How to Save the World by Lexie Dunne Read Free Book Online Page A

my legs out from under me. I blocked and made my counterattack, which drove her back a foot. Twenty seconds later, she had me in an armlock. “Hey, I’ve heard what prison roommates sometimes get up to. Just saying.”
    â€œOh my god, I hope you’re joking.” I tapped out and squared off against her again, waiting for the inevitable attack. Angélica believed in turning any situation into a learning opportunity for sparring, even making scrambled eggs in the kitchen at two in the morning. Admittedly, food had proved to be a good motivator in that case.
    Right now, though, she didn’t strike. Instead, she sighed at me. “What are you doing, Gail?”
    â€œHopefully kicking your ass.”
    The snort and the reproachful look really didn’t go well together, but Angélica tried. “You’re a perfectly capable fighter,” she said, folding her arms over her chest and looking down her nose at me. She was only, like, an inch taller than me, so it was an impressive feat to pull off. “You need to be working on something else, and we both know it.”
    I scowled and stretched. “I really don’t feel like repeatedly jumping off a roof right now.”
    â€œYou landed in a dumpster. That doesn’t inspire you to work on your phasing?”
    Phasing was difficult and it felt more impossible to control than ’porting, which I actually could not control at all. To phase, I needed to be in motion to start, and it was a matter of altering my momentum to “throw” me farther and faster than I could move regularly. A skilled phaser like Angélica made it seem like ’porting by moving from one side of a large space to another in the blink of an eye. I kicked the toe of my sneaker against the ground in annoyance. “I’ll get it eventually.”
    â€œNot unless you work on it. Right now would be a good time.”
    â€œWork on what?” said a new voice behind me.
    I straightened up to my full height—­as paltry as it was—­and swiveled on my heel. “Nothing important.”
    Jessica Davenport raised an eyebrow at me. “Your trainer doesn’t seem to think it’s ‘nothing important.’ ”
    â€œ Thank you,” Angélica said, but I could tell she’d gone stiff, like she was wary.
    That made sense. As the daughter of Kurt Davenport, Jessie owned half of Davenport Industries and was therefore one of the richest women in the world. She’d inherited more than money from her father—­Kurt Davenport was also the original Raptor. He was dead now, but the mantle had been passed down to the woman picking her way across Angélica’s cramped gym.
    If there was anybody in the room to be wary of, it would be her.
    â€œNo, really, it’s nothing. I can work on it later,” I said to Jessie. I’d gotten to know her when she’d hunted me down after my escape from Detmer. She’d also rescued me from Cooper—­but only after using me as bait to find out what he was up to. Our relationship status on all social media networks remained firmly in the “Complicated” zone. I didn’t consider her an enemy, but we weren’t exactly friends. “What brings you to Chicago? Miss me that much?”
    Jessie actually looked partially amused, for once. “I assure you, any day without you is one I consider that much dimmer.”
    â€œIs that Wordsworth?” I asked.
    â€œNot quite.” She turned to look at all of the activity around us. “Audra kicked me out of my base for the morning. She said that I was annoying her, so I thought I might see if you were up for a bit of sparring.”
    I squinted at her. “Your assistant has the power to kick you out?”
    â€œIt’s never wise to cross the woman who knows your social security number better than you do. You mind?” She nodded at the nearest ring.
    I glanced over my shoulder at