Chapter 29

       Even at the times where I wasn't a sorcerer, I enjoyed reading Jerome's spell books. It definitely wasn't going to be any use to me but at least it helped me understand the power my boyfriend had.

       It definitely was a good thing I did read the books because now that I was a sorcerer, I was able to use a lot of those spells that I somehow remembered even though my memory was as worse as they come.

       I had been reading a lot more spell books now that I was finally able to control my magic. It was what I was doing right now. Jerome and I were in the lounge room of the HQ with me sprawled across one of the couches, my head resting on Jerome's lap as I read the most powerful spell book Jerome had. Of course, I wasn't going to attempt any of the spells but I still liked reading about them.

       "Do you know what I really want to do?" Ryder asked Alan and Orchid as the three of them walked into the lounge room. "Grab my sword, go back to the cellar, and slice--"

       "Whoa, watch your language," Alan said. "We've got a child in here." 

       "Uh, the only other people in the room are Nolan and Jerome," Orchid said.

       "I know," Alan said. "I was talking about Nolan. He's too young to hear such violent words."

       I turned my head to glare at him. "We're the same age, you dingbat."

       "Biologically, yes," Alan said. "Not mentally."

       "I'm pretty sure I'm more mature than you are," I said, looking back at the spell book. "And Ryder, what were you talking about when you wanted to go back to the cellar with your sword?"

       "Martha wanted me to interrogate Dirk," Ryder said. "See if he'll tell us where his team is now hiding and what they were, and still are, truly planning. But as you can see by my moodiness, it didn't go well."

       Jerome snorted. "That's not surprising," he muttered.

       "Excuse you?" Ryder asked. "I'm the best interrogator the Protectors have."

       "And Dirk is the most annoying person on the Earth," Jerome said. "It doesn't matter if you're the best interrogator. Once your attitude is challenged, it's easy to get you annoyed. Obviously you weren't able to get anything out of Dirk."

       Ryder crossed his arms over his chest. "And you think you can do any better?"

       "Nope," Jerome said. "I know I can do better because I have quite a few disadvantages. I know Dirk. We were both in the Sorcerer Circle so I know exactly what he likes. Before I was kicked out, I got under his skin all the time. If anyone can make him talk, it's me."

       "No offense, Jerome, but if Ryder can't make Dirk talk, then I don't think you can," Alan said.

       "Just ignore him," I said to Jerome. "He's an idiot."

       "I'm the idiot?" Alan asked.

       "Obviously," I said. "Jerome just said that he knows Dirk. He knows how to make him talk so I don't see how you think he won't be able to do it just because Ryder is." I looked up at Jerome. "Can I use my magic to make people shut up?"

       "You can pretty much use magic for anything. If you want to make your siblings shut up, I could teach you."

       "Okay, first of all, that's rude," Alan said. "And second of all, that's very rude."

       I ignored Alan. "So want to go prove my annoying siblings wrong?"

       "I'd love to," Jerome said so the two of us got off of the couch.

       "Good luck," Ryder said. "You're really going to need it. Trust me. Dirk is a real... piece of work."

       "Ryder, do you just ignore everything I say?" Jerome asked. "I told you, I know Dirk. I know how to rile him up and I definitely know how to get him to talk. Not only that, but magic doesn't work down in the cellar but mine does. If he's annoying, I just hit him with a binding spell so he can't even move in his cell. Or, better yet, I hit him with the one spell that will make him talk."

       "Truth spell?" I asked.

       "Exactly," Jerome said. "I really wonder what you Protectors would do without me."

       "He put a spell on himself, Jerome," Orchid said. "He can't use magic but any other spells are clearly existing there. I couldn't read his mind at all so clearly, he put some type of spell that blocked it so he probably used one that blocks truth spells as well."

       "What kind of cellar do you have here?" Jerome asked. "One that blocks magic but doesn't block spells already cast? You all need to step up your game."

       "Yeah, instead of trashing us, maybe you could, I don't know, go talk to Dirk?" Ryder asked. "Alone, though. Leave my brother out of it?"

