Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series) (37 page)

Brie gave Rykken a sideways glance. "That's stupid."

Rykken laughed at her expression. "You would understand if you were a guy. Plus, do you really want something to happen on your dad's couch?"

She pursed her lips, a serious look on her face. "No," she whispered.

"This trip we're taking," he murmured. "We should focus on that. You and me, that will come naturally."

She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. She tucked herself under his arm and rested her head against his chest, right over his heart.

They stayed like that for several hours, talking about everything and nothing. She described her favorite New York spots to him, explaining how the tall buildings and the gritty sidewalks and the people everywhere made her feel secure instead of claustrophobic.

"It's because nothing can happen without someone noticing," Brie said. "You're never alone."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's because everyone is a stranger.
Anything
can happen without someone noticing, and you want to be invisible to people."

He told her stories of when he and Pilot were younger, how they sneaked around and played pranks at water polo practice. She talked a little about her friend Adele's obsession with Shakespeare.

"You should see these pictures we took," Brie said. "We paid one of Adele's friends to photograph us as various characters from the plays. I have a bunch of them framed in my room. Want to see?"

Rykken had only been in Brie's room it once, under very different circumstances. The thought of sitting with her on her bed made him gulp. "We should probably steer clear of your bedroom for now."

"Why?" she teased. "You might lose your control and reason?"

"Definitely," he whispered into her hair. "You're very tempting. And I don't think you're that convinced with this whole 'taking it slow' thing."

She pressed her lips to his. "Nah, I like it. It's romantic." Her words warmed his cheeks and he kissed her back to hide his face.

The front door opened and Pilot announced his arrival loudly. Rykken moved to disentangle himself from Brie, but she held on to him firmly.

"Don't," she said. "I'm done with secrets. I want to tell him everything." She searched Rykken's eyes for acceptance, and he nodded slightly.

Pilot came to a dead halt when he saw them sitting together on the couch. "I'm not ready yet," he said, pivoting in the direction of the stairs.

"Pilot, wait," Brie said. "We need to talk to you."

Pilot's movements were stilted, like he had to physically force himself to backtrack to the living room.

But eventually, he sat on the opposite couch. "I have nothing to say about this." He nodded to Brie and Rykken holding hands.

"Oh, stop being dramatic," Brie huffed. "We're together and you can get over it. We have more important things to talk about anyway."

"Like all the stuff you've both been hiding from me?"

"Yes," Brie said. Pilot blinked, pure surprise splattered across his face at her willingness to be honest.

Brie took a deep breath and began to tell Pilot everything. Rykken sat silently while she told him about the car incident, and how she thought she saw their mom but really saw Sirena. Then, Brie told him about the Hallows and her powers and Rykken's powers and the pendant.

"I know this sounds ridiculous," she said, "but it's all true."

Rykken expected Pilot to flip out, to yell, or to be afraid; but his reaction was the complete opposite.

By the end of Brie's explanation, Pilot's face had drained of most of its anger.

He spoke slowly. "I believe you."

Brie's jaw fell. She seemed just as surprised as Rykken was over the turn of events. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner then."

"Keep going," Pilot said, leaning back into the couch with a confused look on his face. Brie told him about Cora and Clara's powers, the selkie curse, the accident on the boat, and how James adopted her.

Pilot's ears perked. "Adopted? But... how is that possible?"

The color seeped from her skin. "I don't know," she admitted. Her apparent exhaustion showed that the conversation had taken its toll on her.

Pilot wrapped his sister in a tight hug. "Adoption or not, you'll always be my sister. I'll
always
be here for you," he promised. "For anything."

But Pilot's expression flatlined when Brie described Thessa's trip to Silver Smoke.

"Silver Smoke?" he echoed, as if the name were familiar to him.

"Thessa wouldn't tell me much about it," Brie said, "but I know it's in LA. It's run by a cult of superbeings that cause problems for the Hallows. Thessa almost died when she went there."

Pilot's shattered expression told Rykken that something was seriously wrong with his best friend. Every bit of progress they had made by opening up to him had disappeared; somehow, they had managed to crush him with the truth.

