Stiles paced around the exam room in Deaton's clinic nervously. The twenty-four hours were up and Eva was supposed to be here by now. At least that was what he left in the text on her phone – and in a voicemail too.
"Stiles, she's going to be here." Scott whispered quietly, trying to reassure his friend, but Stiles wasn't having any of it. Eva spent a whole night in Eichen House, the institute with the highest death rate in Beacon Hills County, almost in all of California, and that harbored the most violent mental patients in the state. And she'd willingly stepped foot into it because they needed to stop whatever it was that was going after them.
His train of thought was cut off when he saw the lights through the blinds, and he hurried to the main door. He almost rammed into Derek, but the werewolf sidestepped quickly to reveal the petite brunette behind him, and Stiles didn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around her, his lips finding hers. Eva's hands almost immediately moved up to hold his face, her eyes shut tightly as she kissed him as ardently as ever. With the events of the past hour, with so much confusion in her mind, and the deal of almost dying again leaving her rattled, she found her solace in being in his arms, and Stiles found his by holding her close.
"I'm okay.." She whispered as Stiles finally pulled away and held her face in both his hands, his eyes going over her small figure. Eva tilted her head downwards and tried to force a small smile on her lips as she reached out to touch his chin, lifting his gaze so he could meet her own. "I told you I'll be fine."
Stiles almost sighed in relief and pulled her again into his arms, until he saw the bruise on her neck. He'd seen bruises like that on Eva's neck before, and the sight of them made his blood run cold within his veins. His hand dropped to trace over the discolored skin, before he turned to Derek, "What happened?" Stiles asked, finally the wheels in his mind beginning to turn, "Did you need to do anything?"
Eva glanced sideways at Stiles, "You didn't have to make him stand outside of the hospital for twenty-four hours, Stiles." She whispered, already having had this argument with Derek in the car. After they'd managed to get her stuff from Brunski's office and sign her out, Eva had asked how Derek knew when to be there, and he'd eventually fessed up that Stiles was the one who almost begged that someone be there.
"From the bruises on your neck, I can tell that I did have to." Stiles whispered, before he turned to Derek, "What happened?"
"We went to the basement." Eva started quietly, "Malia, and I…" Eva's voice fell quiet before she shook her head slowly, "And…another patient. Daniel." Eva looked up at Stiles now, before her eyes flickered over his shoulder to the people that had just walked into the room, Kira, Scott, Allison, and Deaton. Deaton's eyes met Eva's for only half a second, maybe even a fraction of that as well, before he quickly turned way his gaze, and Eva pulled her brows into a frown. She could have sworn she'd glimpsed guilt in those eyes – but that wasn't her concern right now.
"We found the wall. The one that had Rhys behind it, supposedly. The body wasn't there." Eva shook her head slowly, "But the katana was. The shattered katana your mother used to kill the nogitsune."
"Where is it?" Kira asked as she stepped forward, "Do you have it?"
"It's in the car." Derek muttered, and Kira chewed on the inside of her cheek before she nodded once, "Mom said I could fix it. We might need it." Kira's gaze flickered between the Eva and Stiles, and Eva knew they knew something she didn't yet know. She shook her head slowly before she started, "There was a nurse at Eichen House. He was the one who helped me after…the suicide. He was the social worker who assessed me." Eva shook her head slowly, "His name was Cole."
"Cole Rhys." Deaton finished, and Eva looked up at him before she nodded slowly, "Younger brother to Corporal Rhys." Then Eva turned to Kira, "Your mom's Casablanca boyfriend."
Eva turned to Deaton and shook her head slowly, "He said a darach from my family tricked him. That she killed him for power but he came back when the nemeton got revived with new sacrifices." Eva whispered, "How is that even possible?"
"I can't know that. But you do." Deaton whispered, and Eva frowned, her eyes flickering to Stiles face before she looked at Deaton again, "I do?"
"All that the druids before you knew, all that they did. You'll know." Deaton started quietly, before he shook his head once, "But that's not what I'm asking you to do. That's not what I'm asking you to remember." He moved around slowly, crouching down to tug a floorboard off the floor, "Every druid family has…a book. Our ancestors write into it what they've seen of imbalance and what they've done to undo it. We call it a journal." Deaton pulled out a small, diary looking book.
