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A light rain fell from the chill sky, dampening the mood in Beacon Hills not even a little. The Christmas Season was at its peak, and an army of Santas and reindeer had taken over the town. There were more buildings covered with colored lights than there were not.
The atmosphere was also lit by the joy of all the children. It was a Monday, but it was the first day of Winter Recess. For four weeks, the schools would stand empty and silent — except for those conscientious teachers finishing off the last quarter’s business and starting on next quarter’s.
Mason had decided to spend this free time learning things. Liam and Sidney had made fun of him about that, but he wasn’t going to change his mind.
The car came to the stop in front of the animal clinic. Mason leaned over and kissed Corey on the cheek. “Thanks for the ride.”
Instead of replying, Corey turned the car off and pulled the key out of the ignition. It looked like he planned to go in with him.
Mason was surprised. “I thought—”
“I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Corey frowned at Mason’s words.
“I don’t know what this is going to be like. It might take a long time.” Mason watched his boyfriend for some sort of response but did not get one. “I am not saying I don’t want you here. But if you do come with me … well, you’ve said that you didn’t want anything to do with this stuff anymore.”
Shifting from one foot to another, Corey made an effort to push the frown away. “I don’t.”
There was a silent pause.
“But …”
Mason opened his mouth to reassure him but then forced himself to wait for Corey to continue. Corey had complained before that once in a while, Mason would bulldoze him in his desire to help.
“But you are going to have something to do with it, and I want to be with you, so I’m coming.”
“We can do something else.” Mason tried to sound as sincere as he could, though he did really want to go inside.
“Mase, you’re really smart.”
Sighing, Mason started to try to deny that it had anything to do with this, but Corey covered his mouth with his hand. It was something they had started doing playfully as a way to call out each other’s bullshit, but this time it felt more serious.
“You were going to say that I’m as smart as you, but that’s not true and we both know it. I’m not upset. One of the reasons you’re smart is because when there’s something you don’t understand, you make an effort to learn about it. That’s why you’re doing this, right?”
“Yeah.” That wasn’t the whole reason, but Corey didn’t need to know about the other part.
“Me? I don’t want to understand, and I’d feel so much better if it all went away. But we both know it’s not going away. Monroe is still out there. The Wild Hunt is still out there.”
Biting his lip, Mason nodded reluctantly. There were things out there, but the last time when they didn’t stay out there and had been in Beacon Hills, he had been useless. He had not been able to do anything, standing and staring at a chalkboard in math class, and he hadn’t liked that. He wanted to be able to help the next time something bad happened. To do that, he had to learn more.
“So, I’m not here just to go with you. I’m doing this for me, too, even if I don’t want to.”
Mason smiled. “Then let’s go.”
Unlike the time they broke in, the doors of the animal clinic were open, the lights were on, and Dr. Deaton was there waiting for them. Well, technically, he was waiting for Mason, who had set up the appointment early last week.
“Good evening, Mason. And it’s good to see you as well, Corey.”
“Hey, Doc. You don’t mind if Corey comes along to my lessons, do you?”
Dr. Deaton studied the pair of them just long enough for Corey to fidget. “I do not, as long as he participates and takes that participation seriously. I have nothing against you, Corey, but if you are not as invested as Mason is in my lessons, you might distract him.”
Corey winced. “Yeah. That tracks. But you know I don’t want to be an Emissary.”
“While Mason has expressed interest in learning what I know with an eye to potentially filling that role for a pack, these lessons can be beneficial even if you just want to learn more about the supernatural world.”
The chimera shrugged. “I just hope you don’t expect enthusiasm.”
The corners of Deaton’s mouth turned up. “I would never do that. Please turn the sign to ‘Closed’ and join me in the back. I have prepared some texts for you to read.”
On the examination table were indeed three different books. From the look of them, they had to be centuries old. Mason could smell the waxed leather covers even without supernatural senses.
He leaned forward ever so eagerly. “What are they?”
“They are your homework.”
Corey’s sigh was louder than he intended.
“When you two leave here today, you will take these three books with you. Feel free to work on this task together.”
“What exactly is the task?”
“Have you ever played the game ‘Two Truths and a Lie?’”
Both of the teenagers shook their heads.
“I know what it is,” offered Mason.
“This lesson is a version of it. Two of these books were written by individuals with actual knowledge about the occult and the supernatural world. One of them was written by a charlatan. I hope you will be able to tell me which one is the fraud.”
“Oh.” Mason loved puzzles. “We can do that.”
