Unstoppable (Their Shifter Academy #6) - May Dawson Page 0,52

chance to save his friends struck me hard, and so did the thought of what that would do to our team, to our family.

Silas didn’t have to come home with us. His mission for the Rebel Magicians could end, and he could choose to stay in his own world. I wasn’t sure which world even truly felt like home to me.

If he didn’t seem as if he were going to lay all the cards on the table, should I force his hand? I glanced at Jensen’s cards and mine, still scattered across the table. Jensen had a winning hand he’d never get to play.

“Tell me about why we’d go to Elegiah,” Rafe said calmly. He leaned against the doorway, watching Silas with those dark eyes that never seemed to miss a thing.

“I have friends imprisoned there,” Silas explained, and I almost exhaled in relief before he went on, “We aren’t breaking into Castle Eastbrick without Isabelle and Sebastian.”

Rafe nodded, his arms crossed over his powerful chest. “What can they do that you can’t?”

“Isabelle is a master of disguise,” he said. “I can’t go into the castle with my own face, and I can’t hide behind an enchantment, because they’ll detect the magic. Facial illusions are forbidden in Eastbrick.”

“We’ll send Maddie in,” Rafe said determinedly.

Silas shook his head. “You’ll need my magic to get the shield.”

He sounded so convincing, I would have believed him myself if I hadn’t known he was twisting the truth.

“And Sebastian?” Rafe asked. “Do we need him too?”

“No,” Silas confessed. “But they’re a package deal. Anyway, getting Seb won’t hurt; Sebastian is the best lockpick in the Greyworld. The security at the castle will be warded against magic; you need old-fashioned pick skills. Together, we can get the shield, then open a portal and be back in our world ASAP. We’ll make up any time we lose on their rescue, because the three of us work well together.”

Silas flashed Rafe that boyish grin before he added, “We’ve stolen a few things before.”

“I’ve no doubt about that,” Rafe said slowly. He seemed to be thinking it over. “So without them, you don’t think we’ll be successful?”

Silas hesitated, and my breath froze in my chest. If he lied to Rafe, I had to decide which of them I was going to betray. He glanced at me, and our eyes locked. I thought for sure he’d do the right thing.

“We’d have a chance,” Silas admitted. I wondered if he was as obvious to Rafe as he was to me; he was pulling back now instead of insisting that we had to rescue his friends. He wanted Rafe to latch onto the idea himself.

Rafe nodded slowly. “But we need to get your friends from Elegiah if we want to be sure.”

Silas said, “I know it adds time to the clock.”

Rafe cocked his head to one side, still studying Silas. “I’m just curious about one little thing.”

Jensen gave me an oh shit look. We’d heard this tone before; Rafe’s quiet clarifications were a sure sign one of us was in some serious trouble. My stomach clenched. The thought of Silas and Rafe fighting made me miserable. Could our little family survive Silas deceiving and manipulating or Rafe ordering with no regard for what his commands cost Silas?

They needed each other just as much as any of them needed me. But sometimes I wasn’t sure they understood how they needed each other.

“What’s that?” Silas didn’t look at Jensen or me. He faced Rafe with a look of wide-eyed innocence, and yet I was sure he was squaring off with Rafe.

“Just how fucking stupid you think I am, Silas,” Rafe exploded. I’d known it was coming, but his growl still made me straighten, and Jensen winced. “You are seriously going to stand there and lie to me? We’re in your territory. We’re all depending on you—and you’re going to use us?”

“I don’t know what you’re going off about,” Silas said coolly. “Always so angry. You should see someone about that.”

“Cute,” Rafe said, “but no. Just admit it. You want to rescue your friends. Helping them is just as important to you as the mission.”

Silas scoffed. “Somehow, Maddie is mixed up with the fate of the torn universe. My friends are lovely, but a couple of lives don’t matter in comparison to that mission.”

“They matter to you.”

Silas shrugged. “They do. But I’m practical.”

“Christ, Silas.” Rafe raked his hand through his hair.

“Fine, here’s another idea,” Silas said. “We go in, we get the shield today. It