In the clinic, Brett laid on the table, seizing and shaking, a yellow substance covering his mouth. Derek and Stiles stood over him, trying to hold him down.
"What the hell is happening to this kid?" Stiles asked.
"He's been poisoned by a rare wolfsbane," Deaton answered. "I need to make an incision and you need to hold him as still as possible."
"Hey, Derek, how about a little werewolf strength?" Stiles asked.
"Yeah, I'm not the only one here with werewolf strength," Derek replied.
"If you can't hold him, the incision might kill him," Deaton told them.
"Derek, he's slipping," Stiles told him. "I don't think I can hold him."
Brett pushed arms into both Derek and Stiles, kicking Deaton, making the all back and fall away. He stood, seeing me standing in his way. He tried to spin around me.
I turned after him, grabbing one arm, pinning it between his shoulder blades, then doing the same with his other.
Peter's eyes glowed blue as he punched Brett in the face. I let go, letting Brett fall, Brett nearly unconscious, but not completely.
Where did that come from?
Peter looked from my suspicious look to Derek's. He blinked, his eyes no longer glowing. "I guess I still have a little werewolf strength myself."
"Yeah, maybe more that a little," I said.
Peter smirked.
Derek looked down at his slashed arm. It wasn't healing.
I gave Derek a confused look. Why wasn't he healing?
"Hey, Doc, I don't think he's breathing," Stiles said.
Deaton and Stiles knelt next to Brett. Deaton sliced a clean line down his chest, yellow wolfsbane smoke escaping the wound.
Derek looked at my confused and suspicious look.
"Is he okay?" Stiles asked.
Derek looked from me to his slashed arm as it finally healed.
"I think he'll be fine," Deaton answered. "I think he'll probably be out for a little while."
Peter, Derek and I looked at Brett as he whispered something.
"Guys, can you hear that?" Stiles asked. "I think he's saying something."
"The sun . . .the moon . . .the truth . . ." Brett whispered as Deaton leaned closer to him. "The sun . . . The moon . . . The truth."
Deaton sat straight in recognition. "Three things cannot be long hidden. The sun, the moon, and the truth." He looked from me to Derek. "It's Buddhist."
Derek looked at me and Peter, all of us knowing.
~
"Satomi," Peter said.
Yes, the Satomi bitten werewolf Noshiko had told Scott, Kira and me about back in World War || 70 years ago. The werewolf who had helped Noshiko kill the Nogitsune the first time when it inhabited Rhys' dead body.
Last time we had heard, she was still alive.
*
Derek asked help from Malia to find Brett's pack and warn them about the dead pool.
Deaton and Argent called to tell me that Garrett had kidnapped Liam and had him hidden somewhere, waiting to die. Kate and the Berserkers had taken Violet and brutally injured McCall and Stilinski.
They had called me because they knew they needed help to fight against Kate and the Berserkers if it came to that.
When Scott woke up in the clinic, the first thing he saw was Deaton.
"Hey, there," Deaton told him. "I was actually hoping you'd be out for a few more minutes."
Scott looked down at the broken Berserker claw in his stomach.
"Scott," I said as I stepped next to the table. He looked at me. "This is gonna hurt."
I started to pull the claw out, making him groan at first. As I pulled it out further, it made him scream in pain. I finally got the claw out.
Scott tried to stand. When he started to fall, I kept him standing.
"You all right?" Argent asked.
Scott nodded. Deaton walked closer with a cloth to slow the bleeding. "Where's my dad and the Sheriff?"
"They're at the hospital," Deaton answered. "They're both doing just fine. Here, hold this."
I nodded, holding the cloth to Scott's stomach. "Mm-hmm."
Scott's hand laid over mine. I looked up to him. He looked from Argent to me. "It was Kate. It was her and the Berserkers."
"We know," Argent told him. "But they move fast. And they don't leave much in the way of tracks."
"We have to find her," Scott told us. "She's got Violet. I think Violet knows where Liam is."
Deaton held out the claw to us. "Then as much as this hurt, it could probably also help. Can either of you get a scent?"
I looked from Scott to Deaton as I took the claw from Deaton.
*
At the abandoned factory, Scott and I landed on the concrete of the parking lot as Argent drove closer. We walked toward him as he got out of the car. He looked at the building, looking down with recognition.
"You been here before?" I asked.
"I worked here," Argent answered. "We used to own the building. It wad part of our business."
"I've fought these things before," Scott told him. "We both have. They're strong. Really strong."
"That's why I brought this," Argent told us, opening the back seat driver's side door, pulling out a military-grade machine gun.