“This happens to be the very same lesson my mentor taught me at our first meeting. It illustrates an important reality. You see, the supernatural’s desire to conceal themselves from humanity at large is wise, but it has consequences. Reliable information can be hard to come by, and there are plenty of unscrupulous individuals who would take advantage of the ignorant.”
“Like Theo did to me.”
Dr. Deaton glanced at Corey, and Mason saw a flash of pity cross his eyes, but it was quickly banished. “Yes, like Theo. Like Gerard. Like many people who seek to prey upon others. It is why I do not like to present myself as more of an expert than I am or that I know more than I actually know. I would encourage both of you to act similarly. There is never any shame in saying ‘I don’t know.’”
Mason didn’t disagree out loud. He may not have felt shame, but there could be plenty to regret when the people he cared about were in trouble and he didn’t have the answers. He had felt the urge to force himself to act as if he knew things he didn’t know before.
Luckily, that urge hadn’t hurt anyone yet.
He must have been staring at the books for too long, because Corey suddenly touched his arm. “Hey, it should be easy. We just read them and find something that isn’t true.”
Mason looked up. “Yeah.”
“I hate to dampen your optimism,” Deaton said, “but you will find myths and blunders in each one of those books. You will find truths even in the charlatan’s book. In this lesson, you have to determine which one was written by an author who while he may have some real knowledge of the supernatural, he also possessed an intent to deceive.”
“That’s not fair.”
The veterinarian grinned. “You will find that very few people — and that includes me — possess the entire, unvarnished truth. We are all susceptible to biases and misunderstandings. Studying the hidden world in a way that allows you to be perceptive and helpful requires you to be aware of that potential within yourself and others. It’s one of the hardest things for anybody to learn, that things can be true and untrue at the same time.”
“That sounds like a riddle.”
“I wish it were.”
“Can you give us an example?” Mason asked, hopefully.
Deaton paused to think. One of the things Mason really liked about the Emissary was that Deaton, like himself, never rushed when it came to the really important things. They gave everything a lot of thought.
“Have you two heard the story of how Scott came to be Bit?”
Corey nodded. “He and Stiles went looking for the body of Derek’s sister in the Preserve and Peter, who had killed her to become Alpha, found Scott.”
“That is a pretty succinct explanation. Have you heard Peter’s version of events?”
“He says he was out of his mind, but I get the feeling no one believes him.”
Nodding, Deaton went to a cabinet, unlocked it, and brought out a folder. “I believe him.”
Mason was surprised. No one trusted Peter. “You do?”
“Certain facts can be verified. Peter survived a fire that killed everyone in the Hale family except for the three children who weren’t inside: Derek, Laura, and Cora. I don’t know how he survived, but that really isn’t important in this case. Peter had third degree burns over most of his body; burns like that would have killed an ordinary human and most beta werewolves. Peter spent six years in both a hospital and a long-term care facility. These facts are true.” Deaton held up the folder. “Here is his medical file.”
“How do you have that?”
“Derek and I stole it with Melissa’s help. Peter isn’t one to keep a low profile. It is entirely possible that he will do something that will cause others to dig into his history.”
“Is that something Emissaries do?”
“It happens, though we are under no obligation to do so. I just felt that given everything else that’s transpired, the less evidence of the supernatural that can be found in Beacon Hills, the better.”
Mason agreed that this made sense.
“I also know from my education and my experience with his kind how Peter would have healed, no matter how slowly. I have read accounts where werewolves experienced situations very similar to the medical condition called Locked-In Syndrome or Pseudocoma. Peter himself testified to that on multiple occasions. There is no reason to believe he wasn’t in severe pain, aware of the passage of time, and tormented by the knowledge that most of his family had been murdered.”
“I haven’t heard it put like that,” Corey admitted. “Wow.”
“I fully believe that Peter was emotionally compromised. Anyone would be in such a situation. My belief is logical, based on knowledge, evidence, empathy, and intuition.”
“So, you agree with him that he was out of his mind.”
“That implies that he was not cognizant of his actions and therefore not culpable. I believe that his behavior both before and after killing Laura was deliberate, and he bears full responsibility for it.”
“Umm …” Mason hesitated, unsure on how to proceed.
“Don’t be afraid to question my observations. You want to learn, and I want you to learn. If that means you have to challenge me on something I say which doesn’t seem right to you, then you must do it.”
“Okay. I’m just not used to arguing with teachers.” Mason stood up straighter. “Isn’t that a cop out? Peter was compromised but he is still guilty? You can’t have it both ways.”