"You have that." Derek started quickly as he looked down at Eva, and Eva looked up at him slowly before she nodded her head once, "I do. I found it in Julia's belongings but I never opened it." Eva started as she turned to Deaton, who immediately stood up, "Well, we need to work fast. We need to find out what has been done to figure out how it can be undone."
"What about Cole? You said you figured out the connection between the people who died, right?" Eva asked quickly, and Stiles nodded once as he hurried inside, then emerged again with his backpack, "Lots of the officers who died in Oak Creek had families that lived in Beacon Hills. They may have looked young, but half of them were expecting children. Children that lived on. Had families, until today." Stiles muttered as he laid out research papers on the counter, "All those who died were given financial support from the military, an ongoing complement for what happened in Oak Creek."
Stiles laid out a photos and names, twelve names – eleven photos and one name without a photo. "That's the kid from Eichen House, and his dad. Those are the couple in the woods. That's Isaac and his da, and that's his brother – he died. And the girl who made the bomb at school and her father. He died a few years ago, as well Isaac's dad so he's crossed off the list." Stiles out a long sigh as Eva's eyes fell on the last row of photos, "The Tates." Eva looked up at Stiles, "The explosion at the school was meant to kill Malia."
"We need to keep those people safe until we figure out how to stop this." Eva muttered quickly as she stood up straight, turning to Scott and Deaton. "They are all over Beacon Hills. It would be too hard." Allison frowned.
"Not if I helped."
The teenagers turned to the clinic's door to see Noshiko standing there, her army of six Oni standing behind her. Eva stepped towards her, her eyes flickering across the masks of the Oni before they found the woman's eyes, "All that is happening now is a reaction to my own doing. I've come here to this town to prevent that, and I'm still here to do it."
Eva swallowed thickly before she glanced back at Stiles, "Give her the names." She nodded once, and Stiles reluctantly stepped forward to hand Noshiko the list. She whispered something Eva didn't decipher, before the Oni disappeared into thin air.
"Mom," Kira started, "I thought kitsunes only had seven tails. Those were six of the Oni." Noshiko turned to her daughter, and Eva frowned, shaking her head slowly in confusion.
"To summon the Oni, a kitsune has to sacrifice a tail." Kira explain, before Stiles took over, "A kitsune's tails are the source of its power." He whispered, before he turned to Noshiko, "If she only has one tail left, then she might as well be as weak as all of us. She can't fight."
"Don't worry." Noshiko muttered as she brought out a dagger from inside her coat, "This is the last kaiken, the last tail, and I plan on holding it close."
"Not because your life depends on it, Mom." Kira argued, and Noshiko sighed once, "Because that one will have the strongest Oni, right?"
"We won't need more Oni," Allison started, shaking her head slowly, "No one is going to get hurt tonight. We're going to protect everyone." Eva turned to Allison, who was laying out her arrows on the counter, the pads of her fingers going over them before she tucked them all into the case on her back. Eva's eyes lingered on the arrow heads, and her eyes flickered up to meet Allison's face, before she smiled briefly at her and nodded once, "Allison's right." Eva started defiantly, "We go now, we still have time to stop this. No more people have to die."
"The Oni won't be enough to protect the baby." Scott started, "I'm going to the social services building to keep an eye on her."
"I'm coming with you." Allison said quickly, and Eva nodded once, "I think we should all be distributed. Someone should be at Eichen House, someone else at Mr. Tate's house. Someone with Isaac. So if something happens, we all just go there at once." Eva suggested, and Derek started, "I'm taking the twins to Eichen House."
"And I'll tell my dad to look after Isaac and tell him to keep an eye on Mr. Tate as well." Allison started as she quickly brought out her phone. "What about me?" Kira asked quickly, and her mother was quick to answer, "You and I are going to fix the katana." Her mother told her.
Eva waited but no other words broke the silence, so she started, "I have to go get that book." She whispered as she started back towards the door, "I'm coming with you." Stiles whispered sternly as he reached out and gripped her wrist. Eva stared at him, before she nodded slowly, and hurried out of the clinic with. She grabbed the rest of her stuff as well as her clothes from Derek's car and hopped into the back of the jeep.
