Scott McCall's Arc

Chapter 5 of 9

The bell cut Kira off before she could finish. Scott felt the question hang in the air like smoke. Two coins. Two people he loved. And no time to ask the rest. "Dream about what?" Scott pressed, low and quick. Kira shook her head. "Later. He'll write us up." Coach's whistle shrieked again down the hall. Stiles grabbed his bag. "Locker room. Now. We talk while we change." In the locker room, Scott yanked his door open. The photo taped inside caught his eye — him, Stiles, Kira, Lydia, all smiling. His stick leaned beside it. Two faces in that picture were marked. He pulled his jersey down hard and turned to Stiles. "Tell me everything you remember about your coin showing up. Every detail." Stiles spoke fast while lacing his cleats. Pillow. Morning. No sound the night before. Kira had slipped in behind them, pretending to grab something from Lydia's bag. "Mine found me on the sidewalk," she whispered. "Same day. Same hour, maybe." Scott's jaw locked. The Anubite hadn't picked one of them. It had picked both, at once, on purpose. "McCall! I will bench you so hard your grandchildren feel it!" Coach's voice cracked through the door. Scott grabbed his stick. He looked at Stiles. "We know one thing now. It's not random. It's a pair." Stiles nodded, pale. "Which means whatever it's marking us for needs two." Scott pushed through the door toward the field. The sun hit his face but the cold stayed in his chest. He didn't have the why yet. But he had the shape of it. Two coins, two friends, five nights. He'd carry both. He had no other choice.