“Can’t I?”
Mason squinted at Deaton. The veterinarian’s reply hadn’t been a dismissal. It hadn’t been angry. It had been a genuine question.
“Okay.” He closed his eyes. Deaton was trying to teach him about things that could be true and not true at the same time. “I agree that Peter couldn’t be completely mentally healthy when he emerged from the coma. He was in a traumatized state, and he hurt and killed a lot of people, including Scott. But, while the evidence you cited more than supports that, you also believe that he bears responsibility for his actions. What evidence makes you think that?”
“Excellent.” Deaton nodded in approval. “To begin with, he was able to find Jennifer Benson, a nurse at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital long-term care facility. He recruited a person so deficient in character that she was willing to aid him in murdering people whom she had probably never even met. He was able to teach her what she needed to know to get information from me designed to lure Laura Hale back here from New York. He was also able to conceal his recovery and their conspiracy from other members of the hospital staff for months. That took discernment. That took patience.”
Corey chuckled. “Imagine if he had tried that on Mrs. McCall.”
“Exactly. Once he had lured Laura back and killed her, he returned to the same woods on the next night, after the police had discovered half of Laura’s body, and yet he did not strike until he found a teenage boy alone. Again, this shows discernment and patience.”
“The police had to have been in the woods for hours before Scott and Stiles got there.” Mason reasoned.
“Throughout his entire campaign, he was able to maintain the secret of his true identity from not only the police but his own nephew.”
“I can see him hiding from the cops, but Derek?” Corey shook his head. “He would only do that if he knew what he was doing was wrong.”
“When Derek and Stiles finally confronted him, he claimed he was acting on pure instinct when he killed Laura. I ask you, if that was true, when in the next forty-two days does he believe his reason reasserted itself? Before or after he summoned Scott to help him murder Garrison Myers? Before or after he chose not to kill Jackson Whittemore at the Videos 2C? Because if his instincts were in command of his action, and he didn’t see Jackson as a threat in the store, why would he try to get Scott to kill Jackson at the school?”
Mason nodded. “Okay, I see the point you’re trying to make. Peter went through unimaginable suffering. It isn’t outrageous to think that pain would make him want to lash out at those he saw as responsible in a way that wouldn’t be socially acceptable.”
Deaton expressed his agreement with a gesture.
“But his actions indicate that he was more than just lashing out. He pursued tactics that would allow him to protect himself. He employed a strategy that gave him the best chance of winning. He was, to a certain extent, rational. So, his claim of being ‘out of his mind’ can be both true and not true.”
“So, it’s meaningless?” Corey asked, frustrated. “It all depends on your point of view?”
“It is the farthest thing from meaningless. As an Emissary, I have to provide the best answers to the people I’m advising, so I have to be able to sort through different perspectives.”
“How do you do that?”
“I look for context and intent. To go back to our example, Peter used the truth of his claim in ways that made it false. He exaggerated his condition to Derek and Scott in an attempt to manipulate them. Scott rejected the intent of the manipulation, because no matter how badly Peter had been damaged, to Scott, it didn’t justify killing people in response. When Derek learned the true context of Peter’s action, that Laura’s death was not an accident but a plan that Peter conceived and put in motion, he was no longer willing to excuse Peter.”
“I met Mr. Hale for the first time a few weeks ago,” Corey said, “he seemed to have been forgiven.”
“Peter has stopped trying to claim that his earlier behavior was unintentional.”
“That’s not the same as remorse.”
“He is a work in progress,” Deaton admitted. “While Peter’s proffered vision was false, his trauma was real. Scott and Derek choose to focus on that in place of retributive justice.”
“Is that what you advised them to do?” Mason challenged. “Is that the result of all of this?”
Deaton stared at him for a few moments, but again, it wasn’t in irritation. “No. They didn’t ask me.” His tone was heavy and pointed.
Mason didn’t know exactly how to take it. He thought that Scott and Deaton were very close. He looked over to Corey who did not seem to be as concerned by the statement. When he looked back at Deaton, he was still staring at Mason.
He was suddenly uncomfortable. A sense of foreboding came over him. What if he went through this all effort for this help, and no one listened to his advice. Or maybe, they wouldn’t even ask for it. Could he handle that?
“Are you still wanting to do this?” The Emissary asked, as if he knew what Mason was thinking.
Mason guessed he would find out. “Yes.”
“Very well.” Deaton closed his eyes and opened them. Mason realized he had passed his first test. “Our next topic will be the languages you need to at least be develop the ability to read.”