Chapter 34

       Ever since Martha and I had our argument the day before, she wasn't giving me any missions right now. For once, I was okay with that since Jerome and I had our own plans. It might not be the best idea for the two of us to try to take on Dirk's team, including Irene, on our own but I was getting annoyed with Martha never taking me seriously.

       Even when I had an idea how to help out, she would either shut it down without listening or... Wait, no, that was it. She would always shut it down without listening.

       I was the one who found out the pattern Dirk's team was attacking in. I was the one who thought of a solution to quickly take down the demons. Yet I still wasn't good enough in her eyes.

       I really had to prove her wrong.

       While Jerome was completing the first part of our plan, I was looking at the holographic map of Florida in the Op Centre, taking note of all the spots that were already checked out for the hideout. There were still a lot left so I really hoped our plan to find it worked.

       "What are you doing?" Orchid suddenly asked as she walked over to me.

      "I'm doing what Martha hasn't been able to succeed in doing yet," I said. "I'm going to find that hideout."

       Orchid sighed. "Nolan, I love you and everything but the hideout isn't just in Miami. The possibilities are all over Florida. I doubt you're actually going to be able to find it before another Protector does."

       "Unless I actually use my brain," I said. "Something that, apparently, is a rare concept in the Protector Circle. I have a plan that's currently being activated as we speak. I hope."

       Ryder and Alan walked over as well, both of them looking annoyed. "I'm getting really tired of having to search all over Miami for stupid Dirk's stupid hideout," Ryder said. "There has to be some way we can find the hideout."

       "Ryder, you're one of the smartest Protectors," I said. "Do what I do. Use your brain."

       "You don't think I've been trying to figure a quicker way out?" Ryder asked. "There's nothing. We can't interrogate Dirk because we're not getting anyway with that annoying piece of crap. We can't interrogate his team because they've all been hiding since Dirk got caught."

       "And some of the hide in plain sight," I said. "But they're not hiding good enough."

       "Yeah, I have no idea what that means," Ryder said. 

       "You'll find out soon enough," I said. "Or not at all since you were kind of being a jerk on me a few days ago."

       "You're the one who was sitting back and relaxing while demons were roaming the city," Ryder said.

        "And Martha was the one who forbid me from going out into the field so you should have blamed her," I said. "We've always been taught to respect the head of the HQ no matter what. I was just simply following orders."

       Ryder didn't say anything else about me sitting back and watching the city being up in flames, mainly because a portal opened up and Jerome walked out of it. He headed over to me before handing me a small device. "Do your thing," he said.

       "You did it?" I asked, taking the device from him.

       "It took a while but I did," Jerome said. "At least we're now closer to figuring out where the hideout is. Closer than any of you useless Protectors."

       "Was that directed towards us?" Ryder asked.

       "Wow, you're actually using your brain for once," I said and Ryder flicked my forehead in reply.

       "If you're as smart as you think you are, then please, Oh Genius One, tell us what your plan is to find it," Ryder said.

       "Okay, first off, I'm Oh Gay One, not Oh Genius One," I said. "And second, I would tell you but I don't want Martha finding out the plan. I don't care if she's the head of this HQ. She's always shooting down my ideas and even told me that she can find the hideout with my and Jerome's help."

       "Well, she's wrong there," Ryder said. "Jerome's knows Dirk more than any Protectors do, and you two are the ones who can travel around Florida faster than the rest of us. So what's the plan? Because Alan and I want in."

       "And I'm already in because I'm the nicer sibling," Orchid said.

       "Sorry, Ryder," I said. "But I just told you. I really don't want Martha to find out the plan."

       "What plan?" Martha asked, now standing near the holographic map, her arms crossed sternly over her chest. "You do know you're already walking on thin ice, right, Nolan? If you're planning something behind my back, you will tell me what it is right now."

       "Don't worry, I got this," Jerome said, flicking his hand and causing his blue magic to swarm around Martha's head. 

       Once the magic disappeared, Martha blinked a few times before looking at Ryder, Alan, and Orchid. "What are you three doing here? Aren't you supposed to be looking for the hideout?"

       "We're just finding another place to look since we got to another dead end," Orchid said. "We'll be back out again soon."

       "Great," Martha said before walking off as if she didn't even hear me say I didn't want her to know about the plan.

       "What did you do, Jerome?" Orchid asked.

       "Oh, I wiped her memory from the past, like, ten seconds," Jerome said. "I love being a sorcerer."

       "Yeah, anyway, the plan? What is it?" Ryder asked.

       "I would tell you but I really need to get this thing," I gestured to the device, "hooked up to the map. The only problem is Martha will for sure figure out what we're doing if she sees it hooked up to the map."

       "Oh, I have a holographic map in my room," Ryder said.

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why? And since when?"

       "Since I got bored and made one in my room," Ryder said. 

       "That's convenient" I said.

       "And if you want to use it, you'll let me and Alan in on the plan," Ryder said. "I want to find Dirk's hideout as much as you do and your plans always work. We need to use it instead of Martha's."

       "Deal," I said.

       The five of us went to Ryder's room and once the door was closed behind us, Ryder set up the map of Florida and told me to do what I had to do. As soon as I hooked up the device to the map, a red dot began glowing on it, being exactly where the Sorcerer Circle HQ was.

       "What's that?" Ryder asked.

       "My birth giver," Jerome said. "And she's going to lead us to the hideout."

       "How is your mom going to lead us to the hideout?" Alan asked. "Isn't she the head of the Sorcerer Circle?"

       "First off, she is not my mom," Jerome said. "She's just a woman who gave birth to me."

       "So... Your mom?" Alan asked.

       "No, Chanel is my mom," Jerome said. "Irene is just a woman who birthed me. She's also a liar and a backstabber. She's working with Dirk and she was the one who took down the barriers around Miami."

       "Are you serious?" Ryder asked. "Then why is she still the head of sorcerers? That's a major felony."

       "Because she's very good at manipulating people," Jerome said. "Nobody in the Sorcerer Circle would believe me if I told them, especially when the only proof I have is her magical energy being left at the lighthouse." Ryder, Alan, and Orchid all looked confused. "It's a sorcerer thing. Hard to explain. Just trust me. She's on Dirk's team so eventually she'll go to the hideout. And when she does, we'll know where it is."

       "All we have to do is keep an eye on the map and write down all the locations she goes to," I said. "The next morning, we'll check them all out and if it's none of them, we'll have to check the map again."

       "It might take a while for her to finally go there but at least we have something that will, eventually, lead us there," Jerome said. "And once she does, their hideout won't stand a chance with the nine of us."

       "Nine?" Ryder asked. "There's only five of us."

       "Oh, didn't I mention?" Jerome asked. "I requested some back up. After all, it would be rude not to go back to the team Nolan and I temporarily made when he and Orchid weren't Protectors."

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oof atticus and april are making a return, and so is another character that i don't think has actually been in this book yet. but here's a hint: he's a vulgar cinnamon roll.

also i'm sad because i'm not a sorcerer and i can't be lazy and portal everywhere and conjure my own food :(