Resonance Read Free Page A

threatened him, or something.”
    â€œHardly. He retired and we took advantage of the situation.” Ms. Powell brushed at her cloud of wiry blond hair, impatient. “I wasn’t sent here to watch you.”
    I snorted, and she peered at me through her cat-eye glasses. The lenses were Coke-bottle thick, but now I wondered if she even needed them. If anything about her was what it appeared. She’d shown up at the beginning of the school year and fit in perfectly.
    Too perfectly.
    Only a Walker would be able to blend in the way she did. We were experts at hiding in plain sight.
    â€œMy assignment was to monitor Simon. You were . . . a happy coincidence. A bonus.”
    I blinked. Simon? I was the one who could Walk. Simon couldn’t even hear pivots. The Walkers didn’t know he existed—his father had made sure of it.
    Maybe his father was the key.
    â€œBecause his dad was a Free Walker?” Was. Dead for seventeen years, captured by the Consort and executed for treason. Until a month ago, Simon had no idea.
    â€œGilman Bradley was a good man in an impossible situation, much like his son is now. He was captured as part of a broader attack against the Free Walkers. It’s taken us years to recover. It was imperative we not engage with Simon, for his own protection, but we’ve needed to watch him more closely as he’s aged.”
    â€œYou knew about his signal flaw?”
    Everything in the Key World—people, objects, oceans—resonated at the same perfectly stable frequency. As a Half Walker, Simon’s signal was unusually loud, so he created more Echoes than most people. For reasons we couldn’t understand,his signal carried a flaw that was amplified and transmitted through the multiverse, affecting any world containing one of his Echoes, growing increasingly unstable over time. It’s why he’d cleaved himself—to silence the damaged signal and stabilize the worlds.
    And the Free Walkers had known about it. We’d thought Monty was our only option; the only person we could trust, and it had backfired horribly. The familiar anger swelled and found a fresh target.
    â€œWhy didn’t you help him? Why didn’t you say something?”
    â€œWe didn’t realize the flaw would become such a problem; once we did, we weren’t sure we could trust you. This conversation alone is a huge risk.”
    The feeling was mutual. If the Consort knew I was talking to a Free Walker, they’d throw us both in an oubliette. But desperation trumps caution, especially when your hand is lousy to begin with. “You let me think he was dead!”
    â€œYesterday was the first time you’ve shown up for school since the cleaving,” she said. “Besides, we weren’t going to endanger our network and our most valuable asset before we were certain you wouldn’t reveal us to the Consort.”
    â€œHe’s not an asset,” I said, shoving away from the piano. “He’s a human being. And we both know the Consort would kill Simon the minute they laid hands on him. I’m not about to go running to Lattimer.”
    â€œGlad to hear it,” she replied.
    I folded my arms and studied her. She was too calm. She’dknown exactly what I would do when she dropped her bombshell, and she’d prepared for my reaction.
    But she was right—telling me was a risk, which meant she was expecting a payoff.
    â€œYou didn’t tell me because you felt sorry for me. What are you after?”
    Nothing makes you more vulnerable than ignorance. Mine had allowed Monty to manipulate me, and I wasn’t going to repeat the mistake. Besides, it’s always easier to bluff when you know the cards you’re holding.
    Ms. Powell set the baton down, her eyes behind the thick glasses boring into mine.
    â€œWe want you to join the Free Walkers. Help us destroy the Consort.”
    â€œYou’re joking,” I said, a