Nefarious ➛ Theo Raeken [2]

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"No." Clarissa turned her back towards Scott McCall as she shoved her books in her locker. It was nearing the end of the day and the taller teen had approached her to see if she would be willing to help track down the owner of the jeep that they had saved from being towed. She had told him before that she knew the vehicle belonged to Stiles, but he still wanted to make sure. Even after months of proving to him that her grip on reality was still there, Scott needed to make sure that Clarissa Bane was not completely insane. "You can do the heavy lifting this time. I have to meet Evie for something that doesn't involve you and your pack for once."

"Your blood was in the car." Scott whispered lowly as he stepped towards her, his eyes darting around to see if anyone was listening in on their strange conversation. "I know that it was from the night in the library. You were basically dead when Evelyn and Josh brought you back and your blood had death lingering in the scent."

"For once, I don't care about what you feel like you need to do. You can figure it out on your own." Clarissa turned towards him with a frown, watching as he pouted slightly at her words. Most people fell in line behind Scott when he had a plan, but she no longer wanted to be the girl who looked to a man for guidance. She could figure things out on her own and see the plans she made through. "I told you earlier that I know it belongs to Stiles, but you think that I've gone crazy and that I don't know what I'm talking about."

"You haven't been the most trustworthy source in the last three months." Scott attempted to reason with the petite girl, ignoring the way that her face went blank at the mention of a subject that was haunting to her. He could see like the others that Clarissa Bane was not completely sane since Theo Raeken had gone underground. Her grip on reality was slowly slipping and he could see the madness growing in her eyes each day. It was terrifying for him to see the once cool and collected girl slide into a downward spiral because of something that he had caused. "You've been hearing things and you keep attempting to pretend that you're fine, but we can all see that you're struggling."

"And whose fault is that, Scotty?" Clarissa slammed her locker door shut behind her, her body straightening out at the implication that was hidden in his words. Everyone had walked around her on eggshells, but no one would outright tell her that her grip on reality was slipping through the cracks in her armor. They liked to pretend that she was fine and that she didn't still wake up screaming some nights from the image of Theo falling into the pit with his sister. "You're the one who made the choice to shove Theo underground even though we had a plan to help him. I know that Kira wouldn't have done it unless you suggested it to her. She fell in line and did everything that you said because you're the great True Alpha who can do no wrong."

"I know that you're still upset about what we did but that doesn't mean you can ignore the other problems that we have right now." Scott took another step towards her, but she didn't move away from him in favor of standing her ground. "We have to find a way to beat the Ghost Riders and bring Stiles back."

Clarissa wanted to laugh at the audacity that Scott had in that moment. He had been avoiding asking for her help for the past three months unless Stiles was involved. He only seemed to want her help when it suited him, and he had forgotten that he had ripped out her heart and stomped on it by ignoring the plan that she and Evie had created for Theo. It was starting to grate on her nerves as she had done everything in her power to help find Stiles, including bringing the attention of the Wild Hunt to her, but nothing that she had done was enough for Scott McCall. Nothing that she ever did lately was good enough for him and she knew that he would rather ask anyone else for help other than her. The only reason he seemed to want her help was because she was the only person other than Parrish who could hold the Ghost Riders back and could hear them coming for them.

She wondered if Scott realized that she had no trust left for him. She had been truthful the night in the library when she had told him that she didn't want to see him dead, and she was grateful that he had helped save her life, but she did not trust the teenager to have her back when she truly needed it. Trust was a double-edged sword because it gave the person the power to hurt you if you've placed your trust in them and Scott had taken that sword and rammed it through her back when he had kept his plans for Theo from her.