Resonance by Erica O’Rourke Read Free Book Online

Were the Free Walkers—with the best of intentions—destroying the very thing I was sworn to protect?
    But who protected the Echoes? Walkers believed in obedience, diligence, and sacrifice—but how much sacrifice was too much? “Do you believe in necessary evils?”
    He squinted. “Fooling people into thinking evil is necessary seems pretty evil. Not sure about the necessary part.”
    â€œWhat about the greater good?”
    â€œDepends on whose version of good we’re talking about. Everyone’s the hero of their own story, aren’t they?”
    â€œNot me.”
    He slipped an arm around my shoulders. “You didn’t know what you were doing.”
    â€œOh, I knew.” My fingers on threads that split and sheared and unmade a world. “But I didn’t know what it meant.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause that’s what I was told!” I chose the words with care. “The people I . . . work for. They told us we were doing a service, we were helping people. And instead . . . it was exactly the opposite. They’ve been lying to me my whole life.”
    Fury broke through my shock and horror. No wonder the Consort wanted to eradicate the Free Walkers. The Consort heldsway over the Walkers by telling us we were heroes, telling us what we wanted to believe. If we thought otherwise, they’d lose control of us, and of the multiverse. An unwelcome truth is the most effective weapon of all.
    â€œYou can’t give a kid a box of matches and not expect them to burn down the house,” he said. He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, hand lingering along my jaw. I closed my eyes and savored the sensation, though it wasn’t my Simon. His fingers smelled of turpentine and pencil lead, but the touch was so familiar, even if the sound was wrong. I pressed my cheek into his palm and drew strength from it, the first bit I’d had in days.
    â€œI have to make it right.”
    I hadn’t known, but now I did. If I sat by and let the cleavings continue, I was as evil as the Consort.
    â€œWe’ll fix it,” he murmured, fingers weaving through my hair. “And then we’ll be good.”
    We’ll fix this, and we’ll be good. My message to Doughnut Simon, echoing back across the multiverse to me.
    My eyes flew open and I bolted upright. “Simon?”
    â€œI’m right here,” he said, like I was a child waking from a nightmare. Maybe I was.
    â€œCan I ask you a strange question?”
    â€œYou’ve cornered the market on strange questions,” he said. “One more won’t hurt.”
    â€œDo you dream about me?”
    He rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting my eyes. “Not as much lately. Sometimes I think about what I’d say if I saw youagain. Thought about giving you back this—” He fished in his pocket, and I knew instinctively what he was going to draw out.
    When he stretched out his hand, the pale yellow star I’d folded for him rested in his palm. The breadcrumb I’d needed. I reached for it, but his fingers curled protectively around it.
    â€œâ€”But I’m keeping it. It reminds me of you.”
    â€œWhat else did you want to tell me?” I choked out. If I could send Simon a message through his Echoes, maybe he could send one to me.
    He ducked his head. “That I’ve missed you. That I’ll wait as long as you need. That you should go ahead and kiss me.”
    I laughed despite myself. “I’m closer every day.”
    He tucked the star away again, the Key World frequency chiming as he did, counteracting the dizziness that was starting to encroach on me. “You should be closer now .”
    He slid a hand around the nape of my neck, and I leaned in, pouring as much promise into the kiss as I could, the faintest hint of rosemary on his lips. Then I broke away, and he studied me again.
    â€œI won’t see you again,