Page 56

Bree

Ihad never been one for long showers, but I hadn’t spent so much time in the ocean since we’d first arrived on land, either. For once, I’d even used warm water to soothe my aching muscles.

Sure, I’d gotten a ride across the ocean in a whale’s mouth, but the stress of my near marriage to Zephyrion had left my muscles stiff. Not to mention all the time with and beatings from the sea witch.

Feeling like a new woman—albeit with random patches of purple scales shimmering along my arms—I rejoined Calvin and Marissa in the living room. They sat side by side on the small couch that also moonlighted as my bed.

Finley had passed out almost immediately in his tank when we’d gotten home. The poor little guy might have been a magical powerhouse, but he was also young and tiny. His body needed some time to recover after his heroic rescue.

I needed to get him something super special as a thank you. Maybe some fresh crab meat instead of canned.

First things first.

"I think it’s about time I made things right with Frankie," I announced.

Marissa continued typing something on her phone. "I don’t know. She’s probably going to say she never wants to see you again."

My heart dropped like a stone into the pit of my stomach. "Really?"

Not that I would blame her. I had lied to her, made her think I was saving the gym and her home, only to do the complete opposite and then ghost her. Never wanting to see me again was the best I could hope for.

"No, you dork." Marissa glanced up from her phone with an amused smirk. "She’s going to smack you over the head for ever thinking that."

"But I?—"

"No buts, Bree." She set her phone down. This was getting serious. "You have this weird black-and-white thinking with this stuff. Frankie may be hurt, but she’s like family. She’s probably long since forgiven you, if she was even mad to begin with."

"She’s right,” Calvin added. “Although, I wouldn’t put it past Frankie to make you do extra jobs for her for a while."

"Oh, for sure." Marissa nodded, sending her red curls bouncing. "And don’t even think of asking me to help."

The wizard elbowed her in the side.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay fine. I’ll help. But only between classes."

Relief crashed into me so hard it left me momentarily lightheaded. I had prepared myself for rejection, for the cold finality of a burned bridge. Instead, I got this. A teasing, almost exasperated certainty from two people I knew I could trust.

I could point out that Marissa also ghosted Frankie and should share any extra tasks by default, but it had been at my behest. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out where Marissa andI had gone. Opening up a line of communication with the fae woman when we left would have made it far too easy for her, or anyone else, to track us down.

We had gone into full incognito mode.

"Okay, so where can I find Frankie these days?" I asked.

"Her usual haunt," Calvin said.

I frowned. "Subliminal? She still visits even though the Satos took it?"

"Oh, I forgot you don’t know. Frankie manages the place still. As far as I know, though, the Satos still own it."

"I told you we should have let Cal keep us up-to-date." Marissa shot me a pointed look. "Information is power."

Maybe so, but the temptation to return had been too great for me. I had to cut all ties to stay away. I’d given the wizard strict orders not to mention anything about the Gifted world, and also not to give into any of Marissa’s bribes upon pain of death.

Just kidding. Unlike with my little sister, I knew I didn’t have to threaten him.

But my brain was stuck on what Calvin had said. Frankie working for Ichiro Sato was as likely as the tide refusing to rise. She hated that man with a fiery passion that could dry up the oceans.

There was only one way to find out what in the cursed currents was going on.