All Shades of Blue

26

Isaac narrowed his eyes. "You know, I'm starting not to like this idea. Sounds kinda dangerous. You know what? I definitely don't like this idea, and I definitely don't like him."

"You'll be fine," Derek reassured.

"Does it have to be him?"

"He knows how to do it. I don't. Be more dangerous if I tried doing it myself."

"You know Scott doesn't trust him, right? You know, personally, I'd... well, I'd trust Scott."

"Do you trust me?"

Isaac nodded. "Yeah. I still don't like him."

"Nobody likes him."

Nora let out a sigh and picked up a fussing Mateo, stepping back from Peter with a wary expression.

Peter finally spoke. "Boys. Young lady. F.Y.I., yes, coming back from the dead has left my abilities somewhat impaired, but the hearing still works. So I hope you're comfortable saying whatever it is that you're feeling straight to my face."

Derek crossed his arms. "We don't like you. Now shut up and help us."

"Fair enough. Relax. I'll get more out of you if you're calm."

"How do you know how to do this, again?" Isaac asked.

"It's an ancient ritual used mostly by alphas, since it's a skill that requires quite a bit of practice. One slip, and you could paralyze someone. Or kill them."

Isaac caught my eyes before looking at Peter. "You... You've had a lot of practice, though, right?"

"Well, I've never paralyzed anyone."

"Wait, does that mean that you..."

Peter inserted his claws into Isaac's neck and after a moment, said, "Wait, I see them."

"What'd you see?" Derek asked.

As Peter removed his claws, he panted and said, "It was confusing. Um, im... images. Vague shapes."

"But you saw something."

"Isaac found them."

"Erica and Boyd?"

"I barely saw them. I mean, glimpses."

"But you did see them."

Peter nodded. "And worse."

"Deucalion."

"He was talking to them. Something about time running out."

"What does it mean?" Isaac wondered.

"He's gonna kill them," Derek replied.

Peter shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no, he didn't say that. He did make them a promise that by the full moon that they'd both be dead."

"The next full moon?"

"Tomorrow night."

---

Derek made his way to the school and Scott showed them bruises on Lydia and Allison's arms.

Nora had made her way to the Animal Clinic for work.

"I don't see anything," Derek said.

"Look again," Scott told him.

"How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?"

"It's the same on both sides. Exactly the same."

"It's nothing."

Lydia said, "Paredolia. Seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia."