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The only reason Stiles knew that something was up with the new English teacher was that he was magic himself.
Not that anyone knew that. But since they had dealt with all the threats so far without him having to reveal himself, he didn’t feel too bad about keeping that secret. There were some dangerous people out there, not just hunter, and a spark always drew attention.
The teacher, Miss Blake, obviously knew Stiles was something as well, even though she clearly couldn’t place him, and Stiles was in no rush to change that. Her magic felt tainted, though he didn’t know why. He thought that maybe that was what magic felt like when it was used to kill, but he was fairly certain that his magic felt nothing like this, and he had killed too.
Stiles kept a close eye on Miss Blake, making sure she wasn’t up to something, but he kept losing her, kept being led astray by a false magical imprint. It only served to catapult her to the top of his list of possible suspects for the recent murders.
But he only got really worried once he met Derek again, after they got Boyd and Cora out of the vault.
There was a black cloud over Derek’s eyes and his heart, and Stiles didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. This combination was mostly used in love spells and he didn’t care for that shit one bit, and especially not aimed at Derek.
So when the pack was out for patrol and Derek suspiciously stayed behind, Stiles decided it’s time to follow Derek.
So he did just that, and Stiles is only moderately surprised to find Derek sneaking off to meet with Miss Blake, Jennifer, as Derek called her, and Stiles blood boiled with rage. Love spells are dirty work, no matter who used them on who, but on Derek? It made something snap in Stiles.
Derek deserved so much better than another fucked up attempt at love and a relationship.
Stiles should probably think about this more, but he couldn’t; he couldn’t allow Jennifer to even lay a hand on Derek, so he burst out of his hiding spot, magic already crackling between his fingers.
“A spark,” Jennifer hissed when she saw Stiles and Derek seemed confused but only until Stiles tried to aim his magic at Jennifer.
Then he stepped into the way, shielding her with his body, and Stiles saw red.
“You do not get to do this to Derek,” he told her, voice hard and even.
“You can’t break it,” Jennifer said, full of misplaced confidence, because there was nothing a spark couldn’t do if he really wanted.
And by the gods, did Stiles want this spell to be gone.
He screamed at her, pushing his magic outside, whishing it to cleanse and heal Derek, to take the taint of her spell off him, and his magic washed over Derek.
Jennifer gasped as her spell got broken, the black fading from Derek’s eyes and heart and as soon as Stiles magic vanished, Derek stumbled away from her.
“You do not get to touch him again, bitch,” Stiles hissed, moving in front of Derek to protect him from Jennifer’s vicious onslaught.
She was strong, stronger than anyone who wasn’t a spark should be and suddenly it all made sense. The sacrifices were to gain more power, they were ritual sacrifices and it was the only justification Stiles needed.
He walked up to her, secure in his belief that her magic couldn’t touch him, and when he reached her his hands snapped out to grab her shoulders. Stiles stared into her eyes, pushing his magic into her, burning her own magic right out of her. It would kill her, Stiles knew that, but he didn’t much care. She wouldn’t get to kill again, and he would never allow her to touch Derek again.
When she was dead, dropped to the floor like a puppet with her strings cut, Stiles turned around to Derek.
“You have magic,” he said, eyes wide, but Stiles couldn’t tell if it was in fear. He never wanted Derek to fear him.
“I do,” Stiles gave back, trying for nonchalance when all he wanted was to beg Derek to not hate him.
“What did she do to me?” Derek asked, rubbing a hand over his forehead, clearly still confused.
“A love spell. Nasty, evil things, really. It was meant to make you love her.”
“And you—” Derek trailed off here, clearly unsure what exactly Stiles did.
“I burned it away, like I did with her magic. They are not supposed to be used; everything that happens under the influence of a love spell can be considered rape,” Stiles explained, and Derek went pale at that.
“Are you—have you put one on me?” Derek asked, voice small and unsure and Stiles took a step back in surprise.
“I would never, Derek!” he told him, hoping to the gods that Derek believed him, because love spells were a horrible business and Stiles would never use one on anyone. “Why would you even think that?”
“So these feelings—” and here Derek trailed off again, rubbing a hand over his heart. “You didn’t magic them into existence?”
“Feelings? Derek, I would never do that. It wouldn’t be real and I’m not quite desperate enough to do that to you or me.”
“Thank god,” Derek breathed out and then smiled a small smile at Stiles.
“Feelings, huh?” Stiles asked, smiling himself and laughed when Derek nodded.
“Awesome. I saw let’s have a date as soon as the alpha pack is dealt with,” Stiles suggested, and Derek nodded again at that.
Stiles rubbed his hands together at that, because now he had every incentive he needed to get rid of Deucalion and his stupid pack as soon as possible.