Unstoppable (Their Shifter Academy #6) - May Dawson Page 0,71

way to help Isabelle. I couldn’t access my magic—just the thought made my hand burn, a painful tingle working its way almost to my elbow—and if I tried to get close enough to talk to her, I might draw attention. She was on the other side of the moat, halfway through the wall, her legs and one arm apparently still trapped within the stone.

How had she defeated the rune that blocked her magic? And why hadn’t everyone done the same?

A third guard joined Silas and the other; they were apparently doing shift change.

Silas wandered toward me a few moments later, doing his circuit as the other two walked in the opposite direction.

I kept a watchful eye on the guards, feeling sweat blossom along my brow as I piled rocks into the wheelbarrow. I was filling it too full, and it was going to be painful to push—especially on the meager meal I’d had this morning—but I didn’t want to abandon Isabelle. Someone on the ground would have to come around the building to see her, and I glanced up at the castle, wondering if there were watchers up there that could see across the moat.

“Go ahead and take that to storage,” Silas said, because there was an entire construction storage area. It certainly seemed as if they had long-term plans for the camps, maybe there were always more Rebel Magicians.

I took a step back around the corner, so he could see me but others couldn’t see my lips moving.

“Isabelle’s in trouble,” I mouthed.

And she was trouble.

Silas didn’t glance around, but I was sure he knew where everyone was in the colony and who could see or hear us. Silas didn’t miss much.

He stalked aggressively toward me as if he might hit me, until we were concealed by the edge of the building, and grabbed my arm tightly. It was all pretense; anyone who could see us from above would be able to see his aggressive posture, but not his gaze as he found Isabelle.

“Fuck,” he whispered, the word barely audible. “The wards. She must have a way to get through, but they just refreshed them this morning—she must have been on the other side already.”

“How do we help her?” I asked.

“I don’t see a way,” he said. “She’s smart. If she’s got a way to get through, I’m sure she’s got a way to deal with new wards. We just have to buy her time.”

“You need to talk to her,” I warned him. “She’s not sure she wants to leave.”

“She’s not sure she wants to leave,” he whispered, his voice disbelieving. Then he said, “Well, I guess she has the ability to leave if she wants to anyway. What the fuck is going on here?”

I didn’t know, but we had to find out fast.

This part of our mission was once again supposed to be a quick twenty-four hours, and like every other part, it was going deeply awry.

“Move the wheelbarrow,” he said. “I’ll keep watch.”

I nodded and did, arduously pushing the wheelbarrow. When I glanced back, I saw Jensen watching me surreptitiously as he worked, and I knew he was watching over Isabelle too from his vantage point. He’d alert Silas if we were in trouble.

I pushed the wheelbarrow fast enough to make my breath come short even as I was returning, my back and shoulders aching.

“I don’t know how I’m going to make it until lunch at this rate,” I muttered as I was passing another prisoner.

“There is no lunch,” he said, which really was not what I wanted to hear at the moment.

I was returning when I heard Jensen whistle softly. At first I jumped, then I was almost comforted to hear him whistling perfectly as he did—and then I picked up the notes. He was whistling the hanging tree, reminding me of the moment when he’d be held, accused of killing Farro.

I realized there were guards moving toward us, and they would see Isabelle.

I shoved the wheelbarrow the rest of the way, my shoulders burning, until I saw Silas, who looked pale and strained. I shoved the damn wheelbarrow back into its place and as I knelt to pick up a rock, I murmured, “I’ve got to create a distraction.”

She was almost out, only one of her legs was still trapped. But that didn’t matter. She was in deadly peril, and from the strain on her face, she knew it well.

“No,” he said softly. “I’m not going to protect her at your cost. If she’s caught like