Fear Can Break ↠ Liam Dunbar [Book 2]

✧Tunnel Vision✧

Chapter Twenty-Four ✧Tunnel Vision✧

"What is he doing?" 

It was Theo who had spoken up, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room since Scott had embedded his claws into the back of Corey's neck. 

"Tapping into Corey's memories," Lydia answered. "It's usually something only alpha's do." 

I had seen the task done only a handful of times. The first -and most frightening- occasion had been when Peter had done it to Isaac in order to get my brother to remember where Erica and Boyd had been taken. While that felt like ages ago, I realized it really wasn't. It was barely over a year ago. 

Theo, who had been standing behind me, moved to get around me. My attention was mostly on Scott, but I still noticed the way Theo moved around Scott to get a better look at what he was doing. 

It was hard not to want to see exactly what was happening between both Corey and Scott, but I decided I was perfectly fine remaining where I stood between Mason and Stiles. I could still vividly remember the way Isaac's face had contorted in tortured confusion as his own mind had been invaded by an outsider, I didn't need to see Corey do a reenactment of the moment. 

"Is it as dangerous as it looks?" Theo questioned. 

"Actually, it's significantly more dangerous then it looks," I answered. I recalled what Isaac told me when he had decided to let Peter do it him, that the process could either paralyze him or kill him. Understandably, I had been beyond petrified for my older brother. 

Scott himself had only performed the ritual one other time, and it was on Stiles and Lydia when we were putting in a last ditch effort to defeat the nogitsune. That time, it had very nearly ended horribly, as far as I could remember. The fact that he was doing this now, well, that meant that he thought this was our last chance at finding Liam. The thought only seemed to double the dangers of all of this. 

"Does anyone know if it's working?" Mason asked. When I looked over to my friend, his expression held a mixture of awe and worry. I had expected nothing less from him. 

This time, nobody had an answer. Not Stiles, not Lydia, and definitely not me. No matter how many times we saw this mind meld occur, there never seemed to be any tells to see if it was actually working, or if it was killing both parties involved. 

Suddenly, Scott jerked backwards. For a terrifying moment, I thought Corey's mind was rejecting Scott because something had gone horribly wrong. Then, I realized that Scott had pulled himself away. The alpha stumbled backwards, his breathe labored. Stiles and Theo rushed forward to steady him. 

Corey was also once again conscious. He lurched away from where he had been sitting on Scott's bed, probably because he had no idea what was happening. He was also wobbly and disoriented, so Mason and I got on either side of Corey until he could steady himself. 

Tentatively, Corey touched the back of his neck, wincing ever so slightly. "What the hell did you do to me?" Corey demanded. 

"You'll be okay," Scott murmured over his shoulder. 

Without meaning to, I looked over at Scott. The lack of empathy in his voice in that moment... it was a tone I'd never heard Scott McCall heard. It was honestly frightening to hear from him. 

Corey brought his hand to the front of his face, and looked at it in horror. "There's blood!" He exclaimed. 

This time, Scott didn't even spare him a glance. "You'll heal."