Unstoppable (Their Shifter Academy #6) - May Dawson Page 0,44

way of a particularly animated splash. It felt like spring here, even though we’d just been through winter; there was a warm bubble of magic suspended over Prospect Square, creating an eternal summer.

Sometimes I forgot there was a world here besides a fight for freedom and magic. There were families living their lives and hoping the war would pass them by.

Rafe was still looking around curiously as I headed across the square. A few pigeons hopped in front of me then spied an abandoned heel of bread on the ground; they dove at each other, fighting for it, gray wings flapping furiously.

Rafe caught up to me in a few quick strides. “Pigeons. I guess some things are the same everywhere.”

“Everywhere you go, there’s vermin and villains,” I promised him.

The two of us jogged up the slick marble steps of the museum. Then we paused by the side of the doors until a big crowd went in; in case there were magical scanners here, I wanted to make sure we were lost in a crowd. It would take them time to track down who was using the magic and anyway, the odds were good that someone else in a crowd was using magic to cover their zits or wrinkles. It might be illegal, but vanity is a powerful thing.

We didn’t find the shield. We found an empty wooden stand, a brass plate, and a little sign that said, exhibit on loan.

Rafe glanced at the sign and then kept moving. The two of us wandered out of the hall and into another hall that showcased the caverns of ice before he said, “Any ideas where it might be on loan to? Or how we find out?”

“I think our tail might have some ideas,” I told him quietly, and to his credit, Rafe’s expression didn’t even change.

“What do you need from me?” Rafe asked.

Relief swelled in my chest. He was going to let me do what I did best; I was sure he’d have questions later, but for now, I needed space.

I knew he’d be unwilling to split up, as much as I wished I could be alone.

“It’s Frederick,” I said, and even though I was embarrassed to admit the truth, I managed, “I don’t want to kill him.”

Had Frederick somehow guessed why I was back in our world, to find me here? Or had we blown our mission so badly that we were being followed? In that case, Maddie and Jensen were in immediate danger too.

“Maybe he’s trying to talk to you,” Rafe said.

“I’m not talking to traitors. But I’ll interrogate him.” I needed to get him out of here quietly and then I could find out what exactly he knew.

“Don’t be an asshole,” Rafe said, and the blunt words were like ice water. “You know your friend’s in trouble. Give him a chance to explain before you tear his head off.”

“I only do that to robots.”

“I can’t believe you can literally rip heads off at all,” Rafe said, sticking his hands in his pockets. He had a smile fixed on his face as we spoke quietly, even though it was a very fake smile. I matched his energy for the sake of whoever might watch besides Frederick. “You’re more dangerous than I realized back at the academy, and I admire that. But you’re also the kind of friend anyone would be lucky to have—and that’s admirable too.”

He gave me a long look, as if I risked disappointing him. My jaw worked; I hadn’t felt so lost since I was a kid.

I’d learned to always put the mission first, to kill when it was necessary. Anything else was weakness. It made me feel as if I were stumbling.

“If he’s alone, and I can avoid it, I won’t kill him,” I said.

I wasn’t sure why Rafe cared. As he nodded, I could almost feel his relief. But why? Shouldn’t he want what was most practical for the mission?

Was Rafe worrying about my psychological well-being? The thought was so surreal, it almost made me smile. I’d gone my whole life without anyone worrying about the possibility of any long-term damage.

The two of us climbed the long, curling stairs that wound down past each floor to the main level of the museum. An enormous sundial filled the center of the space, and light poured through the ceiling of the museum several stories above to fall on the sundial.

“Back off,” I told Rafe, meaning it in more ways than one. “But stay near the doors in