Unstoppable (Their Shifter Academy #6) - May Dawson Page 0,45

case we need to make a break for it.”

If we had to, I’d rip open a portal right here to get us out if we were trapped, but I’d rather not attract that much attention. Besides, it went against the Rebel code to open portals if we could avoid it; every time we did, the fabric between worlds was strained a little tighter.

He nodded and kept heading down the stairs as I turned to my right, stepping off the massive circular staircase and on to the second floor. It was the geology wing, and I sauntered through a display of emeralds and diamonds displayed alongside pyrite and crystal; none of them were worth much in this world.

Geology isn’t very interesting in any world. I was alone once I walked deeper, into a display about the eradication of dust worms. Eradication was a bit of exaggeration, but then the Establishment was a master of that. Dust worms still existed in other realms, and sometimes they made their way into our world.

I stopped, studying the twelve-foot-long dust worm that had been stuffed and frozen in time. Its yawning maw was open, revealing two rows of jagged teeth—like a shark that traveled through the earth.

“Just a baby, really,” I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets. “Well, Frederick?”

There was a hesitation behind me, then a soft footfall. “You knew I was there.”

“Of course. You’ve always been clumsy at surveillance.”

“Condescending.” His tone was amused; he never took offense easily. “You haven’t changed.”

“But you have, haven’t you?”

He came to stand next to me, both of us studying the dust worm as if it were deeply interesting to us. I couldn’t stand to look at him when I might have to kill him. I didn’t have to look at him to imagine the look on his face, though. We knew each other too well.

“No, I haven’t,” he said.

My brows arched. “From Rebel to Establishment? Seems like a pretty big flip to me.”

He huffed a laugh. “Come on, Silas. You’ve never been stupid.”

“How’d you recognize me?” I hadn’t used magic in the museum, not yet.

“Oh, you’re most upset at the possibility you might’ve fucked up, huh?”

“I’m pretty concerned about Isabelle and the others as well,” I said.

He went quiet at that. “It’s how you carry yourself. I’d recognize you anywhere, Silas. You’re my brother.”

I wanted to say something glib, but he knew me so well. My mouth went dry at the thought of how close I’d come to killing him, and how I still might have to.

“What do you want, Frederick?” My voice came out flat. Maybe Frederick deserved better than that—you’re my brother, Christ, had he said those words to manipulate me or did he mean them?—but it was the best I could do right now. “And should I expect the Establishment at any moment?”

“No! They don’t know I’m here.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to save Isabelle and Sebastian.”

I nodded, tucking my hands behind my back. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure we were still alone.

“How’d you know I would be here?”

He shifted his weight to one side, running his hand through his chin-length hair.

“You always look guilty as sin itself when you’re up to something,” I said. “You’re not the best person to double cross the Establishment. Or to double cross me, if that’s the plan instead.”

He flashed me a look full of hurt, but he didn’t bother to argue with me. “I intercepted a prophecy about Maddie Northsea, seeking relics. It was all coded the way the Fae write—you know. No one else seems to have figured out what the hell it means. But eventually, even the Establishment will make sense of it.”

“A prophecy? From the seers?” Keen had made a habit of intercepting the prophecy that supposedly came from the Shen monastery; it had given us an edge fighting against the Establishment. That was what had brought me to Maddie and the academy in the first place.

He exhaled. “Listen carefully—I don’t have much time before Campbell comes looking for me.”

“He doesn’t trust you? How hurtful.”

But Frederick couldn’t be baited at the moment.

“Sebastian, Isabelle, the others—they’re all still in Elegiah. They plan to transfer them in two days to the penal colony in the Grave Sea.”

Once they reached the penal colony, they were all dead. Elegiah was bad enough.

“Are you sure they’re still alive?” I asked.

His cheeks flushed faintly. “Yes.”

“It’s a trap,” I said.

“Of course it’s a trap,” he said flatly. “They assume you’ll attack the convoy because that’s the weakest