AllFreeNovel
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“Want to practice with me?”
“Pass.” Her eyes never left her phone.
I placed the last box of microwavable macaroni and cheese cups on a shelf. “Don’t you need to stay fit for massages, though?”
“I’m sure non-Gifted people do,” she said, then laughed at something on her phone.
I folded up the paper bag and tucked it behind the shelf. “What’s so funny?”
This time, her gaze lifted to mine. She raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Well, that’s rude.” Not that she was wrong. Normally, I didn’t try to talk to her when she was on her phone. It was like talking to a volcano: either she ignored me or exploded in a fit of rage. Humans said it was a red-headed thing, and I tended to believe them.
But you couldn’t just say stuff like that out loud.
I grabbed a tuna can and pulled the tab to open it.
Immediately, Finley popped out from wherever he was hiding amid his tank’s seaweed and swam to the aquarium’s surface. His eager eyes fell on the can.
“Sorry, buddy.” I set the can on the table near his tank. He clambered down and started munching away. Only a drop of water ended up on the table beside him before he dried himself with magic. “Next time let Marissa know you’re this hungry if I’m not back yet.”
“She’s such a worrier, isn’t she?” She winked at Finley.
The axolotl lifted his head and chirped around a mouthful of fish.
I put my hands on my hips. “Don’t you two gang up on me.”
“You’re never this chatty at night, Bree. What’s got you all hot and bothered?” My sister’s eyes narrowed in amused suspicion. “Or should I say who?”
I wished my nervous energy was because of Dominic. With Finley taken care of, I opened one of my pseudo-dresser drawers and dug out a clean pair of shorts and a sports bra. “I’m just nervous about the fight.”
After a quick pout, Marissa dropped her gaze back to her phone. “Just keep your eye on the prize, Ree. Then Frankie will be free of this asinine debt and the Satos for good.”
I loved my sister dearly, but I couldn’t help my laugh. She was obsessed with impressing people, and adding new words to her vocabulary like asinine was just her newest endeavor to achieve that goal.
Wait…
I froze, my shirt halfway over my head. “What?”
A frown creased her forehead as she tapped away at the screen. “What what?”
“What do you mean about being free of the Satos?”
She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Once she pays back the debt she owes them.”
My mind stuttered to a stop. The words were said so casually, so unaware that my world had just imploded. “How do you know she owes the Satos?”
She paused her tapping long enough to glance at me like I was an idiot. “Because Frankie told me. Duh.”
“When?”
“I don’t know, dude, a few days ago,” she said with an exaggerated huff. “She didn’t tell you?”
“No.” My voice was shaky, my breaths growing ragged.
Why hadn’t Frankie told me?
Why hadn’t Nic, for that matter?
