Destined *Stiles Stilinski* Book 3

What the hell is a nemeton?

"I always had a feeling you were the weak link." Deucalion grin as I step out of the stairwell onto the rooftop.

"Kinda hard not to be when you threaten everyone I love." I scoff.

"Just incentive my dear." He smiles.

"Mom!" Scott yells suddenly bursting onto the roof.

Deucalion's smile grows wider. "They're gone. Guardians, Scott. If you were with me, I could've told you what it meant. I could've warned you. Let me help you, Scott. Let's help each other. You help me catch her, and I'll help you get your mother and Stiles's father back."

"Scott, Devin don't do this. Don't go with him." Stiles pleads already seeing me standing next to Deucalion and Jake.

"I don't know what else to do." Scott admits.

Stiles eyes then float to me as I stand there. "I'm doing this to protect you." I say.

"No, there's g... guys, there's got to be something else, okay? We always... we always have a plan B." Stiles whimpers.

Scott shakes his head. "Not this time."

"Guys." He whispers making my heart ache. I'm doing this to play Deucalion but why is Scott.

"I'm gonna find your dad. I promise." Scott assures him.

"Scott." Stiles says another time as Scott turns to Deucalion.

I take a few quick steps towards Stiles and give him a quick peck before retreating to Deucalion. "Devin." He whimpers staring at me with sad eyes.

"I promise you, this is for the best Stiles."
**********

"This way." Ethan instructs as Scott and I follow.

In front of my face a light flickered bringing back fond memories of my childhood. "Fireflies." I mumble with a faint smile.

"Unusual for this region." Deucalion points out.

"It's because of Jennifer, isn't it?" Scott ask. "Just before all this started, a deer crashed into Lydia's car. The cats went crazy at the animal clinic. Birds flew into the high school. That was all her."

Deucalion shrugs at Scott proposition. "They say animals can sense natural disasters when they're about to happen. Maybe they can sense supernatural ones as well."

"Does she scare you?" I ask tugging my cardigan closer to my body.

"She concerns me if she's willing to kill that many innocent people for her cause, people like your mother, Scott and Stiles' father." He says.

"Are you willing to kill innocent people?" Scott test.

"I'll kill any living thing that gets in my way." Deucalion bluntly states making nerves rack through my body. Oh lord what have we gotten ourselves into?

*****************

"How did you know, Marin, that we'd come for you?" Deucalion question Ms. Morrell who has protected herself with a circle of mountain ash.

"Because Jennifer and I are the same. And I know you've always been suspicious of us, of what we can do." She answers quickly.

"With good reason. We know you sent that girl... the one who helped Isaac." Kali scoffs.

"What was her name?" Deucalion inquires.

"Braeden. And I sent her to do what I've always done... maintain balance." Morrell defends.

"What do you know about Jennifer?" Deucalion throws another question out there.

"Nothing more than you know." She responds before turning to Scott and I. "This isn't you two. Go back to your friends."

Jake lets out a scoff beside me. "I think they can decided that for themselves."

"Not without all the information. Have you told them everything you've done? How you've piled up bodies in a narcissistically psychotic effort to form your perfect pack? Bodies that include Ennis, by the way. My brother saved him. He was alive when Deucalion went in to see him. He wants you to go after Derek, Kali, to force his decision. If Derek joins the pack, it paves the way for Scott and Devin." Morrell argues. Paves the way? What the hell?

Deucalion's lets a tsk roll off his tongue before speaking. "The lies people will tell when they're begging for their life."

"Ask him." Morrell question. Deucalion, obviously tired of her game flips the cap off his cane and throws at Morrell piercing her chest and making her stumble back out of the mountain ash circle.

Scott and I immediately rush to her side in protection. "Hey, back off." Scott yells at the twins as I jerk the cane out of her chest.

"We're not going to let them kill you. But if you know something, if you know where they are..." Scott beggs, desperation in his eyes.

"The Nemeton... you find that, you'll find Jennifer. Find the Nemeton." She gasp in my arms. Scott and I look at each other wide eyed.

"What the hell is a nemeton?" I ask in bewilderment.

***********

Scott told me we were going to meet someone though he left out the part of who. As we walk into a clearing in the woods I see Stiles and Deaton standing there waiting. A smile crosses my face as I run to Stiles and throw my arms around his neck. It's only been like a day, but a day spent lying and hiding from Stiles feels like a lifetime. "Hey. Hey." He coos running a hand through my hair and kissing the top of my head.

Scott lets out a cough behind us, separating us from the moment we were having. "How did you guys find out?" Scott ask.

"Lydia? You?" Stiles question wrapping and arm around my waist.

"Morrell." I say.

"None of the other alphas know where it is either." Scott adds.

"So if this works, are you gonna tell them?" Stiles asks, worry laced in his voice.

"We can't stop Jennifer without them." Scott points out.

"How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Deaton purposes getting nods from us.

"What's the plan?" Scott questions.

"Essentially, you, Allison, and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents." Deaton sighs.

My eyes go wide at this. "Wait you mean like, die for them?" I ask, my grip on Stiles shirt tightens.

"But he can bring us back." Stiles assures. "You can... you can bring us back, right?" Ok well that didn't settle my nerves at all, thank you Stiles.

"You remember the part where I said it was dangerous? If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds, but there's something else you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time. This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural, the kind of things that a family like the Argents can fill the pages of a bestiary with. It will draw them here, like a beacon." Deaton warns.

Stiles shrugs. "Doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen."

I scoff thinking back on all the stories my mother told me as a young child. "You'd be surprised at what all we HAVEN'T seen."

"Is that it?" Scott ask Deaton.

"No. It'll also have an effect on the three of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of a darkness around your heart, and permanent, like a scar." Deaton warns.

"Like a tattoo." Scott mutters.