Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series) (44 page)

"Rykken," Brie said, balling her fists. The frankness with which Kennedy told her story tore at Brie's insides. She was relieved that Rykken was unconscious at the moment. And his brother! What would Rykken do when he found out that he had a family once, and this woman took it away from him?

Kennedy laughed to herself, more evidence that she was unstable. "You know, when I did it, I was thinking of Romulus and Remus—the beautiful twins who grew up to build Rome. It seemed so fitting, given their names—Rykken and Renner."

"You're nuts," Brie said. She needed to get Rykken and get out of there now.

Kennedy's face contracted, a lilt to her lips. "You like Shakespeare, right? So you must understand the beauty of a good story. Romulus and Remus are iconic. I liked the symmetry of the fate for the boys who would overthrow the New Order."

Brie couldn't stand to hear any more. "What are you going to do to Rykken? And why did you plant the pendant on him in the first place, if you just came back here to kill him?"

"Rykken looked just like the man in Bristol's vision as he grew up. But then he turned sixteen and showed no sign of powers, even though he'd lived in Oahu nearly all his life. I had my doubts about if I had killed the right twin. I used the pendant, a spell, and a vial of my own blood to activate his powers and make sure that he was the one that could lead a revolution."

"And what have you decided?" Brie asked.
Keep her talking.

"I haven't," she said. She towered over Rykken, her back to Brie, but their slightest movements echoed throughout the room. "That's why I brought him here."

Kennedy slinked back to the center of the room, away from her victim. Rykken's back arched, and Brie saw something emerald glint in Kennedy's hand. With a sinking feeling, she craned her neck to get a better look, to confirm her suspicions.

"How did you get that?" Brie asked. "I thought the pendant was missing, or destroyed."

"A pendant like this can't be destroyed," Kennedy answered. She faced one of the side walls. "Do you know what this is?" Kennedy asked, pointing to a complicated set of bird wings over the cross on the wall.

"No," Brie said, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice. "If you're going to tell me, more matter with less art, please." It was a quote from Shakespeare, though Brie didn't know why it came to her at that moment, when she should have been focusing on a plan.

"Madam, I swear I use no art at all," Kennedy said, returning the correct line. She smirked, then pointed at the wall. "This is the symbol of Silver Smoke." She set the tip of the pendant onto the wall at the northern point of the cross.

"I hope you didn't decorate on my behalf."

"You probably don't know the meaning behind Silver Smoke," Kennedy continued. "Both the name and our symbol are mixtures taken from Hallow and Nephilim, just like our blood is."

Kennedy traced the black, gothic cross. "You already know that Hallows get their powers from light itself, but do you know where the Nephilim get their powers?" She didn't wait for Brie to answer. "From the hottest part of the fire, the bright blue core underneath the flames. The part of the fire that is so hot that no smoke pours from whatever materials you use to fuel the fire."

She traced the wings with the tip of the emerald pendant, which had shifted into a dagger shape. Now that Brie looked harder, the wings were not bird wings, but rather angel wings.

"Everything about the Hallows is white," Kennedy said, "which is what the wings represent." She traced the wings twice more and the cross and wing outline lit up, glowing. "The Nephilim are represented by black. But the middle-ground Trinities' powers come from a combination of these two elements—the gray, tarnished light, and the cooler, smoky flames." Kennedy looked at Brie. "Silver Smoke."

"Clever." Brie didn't attempt to mask her abhorrence.

"You want to hear something else that's clever?" Kennedy said, her silver eyes twinkling. "The symbol does more than paint a pretty picture—it's a permanent marker that can't be removed from its surface by anything. No matter where you put it, the Nephilim's Greek fire can't burn it off and the Hallows' holy arch water can't wash it away. It's how we mark the entrances to Silver Smoke to protect us from intruders."

Brie was reminded of something Thessa had said. "
Angel blood to get in, demon blood to get out
," she repeated.

"Yes." Kennedy grinned. "When I activate the symbol, the door opens. It's the only way to leave the building. But if you have the wrong blood, you die when you pass through." Kennedy smirked. It was only then that Brie realized the full meaning of the Silver Smoke symbol drawn above the door. She meant to trap Brie and Rykken inside.

