Unstoppable (Their Shifter Academy #6) - May Dawson Page 0,35
over whatever Rafe had been about to say. It might have been special, or it might have just been different.
Rafe quirked an eyebrow, but let it pass.
I thought of my quick, playful wolf—the one who hadn’t run from me even in the seconds before I slit her throat—and swallowed. I’d missed her so much. But it didn’t feel right if I had my wolf back and my men didn’t. We were supposed to be a pack.
“We’ll figure it out,” Rafe said, gripping my shoulder for a second as if he knew what a loss that was for me. But I had no right to be disappointed when I could shift and they still couldn’t.
“Let’s get to the city,” Rafe said. “Mission first. Then we can figure this out.”
His lips pursed to one side as he added, “After all, Silas promised us an in-and-out mission. Right? Twenty-four hours, tops?”
Silas shrugged.
As I took a step toward the contraptions that Silas had rode in on, I felt something warm and cozy settle over my shoulders; it carried Rafe’s signature scent. I looked back to find him settling his coat over my shoulders, and I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. You don’t need to be gallant.”
“I’m not being gallant. I’m being bossy. Wear the damned coat.” His hand lingered on my lower back, and he dropped a quick kiss in my hair before he strode away toward one of the vehicles. “Mount up. Let’s get to Quorum.”
I desperately wanted to talk to Silas, so I settled in behind him. Jensen gave me a look as if I’d personally betrayed him, but didn’t say a word as he mounted the other sled, behind Rafe.
“The snowblazers rely on magic. Do you want a tutorial on the snowblazer’s controls or are you—” Silas was cut off by the sound of Rafe starting the engine. “Going. I guess you’re going. Good luck.”
Rafe and Jensen’s snowblazer wound back and forth across the clearing haphazardly—Jensen gave us a distinctly dour look that made me hold back a smile—then straightened out. The two of them shot off ahead of us, and we quickly followed after.
For a few minutes, I took in the pines flashing by and the bright blur of the sun reflecting off the endless snow, and didn’t try to talk. I was worried about Silas; I couldn’t forget the way he’d stopped back on the platform, the look on his face. He had looked haunted.
“Who was it on the platform, Silas?” I asked finally. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t just Silas’s business anymore; it was the whole team’s.
For a second, I thought he was going to ignore me and pretend he hadn’t heard. The only sound was the whine of the Snowblazer and the soft sound of the rails moving over the powdery snow.
Then he said, “I don’t want to talk about it yet.”
“You know you’ll have to,” I said.
“I know,” he said. “I will. I just need a moment.”
He dared to look away from the flickering trees around us just for a second to look over his shoulder at me. “I didn’t think I’d feel anything coming back here.”
He said that as if that’s what he’d hoped for.
“We’ll get through it together,” I told him, resting my chin on his shoulder. “And then we’ll go home. Together.”
“Of course,” he said, his voice as confident as ever, but his eyes were still troubled.
As the Snowblazer whined beneath us and fat flakes of snow drifted steadily down, I realized for the first time that maybe Silas didn’t intend to go home with us. I wanted to talk to him about it, but he was still lost in thought, so I rested my cheek against the rough fabric of his coat and waited.
It didn’t matter if I talked to him right then, when he was obviously preoccupied with whoever or whatever he’d seen on that platform. We belonged together. Surely Silas had to see that.
I hoped.
Chapter Seventeen
Lex
* * *
Watching Penn go out to fight for me was the worst feeling, one that flooded me with shame and helplessness. I couldn’t help him, and I couldn’t save my sister.
Penn clapped my shoulder as he headed into the ring and gave me one of those laidback Penn grins—the kind that made Rafe grumble that we should toss his room again.
Rosemary’s fingers grazed mine, and I looked over at her. Her face was pale and blotchy, but she lifted her chin high.
“Lex,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what he did to you.”