Old Scars, Future Hearts

20

A knock sounded on Marika's door and she looked up to see her brother. "What?"

"Stiles is here," Dmitri said. "Apparently we're needed at the Animal Clinic."

"What now?"

"You think I know? Can we just go?"

Marika threw a pillow at him and he threw it back with a frown before saying, "Real mature."

Stiles drove them to the Animal Clinic, an awkward silence filling the car.

As soon as everyone was there, Scott told them that a pregnant woman had been killed.

Scott looked between the group. "I don't think Jackson could do it. His mother died pregnant too, and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else."

Isaac frowned. "How do you know it's not part of the rules? The kanima kills murderers. If Jackson kills the wife, then the baby dies too."

"Does that mean your father was a murderer?"

Isaac shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me if he was."

A thought crossed Deaton's mind. "Hold on. The book says they're bonded, right? What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson, but from the person controlling him? What if something that affects the kanima also affects its master."

"Meaning what?"

A small smirk formed on Marika's face. "It means we can catch them both."

At school the next morning, Scott and Stiles were talking about tickets for a show. Marika figured it had to be the show Matt invited Allison to.

Scott frowned, like he was thinking. "There's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?"

"It's a secret show," Stiles pointed out. "There's only one way, and it's secret."

"What's the big deal about this show anyway?" Marika wondered.

Stiles turned to her. "I don't know! It's a secret show."

Marika's eyes flashed as she shot Stiles an annoyed look and stalked off and bumped into Matt. She fell to the ground. He frowned at her and Stiles pulled her up as Matt asked, "Hey. Either of you guys know why no one's getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?"

Stiles shook his head. "Just forget about it. Nobody got hurt."

"I-I had a concussion."

"Well, nobody got hurt."

"I was in the E.R. for six hours," Matt retorted.

Stiles pursed his lips a moment. "Hey, do you want to know the truth, Matt? Your little bump on the head is about this high on our list of problems right now." He crouched down and placed a hand about two centimeters off the ground.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked.

Matt shot Stiles a glare and Scott a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine now. So you didn't get any tickets last night either."

"Are they still selling?"

"Uh, no, but I managed to find two online. You should keep trying. Sounds like everyone's gonna be there."

Matt walked off and Stiles narrowed his eyes. "I don't like him. Marika doesn't either. Don't know about Dmitri. Hey, are you sure about this?"

Scott ignored his friend. "Last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job, so what do you think he's going to do this time?"