Then Pilot whispered, "Kennedy."

The hushed name wafted through the room, but despite its delicate phrasing, it lit a firework in Rykken's mind.

"How do you know that name?" Brie asked. "She's the one Thessa was looking for. The pendant belongs to her family, and we think she's following Rykken."

The firework exploded, and Rykken was left with the broken pieces. "Pilot, please tell me that you aren't
dating
that girl."

Pilot didn't respond, but he didn't need to; the truth hung from his face in revolting remorse.

Brie glanced at Pilot, then at Rykken. "What?"

"The flashes," Rykken said. "It was her. Your girlfriend has white hair, doesn't she?"

Pilot's forearm flexed, but he didn't answer. Rykken wasn't sure that Pilot could anymore.

"Pilot," Brie exclaimed, balancing on her feet. "I told you
Hawaiian Myths and Legends
was dangerous! Didn't you think the person who gave it to you might be too?"

PIlot's voice came out as the beginning of a roar. "Kennedy didn't give it to me! I found it in our library."

"Kennedy planted the book in our house?" Brie asked.

"Clara told me that no one could get in unless someone who lived here wanted them to," Rykken said.

Brie paced around the couches, her arms jittery. "Well, obviously Pilot wanted her to." Brie's eyes flashed over PIlot, blazing. "Is she the one who gave you that object that exploded the bonfire?"

"I didn't know what it was!" Pilot barked. "It looked like a vial of blood, but she said she bought it from a prank shop..."

Brie's temper flared. "Well gee, I wonder what it was then Pilot? Something that looks like blood...

hmm, let me think..."

Rykken put his hand on Brie's shoulder and shook his head slightly. "Don't take your anger out on your brother," he whispered so only Brie could hear. "He didn't know."

Brie fumed, but her movements softened, and the fury etched across her face turned to deep distress.

"The question is," Rykken said, "whose blood was in the vial? The day after the bonfire I turned into a seal, so that could be important."

Pilot's expression had progressed from shock to broiling outrage. "I can't believe it. Kennedy used me." The cemented stiffness in Pilot's body ran from his pulsating neck to the knuckles on his clenched fists.

"Are you kidding?" Brie said in despair. "She's stalking Rykken and you're worried that she used you?

That's the least of our problems!"

Pilot's face crumbled, and Rykken could practically see the tension in Pilot's body evaporating into helplessness. He tried to put himself in his friend's shoes, though he was still in shock himself.

"Lighten up, Brie," he said as reasonably as he could. "He just found out his girlfriend is a liar."

"Liar?" Brie ranted. "She's an
assassin
for Silver Smoke."

"Assassin?" Pilot's voice shook with denial. "Look, she's not
killing
anyone. She's not that kind of person. And if she wanted to hurt any of us, she's had plenty of chances." Pilot folded his face into his hands. "She just wanted to
change
Rykken into a selkie."

"Why would she want that?" Brie asked skeptically.

Rykken didn't buy it either, but he didn't want to cause Pilot more pain. "I'm guessing it's not to get me kicked off the water polo team."

"Alright, let's go." Brie dragged a limp, shell-shocked Pilot to his feet. "Thessa will want to hear what you just told us."

"Wait," Pilot whispered. He locked eyes with Brie. "Before we talk to Thessa... I haven't been completely honest with you either." Pilot flinched, and the twitch echoed through several of his limbs. "There's something I need to show you."

*****

Pilot felt dizzy and numb as he trailed after Rykken and Brie up the stairs to his bedroom. He couldn't stand Brie's anger at him for trusting Kennedy, or Rykken's pity toward him for falling in love with the villain of their story. All the other stuff they'd told him was a jumbled mess, leaving a fog over his mind that he would have to sort out later. The only thing he could think about with clarity was how Kennedy had gotten tangled in the mess.

The part of the story that didn't match up was that Kennedy was some sort of assassin. Kennedy liked tricks, but she didn't strike him as a killer. Yes, she had placed the book somewhere he could intercept it. He could accept that. And she manipulated him to activate some sort of spell on Rykken at the campfire. But that was weeks ago, and he'd just seen her. Why did she keep coming back? If she really wanted to hurt any of them, why hadn't she done so yet? Why had she instead started a relationship with him that seemed so real?