"I thought Pilot was important to you," Brie said hoarsely, feeling as if she'd been hit by a boat.

"He'll never forgive you for trapping us like this."

"You, no, he couldn't forgive me for harming you. But Rykken... they aren't as close as they once were, are they?" Kennedy strutted around the room, filling Brie with hatred. "As for Pilot—well, yes, he is the main reason I'm so lenient. I love him, so I can't kill his best friend. Instead, I've confined Rykken until I can figure out how to take his powers away." She stopped strutting, her eyes training on Brie.

"It's the best I can do for him. He'll be safe from the Hallows and Nephilim here, and you can visit him every day."

"I'm trapped too though," Brie said with exasperation. She knew she should be afraid, but if Kennedy was sincere about her feelings for Pilot, then she couldn't have trapped them inside without any possible exit.
She just blocked the most obvious exit
, Brie told herself. Brie scanned the room, looking for another way out that Kennedy could see but she couldn't.

"No,
you
aren't. Only Rykken is." Brie frowned at Kennedy, but she just laughed. "You still don't seem to see how dangerous Rykken is to you."

"How is he dangerous to me?" she asked.
Keep her talking.
That was Brie's main goal—the longer Kennedy talked, the more Brie could think about how to get them out safely.

Kennedy's laughter spun into a tsunami. "Pilot said I would like you," she said, almost in tears from laughing so hard. "But you don't seem that bright, to be honest."

Brie glared at Kennedy, but a painful panic rose from her chest. She looked around again; what was she missing?

"It's you, Brie," Rykken moaned. His voice startled Brie—she hadn't noticed him stir from unconsciousness. "It's in your blood," he choked out, the exhaustion in his voice apparent.

"My blood?" Brie asked.

"Yes, your blood. Thessa and Clara made a mistake. You're a Trinity, not a Hallow."

Rykken could practically see his words traveling across the floating memorial toward Brie. He wished he could chase after them and grab them before they had their ill effect on her, but he couldn't move.

Speech was still difficult too, after Kennedy's knock out. The only sense that seemed fully functional was his sight.

He could tell, because he saw with perfect clarity when his words finally registered on Brie's face. She looked like she'd been socked in the stomach.

She wrapped her arms around her chest and sunk into the floor. "No," Brie whispered. "That's not true."

She was in real pain. It was one of the few things that could cut through his own misery, misery brought on by hearing the entire conversation about his family between Kennedy and Brie.

When he looked at Brie again, she was glaring at him. "Thessa and Clara wouldn't make a mistake like that. Would they?" Brie looked at Kennedy, as if suddenly this manipulative girl who had torn him from his home and killed his brother was a trustworthy source for information this important.

"Yes," Kennedy said. "It amazes me how much people overlook when they don't want to consider a possibility. The answer was so obvious to me the whole time—why your powers come to you so much faster than a typical Hallow, why your mother pushed your Nephilim father away, why Clara and Cora's talents give you headaches." Brie looked at Kennedy in wonder. "I've watched you for awhile now, Brie van Rossum."

"You have no proof," Brie said.

She flashed Brie a disgusted look. "It pains me that you think I could want Pilot if he were a Hallow. I tested him of course, once I realized what had happened. His blood carried all the information I needed to confirm my suspicions."

"What did you do? Drink it?" Brie laughed, shaking Rykken. Her laugh was wicked and hollow and too Kennedy-like for Rykken's taste.

Kennedy rolled her tongue over her teeth like a snake. "Precisely."

Brie looked unhinged. She shook her head back and forth several times, as if she expected something to fall out if she shook hard enough. "My Nephilim father? James? Who—?"

"James is your father, a first generation son of Luci. He had children before he could even begin to explore the powers his blood gave him. Milena, a daughter of Michael, is your mother. Pilot is your twin brother, but he was born earlier than you because he is an earthlie. In the womb, you sucked his powers from him."

"Thessa said the only way to birth a Trinity..." Brie trailed off, horror etched in her face. "Did my father—"

"No," Kennedy said. "At least I don't think so. My understanding is that they truly loved each other."

Rykken sensed a hint of sympathy from the girl, which only angered him more. What right did Kennedy have to feel sorry for Brie? No matter what Brie's blood was composed of, it was Kennedy who was the monster.

