. "Are you any... anything?"

       "Well, it depends what you mean by anything," I said. "No, I'm not a supernatural being. I'm part of a group called the Protector Circle. We make sure humans and supernaturals stay safe, but mostly humans. That's why you're here now and you're okay. You'll be able to leave soon but if you want, you can stay here as long as you want just to let everything sink in."

       The girl nodded. "O-okay."

       "I'm Nolan, by the way," I said. "That idiot over there is Jerome."

       "Ouch," Jerome said.

       "I'm... I'm Mille," the girl said. "Wait... I was supposed to meet up with my boyfriend, Fitz. He's probably worried sick. I have to go see him."

       Millie tried getting off of the bed but she stumbled a bit as if she was very weak. I quickly caught her and helped her get back onto the bed before pulling my cell phone out of my pocket and handing it to her. "Here, call him," I said. "And I should tell you that you can't say a single thing to him but if you trust him enough, you can tell him what happened."

       "And if you ever need anything, we'll be here," Jerome said. "We'll make sure this will be as easy for you as possible."

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oof the girl that was attacked was millie oof

and i should go to sleep because its like 1 am. lol jk jk. im so funny. i dont go to sleep so early.

ps jerlan is the best ship bye