Sacrilege (Theo Raeken) [2]

smoke

"Look," I begin. "For one, that sounds like a great future to me. Two, I didn't risk my life and lose my powers for this."

"You're right," she says. "You didn't. You lost your powers for something that didn't even work."

"But he's here!"

"Here and ready to murder someone!"

"I'm not going to murder someone," Theo sighs. "Listen to Arden."

"I'm not going to listen to a homicidal powerless siren widow," Malia says.

"Listen, Malia," I say. "I know, you know, we may not agree on our opinions on our favourite dastardly lab werewolf over here, but the past is in the past. Now, if you could let your girl Arden over here, you know, not be lonely forever... that'd be great."

"He killed Scott!"

"It was one time!"

As if on cue, Scott and Liam re-enter the room.

"I can put you back in the ground anytime," Liam tells Theo.

"You also need a transformer that can handle five billion joules of electricity," Theo says. "I know where to find one and I can show you how it works. I'll tell you if Malia promises not to kill me."

Although Malia growls in response, Liam reassured him. "She promises," he says.

"No, I don't," she corrects him. We're really gonna do this? Trust him?"

"You got a better idea?" Scott asks.

"I've got an idea," she says. "It may not be better. But at least it's not him."

***

"This was a bad idea," Liam says, tugging on the chains that are connected to Theo's wrists.

"It's not a bad idea," Hayden says.

"It's a terrible idea," Theo cuts in.

Liam jerks the chains forward, causing Theo to almost fall over.

"You know," I say, stepping over a small ditch in the grass. "This is pretty barbaric. I mean, chains? Really? Not even handcuffs? Sometimes I wish this was all a bizarre dream."

"I told you where the transformer is," Theo says. "I told you how it works. I don't have to be there when it all blows up."

"It's not going to blow up," Hayden protests, stopping in her tracks. "They ride the lightning. We can use it to catch one and keep them there until we figure out what they want. It's a good idea."

"You're trying to catch a ghost rider," Theo says. "A million things can go wrong. Terrible idea."

"The bad idea was bringing him back," Liam declares. "Scott's right. This is a mistake."

"You took a risk," Hayden replies softly. "We took a risk." She takes a step forward, and somehow I know exactly what's about to happen. "But you did the right thing. I believe in you."

They lean into each other and kiss. I look over at Theo and knit my eyebrows together. He smiles and rolls his eyes. "Uh, guys," I call over to the two teens gobbling each other's faces off. "Yeah, Theo and I are still here. And watching kids make out wasn't on our to do list today, believe it or not."

"You guys want us to leave you alone?" Theo asks, raising his eyebrows. He tugs on the chains, hauling them up. "Oh, right. I can't."

The low, husky growl of thunder sounds. "We should go," Hayden says, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.