Unstoppable (Their Shifter Academy #6) - May Dawson Page 0,57

into view, racing through the forest at top speed.

“Go go go,” Raura said.

I was already wheeling my horse around, but given that we fought ravagers all the time, I wondered what we were running from now.

Arlen and Raura were just ahead of us when it seemed as if they ran into a wall of magic. The two of them were thrown back off their horses. I threw myself off my own horse, sword in hand, ready to fight.

“Are you all right?” I demanded, whirling to face the threat.

But the threat was just a lavender-haired girl and the males who rode with her.

“Raura,” the girl said.

“Alisa,” Raura ground back. I held out my hand to help her up, and Raura caught my wrist. I towed her easily to her feet.

“Turn about is fair play,” Raura said, a smile playing around her lips. “It looks as if I’ve captured you.”

“Well, if I ever felt guilty about briefly trying to imprison you, I don’t Jensen and I stood deep in the woods behind the cottage. I balanced myself with his shoulder while I jerked off my boots and socks then stood barefoot on a folded blanket to keep my feet out of the frost-coated grass. I undressed grimly, handing my clothes to Jensen; he slung my coat and my jeans over his arm as I shivered.

now,” Raura said with dignity, despite the dirt smeared across her face from that fall.

“Oh, Raura. We both know you don’t really feel guilt,” Alisa teased her.

I stared between the two princesses as they faced each other down.

“I thought you said she’s your bestie,” I demanded.

Raura held out her hand and made a see-saw motion.

“Great,” I said.

“Raura and Arlen and Lake gave me help when I needed it most,” Alisa admitted. “I would like to see them as friends. But royals don’t always have the opportunity to view the world too optimistically, and I heard you were on your way to see Faer.”

“How did you hear that?” Raura demanded.

I decided not to mention how loud she’d been when we stopped for lunch at a tavern along the way. The girl lacked volume control just as much as Penn did.

“We don’t have a choice,” I said. “I need to see Faer, because he summoned me.”

“The problem with that,” Alisa said brightly, “is that I don’t want you to do that.”

“Oh come on,” Raura said. “Leave us out of your fight with your brother.”

“I’d love to,” Alisa said. “But since he wants you to go pledge your loyalty to him, and that doesn’t work for me, we’re going to need a plan B.”

“Alisa.” One of the males, a big dark-haired brute of a man with icy blue eyes, rode up toward her. She leaned into him, the two of them whispering.

“We’ll fight,” she said. “Of course we’ll fight.”

He nodded as he straightened.

Alisa turned toward us. “One of your villages is under attack, just across the border.” Her gaze bounced between Raura and myself, as if she wasn’t entirely sure which of us was in charge. “Against my better judgment, I’m willing to help, if you don’t mind me crossing into your territory.”

“Please,” I agreed.

“Then we can discuss if I’m taking you captive or not,” she said, with a bright smile.

“I think you forget we’re evenly matched right now, Alisa,” Raura warned.

“Are we?” Alisa said, her smile only growing wider.

Out of the trees around her melted stealthy Fae; a branch shook overhead, and I looked up to see a tiger strolling through the branches above us.

“But this is your lucky day indeed,” Alisa said, “because we’re here to help.”

“Lead on,” I said, my mouth dry. Whatever it took to save my people; it was all too easy to imagine Faer’s stringers attacking one of the villages we’d passed.

Together, we all plunged into the forest.

“Why the hell would Faer attack them before we even had a chance to get to his castle?”

“He’s not a fan of the subtle message,” she returned. “This way, you know the stakes. He expects obedience.”

Not long after, we emerged near a village. Flames flickered over the walls, casting smoke up into the air. Faer’s guards were dragging people out of the village, and they were trying to fight back.

“Rain,” I murmured, imagining clouds appearing in the bright blue sky. It was a sky too clear and beautiful for people to hurt each other the way they were now. White wisps of clouds began to form in the sky, then slowly swell, swirling over each other until they