She remained silent as Stiles took off, fumbling in the back seat as she took off the Eichen House uniform and put her own clothes back on. Stiles' eyes drifted nervously between the rearview mirror and the dashboard, whenever his eyes caught sight of Eva's skin, or her back, or the scar still left from the Oni's sword, he turned his gaze away, until the girl finally climbed into the passenger seat beside him. Stiles glanced sideways, watching as she slipped his wristband on her hand before she settled into the seat.
"Stiles." Eva whispered, frowning a bit as she glanced sideways at him, "There's something…actually, more than one thing that you need to know." She started quietly, and he glanced sideways at her, a frown etched on his face. But he remained silent. Eva swallowed thickly before she started, "Remember the favor I was supposed to do for Peter?" She asked as she glanced sideways at him, and Stiles' foot almost rammed against the brakes, but he refrained. They barely had any time. "Yeah, the memory that he needed to know about." Stiles whispered through his teeth, his grip on the stirring wheel tightening.
Eva nodded slowly, her eyes on his white knuckles, "Peter has a kid." Eva whispered as she flickered her eyes to his face, and blinked once as he met her gaze with his own eyes widened in shock, "Wait, Peter? As in psychopath Peter Hale who manipulates anything that could breathe?" He demanded and Eva nodded once, "Yeah…He knows he has a kid. He just doesn't know who she is."
"She?" Stiles frowned as he turned to Eva, shaking his head slowly, "Wait, is he your-"
"God, no!" Eva shook her head quickly, waving her hands in rejection the thought, "No, no it's not me." Eva sighed as she ran her hand through her hair, "It's Malia." Eva looked up at Stiles, who turned his gaze back to the road. "My head hurts." He whispered and Eva swallowed thickly, her gaze dropping to her hands that she laid in her lap.
"You said you had more than one thing you wanted to tell me." Stiles started quietly, "What's the other thing?"
Eva chewed on the corner of her lips before she started, "Cole said…" Eva started quietly, frowning as she closed her eyes, "He said that he was drawing his power from my bloodline, my power." She started, but Stiles quickly interrupted, "But he was going to kill you." He said quickly, glancing sideways at her.
"He said…He said he could just use my brother until he doesn't need to anymore." Eva glanced sideways at Stiles, who almost stopped the car again, this time actually slowing it down before he again realized the intensity of the situation they were in and continued, "He said Daniel is my brother."
"The patient who has been in Eichen House for years now?" Stiles whispered, and Eva flinched at thought before she nodded slowly. "When I mentioned him back at the clinic, Deaton had this guilty look on his face. I already knew he and his sister knew my family. But how much did they know them?" Eva shook her head slowly, before she sighed heavily, "This is not even important right now but I needed to tell someone." Eva sighed, her gaze drifting to the window. Stiles glanced sideways at her, the words lodged in his throat, but nothing he could say would make the information any less confusing.
Eventually, they finally arrived at the apartment complex. Eva was almost jumping on her feet inside the elevator, until she'd reached the floor she lived on. She hurriedly opened the door, Stiles standing beside her, his eyes flickering across the hallway until Eva finally walked in.
But they walked in to Cole standing right in front of them, two of the Oni behind him. "I was wondering when you'd figure it out." He started, holding up the journal in his hand. Eva stared at him, her eyes widened as her gaze flickered between his face and the journal. But only one thought crossed her mind, "Where's my dad?" Eva whispered, her voice dropping into a tone that wasn't as terrified as it was mad. Stiles' eyes flickered down to her, before he held his ground, his eyes meeting Cole' – the man who was supposed to be a ghost.
"I thought you'd be more curious about how I'm controlling your…guardians." Cole muttered as she gestured over his shoulder to the Oni behind him, and Eva frowned as she stepped forward, "Let go of that journal." She started slowly, taking another step forward. As soon as she did, as soon as she was out of the small hallway and standing in front of the living room, she saw her father lying on the ground, a wound in his side. She sucked in a deep breath through her teeth as she turned her gaze to Cole, "I'm going to kill you."