"You never explicitly answered my question," Brie said. She looked across the room again, finally meeting his eyes. "Why is Rykken dangerous to me?"

"He's dangerous to all Trinities," Kennedy said. "He's a son of Gabrielle that will overthrow the New Order. The New Order is the only thing that protects us from the Hallows."

"He doesn't have to kill Trinities though," Brie said, standing. She walked toward the middle of the memorial, until she was standing almost directly in front of Kennedy. "He could overthrow the New Order and leave the Trinities alone as long as they didn't cause trouble."

Kennedy's eyes flashed. "You are so naïve. Did you know that your grandfather was the one who passed the decree to execute any discovered Trinity on sight? He would have driven a dagger into your heart himself."

"No," Brie said desperately. "The Hallows have reasons to kill Trinities. The Trinities have done terrible things, like what you did to Rykken and his family. That's why they hunt down Trinities." Brie's voice faltered. "It has to be."

Kennedy laughed. "You still don't get it, do you? We are the way we are and we do the things we do
because
of our blood. Internally, we are at war with ourselves, struggling between right and wrong." She strode toward Rykken and he winced. "Then there's the power," Kennedy said. She took his hand, biting the tip of his finger until blood flowed. Rykken yelped, repulsed by the idea of her tongue touching his skin. He tried to pull away from her, but there was no contest. "We are more powerful than humans, Nephilim, and Hallows. They should bow to us, but their numbers protect them." She moved on to each of Rykken's fingers, breaking the skin with her teeth, until little streams of blood flowed to the palm of his hand.

Brie stood there observing, not trying to save Rykken, not even acknowledging him. Instead, she looked at him as if he were a piece of meat she'd like a turn gnawing at.

"The blood," Kennedy said to Brie. "You're attracted to it, aren't you? I knew it! His blood especially, because it's pure. It sharpens your senses when you drink it. You will feel it calling to you, if you haven't already. The intoxication. The power. The invincibility. The immortality. These are the things that will change you. The blood lust is just the first sign."

Rykken could see himself reflected back in Brie's grass-and-mint tinted eyes. She stared at the drops of blood flowing from his hand.

"How do I stop?" she asked Kennedy, without taking her eyes off the blood. She was wringing her hands, which meant she was panicking. Rykken had seen her do it enough times before, but usually it was over something stupid, like Justin or cheerleading. Now, the hand-wringing unnerved him like nothing else. He was losing her.

She looked at Kennedy for the briefest second. "How do I stop wanting his blood?"

Kennedy dropped Rykken's scarlet hand. "You don't," Kennedy stood up, sauntering toward Brie. "You don't get to choose to be good, Brie. The longer you're a Trinity, the harder it gets to resist the darkest of temptations. You will be as helpless as a heroin addict."

"I don't understand why though." Brie's voice pleaded with itself.

"It's not for any of us to understand. Just to experience. The entire world will shun you as they have the rest of us." Kennedy's eyes shined, as if they were emitting light rather than reflecting it. "In thousands and thousands of years, none of us has escaped. Every Trinity eventually finds his or her way to Silver Smoke, one way or another. It's the only refuge we have."

"Brie," Rykken choked, finally finding his voice. "Don't listen to her. There's a way out, remember? The Hallow stones."

"The Hallow stones are gone," Kennedy promised.

Brie said nothing. She seemed to be concentrating almost entirely on Rykken's blood flow now. He swallowed several times, wondering what would happen if Brie had even a taste of his blood. Would it send her on the dark, spiraling path Kennedy predicted? Would she drink his blood until he had none left?

"Brie, think of your mother," Rykken said, pleading with her. "She was looking for the stones. For you, because she wants you to be Hallow, not a Trinity."

Brie's spared a glance at Rykken before turning to Kennedy. "Did you kill my mom?" she asked.

"No," Kennedy said. "But we can find out who did, if we work together." She waved her hands in the air. "The Hallows have tried to find out, haven't they? Or at least they said they did. Let me guess—they told you not to look too deeply into it, because it wasn't a murder."

Rykken saw the skin over Brie's jaw tightening, but she didn't answer.