Read More Than an Echo (Echo Branson Series) for Free Online

the only girl who had ever been nice to me in the foster homes I was in. “Branson.”
    “Echo Branson?”
    “Why not? I’m going to be starting a new life.”
    “Are you ever going to tell me what really happened?”
    I had written her several letters attempting to explain to her why I tried to crush Todd’s head in. I wanted her to know what I was, but I still didn’t have the words for it. It would be quite some time before I did. It’s hard to explain something you barely understand yourself.
    “But why New Orleans?”
    “There’s a...school there that specializes in my...issues.”
    “What issues?”
    “I’ll tell you as soon as I can explain it better. I’m still adjusting to the idea that I have these issues. You’ve got to get me out of here.”
    “Of course I will, she said with the warmth in her voice that made me love her. And there’s forty bucks in your backpack.”
    “Inside the small zipper pocket. Britt gave it to me before she left. She told me to spend it only when I was ready to run. I’m ready to run. Really, really fast.”
    Our time was up and I hung up knowing that she would do everything she could to make that run possible.
    Escape was easier than I thought. Once Big George got me off the floor undetected and wearing regular street clothes, I was able to walk casually out of the hospital as if I were just a visitor.
    When I reached the parking lot, I looked around for Danica. I started to panic a little, but then I saw a black Trans Am screech into the parking lot. I felt a familiar presence, but since I had no experience with my “gift,” I couldn’t really pinpoint it.
    “Need a lift?” someone asked from the car. I knew the voice as soon as I heard it.
    “Britt?”
    “Get in, doofus! You trying to get us busted or what? Come on, girl, we don’t have all day!”
    The passenger side door opened and Danica stuck her head out and waved me over. “Come on!”
    I hopped in next to Danica as Britt peeled away even before I could close the door.
    “Parking lot cameras,” Britt muttered as an explanation for why she had floored it. “Don’t worry. We’ll be ditching this ride in a few.”
    And so we did, snagging a white Explorer left in the middle of a mall parking lot. Hot-wiring cars was something Britt had learned from her time on the street and she was very good at it. We got in and out of that lot in under five minutes.
    “Okay ladies, Oakland airport, here we come.”
    I turned to Danica, but before I could ask my question she answered me.
    “Britt wrote her cell number on the bills she gave you in big, red letters. I called her and—”
    “Told me you’d finally wised up and decided to run. So, here I am.” She cut her eyes over to me. “You look ready to run.” Britt flipped her wallet open and pushed my fake ID out with her thumb.
    “Echo Branson, eh, Jane?” Britt grinned as she drove. “Cool name. It suits you.”
    I looked over at Britt. The streets had aged her overnight. She was seventeen going on thirty. Her short blond hair was blonder than I remembered, but her eyes were as blue as ever. She was wearing faded jeans with designer holes in the knees and a gray SFSU sweatshirt. I’d never been happier to see anyone than I was her. “Thank you so much, Britt.”
    “Hey, we orphan Annies gotta stick together, you know? I’m just glad I could help.”
    “You got money?” Danica asked.
    I nodded. “A paperless ticket. Melika bought it for me.”
    “Who’s that?” Britt asked.
    I thought for a minute. “She’s the woman who’s going to save my life.”
    Britt smiled. “Then you’re all set to go.”
    And so I was.
    Less than twenty-four hours later, I stepped off the plane and into a brand-new life of supernaturals.

    For a kid who grew up in California, New Orleans might as well have been another country. Everything about it was unlike anything I had ever experienced; the smells, the sounds, the energy, everything was so foreign.
    As I