       "You can't tell me what to do," I said.

       "Dirk is dangerous, Nolan," Ryder said. "You shouldn't go near him."

       "He's in a cell without magic," I said. "The only thing he can do is make me cry because of his face. So again, you can't tell me what to do."

       Jerome and I left the lounge room and had to go find Martha so she would let us into the cellar. I just wanted to defy her rules and go to the cellar anyway without asking her. She annoyed me to much so I wanted to annoy her.

       Unfortunately, she would find out about our trip down there if we find something out about Dirk because we'd have to tell her. So we found her and asked if we were able to interrogate him. Surprisingly, she agreed to it. She was never really enthusiastic about me and Jerome doing anything for the Protectors.

       Once we got to the cellars, we went to Dirk's cell and Jerome just stood by the door, leaning up against the wall. "You know, Dirk," Jerome said. "I kind of always imagined seeing this outcome for you. Locked in a room. Nowhere to go. No one to see."

       "I'd save my breath if I were you," Dirk said. "I'm not going to talk to you."

       "You're talking to me right now," Jerome said.

       "I said I'm not going to," Dirk said. "Going to, as in future tense."

       "Yes, and you saying that is in the future from you telling me you're not going to talk to me," Jerome said.

       "Oh, just shut up," Dirk said.

       "Wow, for someone who isn't talking to me, you're pretty adamant to, you know, keep talking to me," Jerome said. "Don't worry, I'll get out of your hair soon. But first, this is how it's going to work. I'm going to ask some questions and you're going to answer. Simple. Well, simple for most people. You probably didn't understand what I said."

       "Again, I'm not talking to you," Dirk said.

       "Yeah, okay," Jerome said. "Here, I'll simplify it even more. I ask questions, you answer. You don't answer, and I'll keep you in a bind."

       "Magic doesn't work down here," Dirk said.

       "For you, maybe," Jerome said. "But for me..." He flicked his hand forward and blue magic swarmed around Dirk, keeping him tightly in his hold. "Well, let's just say there's a benefit of being the sorcerer part of the Two Souls Prophecy." He made the bind tighter around Dirk. "So where's your team hiding out?"

       "I don't know," Dirk said.

       The bind got even tighter. "Try again."

       "I don't know!" Dirk said. "I really don't! We move around a lot. It's harder.... harder for people to track us that way."

        Wow, Jerome's methods really got information out of Dirk.

       "Do you stay in Miami or do you expand your hideouts to all of Florida?" Jerome asked.

       Dirk was silent for a bit before saying, "Florida."

       Jerome didn't release the bind on Dirk quite yet. It just kept getting tighter and tighter so I walked over to Jerome and gently grabbed his arm. "Jerome, we got enough information," I said. "Just release him."

       Jerome did that immediately, which made Dirk fall to the ground. He then stood up, giving Jerome a smirk. "You know what one of the greatest weaknesses is? Love. You really shouldn't listen to your boyfriend all the time because trust me..." Dirk walked as close to the door as he could. "If the situations were reversed, I wouldn't have hesitated to tighten the bind as much as I could."

       Jerome didn't even seem the slightest bit angry by Dirk. Instead, he just smiled back and said, "Well, then I guess it's a good thing the situations aren't reverse. And this is just for being you." He hit Dirk with a sleeping spell, knocking him unconscious.

       "Seriously?" I asked.

       "Oh, don't give me that look," Jerome said. "You would have done the exact same thing. Now come on. We have to tell Martha to expand the whole search for Dirk's team to Florida."

       "What if he's lying?" I asked. "Wanting us to search all of Florida instead of Miami?"

       "Trust me, I know Dirk," Jerome said. "When his life depends on it or when he feels threatened, he'll sing like a canary to keep himself protected. And that's exactly what he did. He was telling the truth so let's go hunt down those people."

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oof can i join?

lmao jk jk i'm too busy crying about my upcoming debts and not having food in my food drawer :(

such a sad time for me