Destiny [D.H.]

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?"

I shrugged. "He knows how to do it. Derek and I don't. Be more dangerous if he or I tried doing it ourselves."

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

"Do you trust me?"

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

"Nobody likes him," Derek and I said in sync.

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 and I asked.

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

"But you saw something," Derek said.

"Isaac found them."

"Erica and Boyd?"

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

"But you did see them," I said.

Peter nodded. "And worse."

"Deucalion," Derek realized.

"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."

We made our way to the school and Scott showed us bruises on Lydia and Allison's arms.

"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."

I frowned at the Alpha. "Dude, he's right."

Derek glared at me as Lydia said, "Paredolia. Seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia."

"They're trying to help," Scott reasoned.