Erica O'Rourke - Dissonance

“I have a D-minus in physics. What the hell does that mean?”

Addie spoke slowly, making each word distinct, like she was talking to a little kid. “He’s a pivot. His choices make stronger worlds. They’d be stable, if his frequency was right. But it’s not. So every time he creates a world, it’s not just off-key. It’s magnitudes off-key.”

Eliot took over. “It takes a while for the world to destabilize, because the flaw is so small. But when it finally goes bad, it goes bad fast.”

“Like Park World,” I said.

Eliot nodded. “I told you there was another reason.”

“And you told Addie first?” The betrayal stung. “Why?”

“You haven’t exactly been a model of restraint and clear thinking lately,” Addie said. “Leave him alone, Del. He was worried about you.”

I glared at Eliot, who shrugged. Apparently the days when I could boss him around were gone.

“What would do that to someone’s frequency? How do we fix it?” I asked.

“We tell Mom and Dad. They’ll tell the Consort, and the Consort will take care of it.”

They’d cleave him. “No Consort. We’ll handle it ourselves.”

We pulled up to the house, and Addie hit the brakes so hard that I almost slid off the seat. “This is why Eliot told me first. You’ve seen the damage he’s done. There’s no way we can fix it without help.”

“Then we ask for help,” I said, running through the possibilities in my head. Only one stood out. “But not from the Consort.”

IT’S DEFINITELY A situation,” Monty said, once we were gathered around the kitchen table. He helped himself to another cookie. “You’re positive it’s the Lane boy? I met him, and he sounded fine.”

“The flaw in his frequency is so small, it’s impossible to detect without computer analysis. But it’s definitely there, and it’s allowing other frequencies to interfere with the Key World,” Eliot said. “Because he’s a natural pivot, he creates more Echoes than usual, and every one of them carries the flaw—so they’re all more likely to destabilize. The longer the Echo has been around, the longer it can withstand the flaw, but the newer branches are more vulnerable.”

Addie chimed in. “Every time he interacts with Del in an Echo world, the signal there boosts—and his Original remembers it. It’s like he goes into a trance here, and his entire consciousness is wherever he’s engaging with her,” Addie said.

“Just you, Delancey? No other Walkers?”

“I’m the only one he knows.”

He chewed thoughtfully. “You’re sure?”

“I’m not sure about anything,” I said. “Except that we have to help him, Grandpa. If the Consort gets hold of him, it’s the end of everything. His mom’s really sick, and he’s all she has.”

“And you’d miss him.”

I looked down at my coffee. I missed him already, but this was more important than my feelings.

“Look,” said Addie. “Not that Del’s heart growing three sizes isn’t great, but Simon is endangering the Key World. If we can’t figure out a way to stop the damage, we have to tell the Consort. That’s the rule. No exceptions.”

“I still don’t understand why his frequency is off,” Eliot said. “Or how he was able to Walk with Del.”

“The last one, I can explain,” Monty said, getting up from the table and reaching for his hat. “Let’s go find your boy, Del.”

Ten minutes later I was gathering my nerves on Simon’s doorstep while Addie, Eliot, and Monty watched from the car.

“I don’t want to fight again,” he said through the screen door.

“I’m not here to fight. The thing is—”

He spoke over me. “What you did was not okay.”

“I know.”

“I trusted you. I told you about my mom. I told you about my dad. You made me look like an idiot in front of the team. Every single truth you’ve told me, I had to drag out of you.”

I stared at the sunflower-strewn welcome mat.

“And I can’t blame you.”

My head snapped up, and he said wryly, “Well, maybe a little. But I didn’t give you much reason to trust me. You told me about the Walkers, and all I could think about was my mom. And considering how I acted at school—three years, and I looked right past you—I wouldn’t trust me either.”

“I do,” I whispered.

The faintest smile tugged at his mouth, and he put his hand against the screen. “That’s a good start.”

I matched my palm to his, the contact warm through the cool mesh.

“There’s something else you should know,” I said, and his smile faded. “Can we come in?”

“We?”

I pointed at Addie’s car, idling at the curb.

He sighed and pushed open the door. I signaled to Addie, then turned back to Simon. “I really am sorry about this.”

“Good to see you again, Simon.” Monty stuck out his hand as the others filed in.

Simon shook it, giving me a faintly disbelieving look, like he couldn’t believe we were going to waste time on social niceties.

“Where’s your mom?” I said, keeping my voice low.

“Resting. We’ll stay out here.”

I got the message. The back of the house, with its cheery kitchen and cozy family room, was off-limits for now. We still had ground to make up.

Addie spoke, brisk and businesslike. “There’s a problem with your frequency. A flaw that gets progressively worse with each iteration of your Echoes. We don’t know what’s causing it, but we do know the result: Some of the Echoes you appear in are destabilizing, and the damage is now spreading to the Key World.”

He looked at her blankly.

“Something in your frequency is off,” I translated. “And it’s causing problems across the multiverse. Big problems.”

Addie continued. “The damage is increasing to the point where the Consort will soon be able to track it back to you. If we can’t solve the problem before they do . . . Del thinks you and your mother could be in danger.”

He looked at me for confirmation. I swallowed hard and nodded, expecting him to get angry again. Instead he regarded Addie coolly. “Delivery like that, you should consider a career in oncology.”

She inclined her head. “Someone here has to think straight, and we all know it’s not going to be Del.”

I ignored her. “The Consort’s going to figure it out soon. We don’t have a ton of time, and we need your help.”

“I’m assuming you have a plan,” he said. Everyone was perched on the spindly furniture except for Simon, who stood at the door like he was about to throw us out again. Iggy padded in and made a beeline for me, resting his head on my knees.

“There’s always a plan,” said Monty. “They don’t usually work out like you’d expect.”

“You would know,” said Simon’s mom. We turned in unison as she walked in, clad in yoga pants and one of Simon’s old sweatshirts. “Hello, Montrose. I wondered if I’d see you again.”

“Hello, Amelia,” said Monty. “Wasn’t sure you’d want to.”

WHAT THE HELL?” I said, and Eliot elbowed me. “You two know each other?”

Monty dipped his head. “How long has it been?”

Amelia clung to Simon’s arm, her eyes red rimmed, the bright smile replaced by one more faded and resigned. And suddenly, I knew.

“Seventeen years,” I said. Every head in the room swiveled toward me.

“That’s my girl,” Monty murmured.

“I don’t understand,” Simon said.

“Seventeen years. That’s how long my grandmother’s been gone,” I said, edging closer to Simon, the way you would an animal about to bolt. “And so has your dad.”

“Del?” Eliot asked, putting it together. “Are you sure?”