Of Wolves and Foxes (Beacon Hills Chronicles Book 3)

9: Coming Clean

Playlist:

Take a Breath ~ Jonas Brothers

Crystals ~ Of Monsters and Men

I had relayed Deucalion's story to Anna, telling her how he'd been a gentle visionary who wanted peace. How he was attacked by Gerard and blinded. How that event made something snap in him and how that led to our aunt's death. Alan was back at work and I was trying to keep an eye on Scott. The poison was completely out of my system now. My cover story was a bad bout with the flu. Melissa was glad to have me back. I did tell Melissa the real reason I was gone and she was glad that I was doing much better.

Anna and her friends found the body of one of the deputies, Tara, at the school. A seventh sacrifice, judging by the way Anna described the way her body was found. The only groupings left were Guardians and Philosophers. With Tara being a deputy, Anna and I were pretty sure the next two would be officers as well. Or even me. We were sure the Darach was working on Guardians now. And what bigger guardian was there than an Eamonn?

ANNA

I could barely concentrate on Ms. Blake's lesson. Tara Graime, a deputy that had been close to both Stiles and the Sheriff, had been sacrificed, leading us to believe that the Darach was sacrificing from the Guardians grouping. I was terrified that Trish would be one of those sacrifices, literally being a guardian supernatural. He'd already tried to kill her once. Would he try again? Ms. Blake circled the room, talking about literature. I should also point out that Ms. Blake is dating Derek and that my sister took on the Twins to protect her the night Boyd died. The Alphas had used her as leverage against Derek. Trish was a bit wary of her for some reason, but she said that she seemed to make Derek happy. Yes "Derek" and "happy" don't usually go in the same sentence, I know, but you take what you get when it comes to the angry and bitter Alpha.

"Lydia, I wasn't aware that you had so many hidden talents," Ms. Blake said.

"You and every guy I've ever dated."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing at Lydia's response.

Ms. Blake looked uncomfortable. "Ah, well, that was an idiom, by the way." She moved on, giving Lydia another look. "Idioms are somewhat of a secret to the people who know the language or the culture." She gave me and Stiles, who was sitting across from Scott, odd looks as well, as if she wasn't sure where we fit in the whole supernatural world. She'd found out that her boyfriend was an Alpha werewolf last week. A boyfriend no one had seen or heard from in that week. "They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words. Saying 'jump the gun' is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race or a phrase like 'seeing the whole board'"

"Like chess," Stiles said.

"That's right, Stiles. Do you play?"

"No. My father does."

Ms. Blake continued the lesson and Scott, who was sitting right behind me, tapped my arm. I was already turned in my seat. Ms. Blake went to the board and started writing.

"I think I can get to Ethan," he whispered. "I'm pretty sure I can make him talk."

"What do you want to do that for?" Stiles asked.

"Because he regrets Boyd," I answered. I could feel the regret every time we passed in the hall. He wouldn't even look me in the eye. I'd told him that he wasn't like the others after we saved his life at the motel. He probably thought that he'd proven me wrong. I still didn't think he was like the others.