"Now that's more like it." Cole smiled at her sweetly, "But I don't think you will. At least not before the poison on the Oni's blade kills him first." Cole stepped towards her and held out the journal towards her, "But I like to play fair. I'm going to give you a chance to fight back, but what will you chose, Druid? Saving your people, or getting rid of me?"
Eva's eyes flickered down to the journal before she reached out and took the journal from him hesitantly, "People…" Stiles started, "Who else did you hurt?"
"Oh well, mostly the parents council of your…what do you call it?" Cole lifted a brow, "Your dysfunctional scooby doo gang?" Cole smiled at Stiles, a smile that held a smugness to it that made Eva snatch the journal from his hand and step back away from him quickly, "And now you."
The Oni behind him disappeared, before it reappeared in front of Stiles. Eva whirled around just in time to see the sword swing down against Stiles, who stepped back and held his arms up in protection. "No!" Eva screamed, launching herself forward, doing the first thing she could think of – she dug her hand into the Oni's back, her fingers curling around something small that wriggled inside the palm of her hand. And she pulled it out, watching the Oni dissipate into thin air, before it finally disappeared, its sword dropping to the ground with a cling. Eva looked down at her closed fist, before she slowly opened it, her eyes watching the firefly in her hand, watching its light slowly go out. Eva dropped the insect to the ground and stepped on it with vigor, before she whirled around to Cole, to the other Oni – but they were gone.
"How did you do that?" Stiles whispered, and Eva shook her head slowly. "I don't know." She whispered before she glanced sideways at the living room, and she hurried towards her father – who was lying on the ground, almost unconscious. "Dad…Dad, you hold on, okay? I'm going to end this." Eva flickered her gaze back to Stiles, "Help me." She whispered, before her eyes fell on the bloody tear on the sleeve of his shirt, "It cut you." Eva whispered, and Stiles quickly shook his head as he knelt down to help her, and they both managed to lift up her father and lay him on the couch. Eva's eyes flickered to the gash on Stiles' arm, before they fell on the similar one on her father's side. "Um…" Eva frowned, closing her eyes as she tried to think, but Stiles had already taken off his plaid shirt and tore a piece from it, tying it around the wound.
Eva glanced sideways at Stiles as he worked, before she sat back, the tears welling up in her eyes as she watched her father's face begin to loose color. She took his hand, "You'll be fine, okay? I promise." Eva whispered as she stroked back his hair, "You'll be fine, I promise."
"I've always believed in you, Eva." The man whispered, smiling at her as he reached out to hold her face. Eva sniffled and nodded slowly, "I won't let you down." She whispered; before he pulled her down to kiss her forehead. Eva slowly stood up, grabbing the journal from beside her as she glanced sideways at Stiles, "I can't leave him alone." Eva turned to him, before her eyes fell to the gash on his arm. Her eyes flickered down to the remnants of his plaid shirt, before she tore another piece from it. She wrapped the cloth around Stiles' arm before she tied it, "Tighter." He told her, and Eva frowned before she tightened the knot, then looked up at him again. "Don't you dare die." She whispered, "And don't let my dad die."
"I'll do my best." Stiles nodded, a weak smile curling on his lips before he leaned down to press his lips to Eva's. Her hands moved to grip the shirt he was wearing, not really wanting to let go, but eventually, reluctantly, she did. Stiles dug out the keys to the jeep and handed them to her, before she nodded slowly as she gripped the keys and the journal and turned to leave.
"Eva," Stiles called out, and Eva turned around, a frown etched on her face. His lip trembled with the words he struggled to say, three words that meant so much to him, to her, but he still didn't have the courage to say, even when this could probably be the last time they saw each other – especially because this could be the last time they saw each other. "Come back to me, okay?" Stiles finally breathed out, and smiled briefly, "I believe in you."
"You have way too much faith in me." She whispered, and Stiles shook his head slowly, "That's because you don't have nearly enough of faith in yourself."
Eva remained silent, letting his words sink in before she nodded slowly, "I'll come back to you." She whispered, "I promise."
It was a promise Eva didn't know whether she'd be capable of keeping, but she knew as she turned to leave the apartment building, that she had to try.