He reviewed the facts: no one could have pulled Silver Smoke out of thin air. That meant Brie and Rykken were telling the truth, at least to the best of their knowledge. But where was their truth coming from?

Much of it seemed to be coming from the other Hallows—Thessa, Cora, Clara, and Sirena. And hadn't he trusted Cora too? She had lied to him and manipulated him just as much as Kennedy did, but for some reason, Brie and Rykken still trusted her.

There were only two explanations he could think of regarding Kennedy: she really did love him, and had a good explanation for her actions... or she still needed him for something. He cringed over the second option. She promised him that she wasn't using him for anything, but that could easily have been a lie.

Still, he decided to withhold judgment about Kennedy until he had the chance to confront her. If there was any chance that what they had was real...

They reached Pilot's room, where he kept the contents of the package from his mom. He didn't know why he had kept the package a secret from Brie for so long; partly because his mom's lawyer told him to.

But also because his mom had picked him, not Brie, this time.

Pilot opened the drawer and pulled out the bubble envelope the lawyer had given him. Inside, he knew, were two letters—one that had been read hundreds of times, and one that was still sealed.

Brie looked at him curiously, while Rykken watched Brie's face carefully, a wrinkle in his forehead.

Pilot handed her the sealed letter.

"From mom," he said.

Brie took the letter from Pilot's hand gingerly. Rykken stood in the door frame, his wide eyes training on Pilot now. It didn't take Pilot much to figure out what Rykken was thinking.

Brie sat down on Pilot's bed, turning the envelope over and over in her hands.

Rykken took a step toward her. "Do you want me to read it to you?"

Brie simply shook her head. Rykken stood around uncomfortably, shuffling his feet.

"Mom told me not to give it to you in her instructions," Pilot said, defending himself against the unspoken tension in the room. "She said to give it to you when you were ready, and that I would know when the right time was."

"I spent two months locked in my room." Brie's voice wobbled. "Do you have any idea what it was like?

Lying in bed, unable to think of anything. Not having hunger or thirst or any interest in human interaction. Wanting to die, but not having the interest in plotting my own suicide. Not wanting to think about the potential aftermath." She looked at him accusingly. "You knew, better than anyone." Brie laid her head on Pilot's pillow calmly, slowly.

"I'm sorry," Pilot said. Rykken fixated on Brie curled up in a ball on Pilot's bed, as if he could feel the pain coursing through her.

Pilot knelt down beside his bed. "Brie, I know you're angry with me. Maybe even angry at Mom. But I think you should open the letter. A lot of crazy stuff is happening and it might have some answers."

Brie sat up. "Did she write you one too?"

"Yes."

"Did it have answers?"

"Not really."

"Did it give you closure?" Brie asked, raising her voice. "Did it help you get over Mom's death? Did it help you move on and deal with the paparazzi and with James and with all the ridiculous bullshit we've been through in the last three months?" Brie's tormented voice had morphed into a shrill yell.

Pilot tried not to let Brie's dramatic tirade give him guilt. "I did what Mom wanted," he repeated. The expression on Brie's face turned to near-tears. "There's no point in dwelling on the past," he said, sitting on the bed next to her. He put his arm around her and gently pulled the letter from her. "If you don't open it, I will."

Rykken's eyes blistered, like he was having trouble restraining his anger. "Give her a minute. She's been through a lot."

But to Pilot's surprise, Brie grabbed the letter from Pilot and calmly tore it from its envelope. She unfolded it, touching the paper where his mother handwrote her last instructions to her only daughter.

Brie read it out loud.

"Dearest Brie, If you are reading this, you know the truth. You know that I've done everything I can to help you, and I've failed. You know that the road ahead is long and there are very few people you can trust. You know that the person most like me will find you, and help you complete the work I've started.

And I hope you know that I love you, and I'm sorry about what's happened."

Brie stopped reading. She looked up, then glanced back at the note, her eyes skimming it. "If you have any more questions, look in your heart for the answer. We are more similar than you think. Love Mom."