Scott nodded. "I'm good with that."
Argent nodded, leading the way to the warehouse.
*
Inside, ignoring the white translucent rubber sheets, we walked toward the back.
"You shouldn't have come," Kate told us, but we didn't see her, making us look around.
"Kate," I said. "We're here for Violet. We need to talk to her."
"I knew you would find me," Kate told us. Her enlarged shadow appeared over the rubber sheets at the end of the building. Argent aimed the gun in her direction. "But . . . I was hoping we could do this later." The Berserkers' enlarged shadows appeared on either side of her. "I just needed a little more time."
"For what?" Argent asked.
"To learn control," Kate answered as she scratched along the rubber before pushing it aside, walking into view. "Lower the gun. We walk away. And you don't have to get hurt."
"Where's Violet?" Scott asked.
Kate, shifted, her face and neck blue, her eyes glowing dark green, looking at her brother. "Put the gun down, Chris."
"Where is she?" I asked.
The Berserkers were stalking toward us. Argent's finger curled around the trigger. I looked from the Berserkers to Argent.
I knew that if this started, we might not walk away.
So did Scott. "No, no!"
The Berserkers ran past Kate.
Argent fired the gun, yelling, shouting.
"No, no, stop!" Scott told them. "No!"
Kate appeared in front of Argent, pushing the gun out of his hands, to the floor. She pushed him back into the table behind him.
A Berserker slashed at Scott. Scott ducked under it. It slashed at him again. He flipped over it, landing in a crouch, looking up.
Kate growled at me. I growled back. She slashed at me with one arm. I ducked under. She slashed at me again. I ducked again, spinning underneath and behind her, kicking her into a beam.
Argent was still leaning against the table as the other Beserker slashed toward him. He ducked out of the way. It hit the table, shattering it.
*
Scott slashed at one Berserker. It pushed him to the floor. Scott stood. It punched him back into plywood walls, breaking through three and falling down to the floor. Scott stood up, standing on the table. It walked closer, grabbing Scott, running forward, pushing him through three more plywood walls before letting him fall.
Argent repeatedly punched the other Berserker. It punched toward him. Argent ducked out of the way.
I spun to kick Kate back. She punched toward me. I barely moved my head to the side to make her miss, looking at her fist as she pulled it back. I stood straight, slashing toward her. She backed away into the beam behind her. When I punched toward her, she ducked out of the way, my fist hitting the beam behind her, breaking the concrete.
The Berserker fighting Scott took Scott by his jacket collar, lifting him from the floor, throwing him through the wall, breaking into another room.
I turned around from the beam as Kate kicked me back into the broken table. I stood on the table, jumping toward her, grabbing her head and pulling her toward the floor, making her fall.
The Berserker fighting with Argent slashed into Argent. He groaned and fell. It held him by his throat. He pushed his arms away. It hit him on his back, making him fall. It held him on his knees, raising one arm to kill him.
Kate was still on the floor, looking toward them. "No!"
Kate roared.
The roar seemed to make both Berserkers just stop.
Kate stood, walking away, the Berserkers following her.
Argent looked around weakly. "Scott . . . Scott. Tara." I held out a hand toward him. Argent took it, letting Mr help him up as Scott walked closer. "I'm sorry."
Scott looked completely numb. "I'm not going to find him."
"There's still time, Scott," I told him. "There's still time."
Scott looked down, numb, not seeming to believe me.
I wrapped my arms around him. He slowly hugged back.
*
Out in the distance somewhere, we could hear a howl made from somebody we had never heard before.
Actual wolves howled to signal their location to the rest of the pack.
Yeah, we hadn't heard the howl before, but we knew who it came from.
Liam.
And now we knew where he was.
And Scott went to save his life.
*
Deaton, Scott, Argent and I stood around Liam on the table in the clinic. Deaton sliced a clean line down Liam's chest, the yellow smoke of wolfsbane escaping the wound.
Liam wasn't going to die.
"I don't know to keep watching people die," Scott told us.
"I'm not sure you have much choice about that," Argent told him.
"Maybe I do," Scott said.
"That's a lot of burden to carry, Scott," Deaton told him.
Scott shook his head. "I don't care. No one else dies. Everyone on that list. Everyone on that dead pool. It doesn't matter if they're Wendigos, or werewolves, or whatever. I'm gonna save everyone."
I was tired of watching the people I cared about, or just death in general, too. In my 16 years, I had seen so much pain, suffering, blood, death, fates even worse than death . . .
It would never end, but this would be a good start.