Resistance (The Variant Series #2) Read Free Page B

wished she’d remembered her jacket. Eighty degree weather or no, it would have been nice to be a little more covered.
    During the long weekend she’d spent hidden away in her room, the newfound confidence she’d acquired over the break had slowly withered away, replaced instead by the growing fear that she might never be able to fully control her abilities.
    In the wake of learning the truth, Alex had been able to stand up to beings and organizations of indescribable power—but she’d only done so in an attempt to protect the people she cared about most in this world.
    Now that they were home again— safe again—Alex had been forced to accept another, far more horrible truth: the biggest threat to the well-being of those she cared about, now, wasn’t the Agency and it wasn’t Samuel Masterson.
    It was Alex herself .
    The revelation left her terrified of who might be made to pay the price the next time Alex lost control.
    And in a place like Bay View High, losing control wouldn’t be a question if , but when.
    The light changed. Traffic in the left turn lane inched slowly forward as the first car in line caught a break in the traffic. Just as Alex tapped the gas, a sleek-lined, black Honda sportbike cut in front of her.
    She scrambled to hit the brakes.
    “ Hey !” Cassie grumbled, her hands splayed on the dash. She glared at the biker. “Nice driving, jerk.”
    Kenzie stared out the windshield and snorted in amusement. “You should have hit him, Alex.”
    Two feet in front of the jeep’s front end, the guy on the bike shot them a glance over his shoulder.
    He flipped up the shaded visor on his helmet.
    A familiar pair of hazel eyes stared back at her, crinkled slightly at the corners. He was grinning.
    Declan .
    The traffic pulled forward.
    Alex let out a breath as she followed Declan onto the road leading up to Bay View High School’s parking lots.
    The junior lot was located on the far side of campus and was composed of three short rows of second-rate parking, followed by a vast expanse of hard-packed gravel, where the overflow ended up.
    As Alex maneuvered the jeep up and into the overflow area, Declan parked his bike at the very front of the lot.
    Naturally.
    “And with four minutes to spare!” said Kenzie. Alex pulled the driver’s seat forward to let her out of the backseat. “Give the girl a medal!”
    “Thank you, Ms. O’Neill,” said Alex as she righted the seat and slammed the driver’s side door closed.
    “Who?” Kenzie blinked in confusion as she shouldered her backpack. “Oh, right! Kenzie O’Neill . I’m with ya.”
    “Forget already, Kenzie?” said Cassie. “I thought you were excited about the whole ‘incognito’ thing.”
    It was easy to forget that the real reason Declan and Kenzie were starting classes at Alex’s high school wasn’t just because the Grayson family had relocated to Bay View. It was also to appease the Agency.
    Their new last name was simply a precaution. According to Grayson, the name “O’Connell” had a certain weight attached to it in Variant circles. The last thing Alex—or the others—needed right now, was to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.
    As part of their agreement, Alex would only be allowed to remain free so long as she kept a low profile.
    And so long as she was being watched . She was meant to be kept under control.
    The real watchdog in this situation wasn’t Kenzie—it was her 18-year-old brother Declan.
    He was the one who had officially taken on the assignment.
    “What can I say?” Kenzie led them across the parking lot and toward the glass doors leading into the humanities wing. “I’m too excited about that square hunk of metallic real estate someone’s about to assign me. I can’t focus on playing secret agent this morning. Wonder if it will have that new locker smell?”
    Alex smiled in spite of herself.
    “You’d best hope it doesn’t ,” said Cassie, holding the door open. “Generally speaking, the only