Silence filled the space between them for several seconds, to the point where she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“You said you wanted to talk to me?” she prompted.
“Right.” He suddenly looked uncomfortable and flustered. “I was wondering if you had seen your brother today.”
“Not since this morning. Why?”
“Just concerned. He’s been back to his old ways, I think. Drinking, smoking, drugs… he also said he’s been having these dreams that bother him?” Rykken looked up at her, his eyes lingering.
She blinked, trying not to look at him inappropriately. She didn’t have time for high school crushes, and even if she did, Rykken was completely off limits.
Completely.
She looked away quickly, shrugging. “My brother told me he’s been having dreams, but he doesn’t talk to me about the rest of it.” She frowned. “I thought he was doing better though after Mom died.”
“He is,” Rykken said. “Or he was. He asked me to help him, but I think these dreams are really screwing with his mind. He completely ditched that party on Friday without telling anyone, and I had to get a ride with someone else. He was off his game this weekend, and smoking with Justin on Sunday after the match.”
“What can I do?” Brie asked. Guilt engulfed her; Sirena wanted her to leave her family with this happening? She couldn’t abandon Pilot, not now. Her mother wouldn’t have have wanted it.
She also couldn’t let Sirena go—what if she lost her chance forever? It sounded like Sirena had disappeared for 17 years previously… what if that happened again, when she still had so many questions about her mother?
“You can help me keep an eye on him. Also, you can let me know if you notice anything weird happening.”
She nodded, gulping. “Sure.” If she was going to stay in Honolulu and watch out for Pilot, she definitely couldn’t go with Sirena. And Sirena wasn’t willing to stay because she thought Thessa was a threat. But Thessa was going to be there in a few days, which meant that she needed to stall Sirena and figure out how to renew Sirena’s trust in Thessa.
She had no idea where to start, she only knew that she would choose Pilot over just about anything.
Then again, if Sirena was right and her enemies were coming, Brie needed all the help she could get in defending her family… it was such a mess, and she didn’t know enough about the Archworld to make good decisions.
“So, I feel like I want to say something to you, but I’m not sure if I should,” Rykken said, drawing her attention back again.
“Uh, oh,” she said in a teasing voice.
“It’s not bad, I’m just embarrassed.”
“Okay,” Brie said. “What is it?”
“At the party on Friday night, I feel like Emily was all over you, and it’s my fault.”
“Yeah,” Brie said. “She said some things, to be honest. I know I said she didn’t, but she did.”
“I kind of figured,” he said. “Can I ask what she said?”
Brie exhaled. “That you and Justin were in a competition over me? But I know it’s not true. I mean, you’re my brother’s best friend. First of all, he would kill you. But then, I also know that you’ve always been a loyal friend to him, and sometimes he’s overprotective and asks you to watch out for me.”
“Right. Exactly.” His entire face was flushed.
“I think sometimes people get the wrong impression,” Brie continued. “Especially ex-girlfriends, I’m guessing?”
“Emily and I dated awhile back,” he said. “It… didn’t end well. I hurt her. A lot.”
“You don’t have to explain,” Brie said. “Look, we’ve known each other forever. Since we were kids. You’ve stayed at my house for weeks at a time when you were visiting New York. I know you’ve always been loyal to my family, even with all the media stuff. You never sold a story about us or anything, though you probably could have. And you’ve been there for my brother. And that extends to me, because you’re a good guy. You care.”
“Wow,” he said. “Yeah. I mean, that’s all I really wanted to say about my attention toward you lately. You basically took the words out of my mouth.”
“I’m really glad we can just clear it up,” she said, smiling. “I don’t want things to be weird between us.”
“Me either,” Rykken said, sounding as relieved as she felt. “I guess I don’t have to ask if we can not tell Pilot about this?”
“It’s nothing worth telling him.”
“I have to say, Brie, you’re not like a lot of girls our age. You’re more mature. You’re not interested in the drama and gossip and backstabbing that sometimes goes on around here.”
She laughed, feeling the warm glow of his compliment. “I think losing someone puts a lot into perspective.”
He nodded. “It definitely teaches you what’s real and what’s not. I think the reason Emily and I didn’t work out is because I want something real. With depth. With trust.”
“Trust is hard to find in people,” she agreed. “I have trouble trusting anyone, but it’s also a compass. It’s so hard to earn my trust, that when someone does I know it’s real.”
It suddenly hit her, that she didn’t need evidence on whether she should trust Thessa or Sirena or even Clara and Cora. She had spent years honing her trust compass, and she trusted all of them already. They were all trying to help her, protect her, and clean up her mom’s mess. She knew exactly what she needed to do about Sirena.
“Brie,” Rykken said, “I hope I’m someone you trust. Even though Pilot and I are close, it doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, too. We can. You know you can talk to me if you need to. If something’s wrong with Pilot… or even if you’re having a hard time with school or your mom’s passing.”
“Yeah. I do trust you, Ry.” She realized she wasn’t just saying it, either. She really did trust Rykken. He was possibly the only non-Hallow on the island besides her brother that she trusted.
But, she reminded herself, not like that. His interest in her was purely friendly, in a big brother capacity. No complications.
She needed to focus on her meeting with Sirena that night. But first, she needed to get advice from Clara and Cora. She needed to tell them the truth.
She needed to trust in those who had earned it.
Chapter 17 - Pilot
He had trouble finding the entrance to Trinitas, but Pilot knew the building once he saw it in person.
It was smaller than it had seemed in his dreams, and oddly unlit, though he was visiting in the daytime, so that wasn’t a huge surprise.
He had called in to DeRosa Academy as his dad earlier that morning, claiming that “his son” had a dentist appointment during chemistry. Pilot hated chemistry; he wasn’t sad to miss it. He didn’t have much choice anyway, since a good portion of his day was consumed by water polo practices, and he couldn’t miss those. Instead, he would miss chemistry, lunch, and his study hall. Plus, he might miss a portion of American lit if there was any traffic on the way back.
Justin had hooked him up with a fake ID, though Pilot was unsure if he needed it. In his dreams, the bouncer had required blood…
He walked up to the door, finding no line and no bouncer. The club had seen better days, judging from the chipped paint along the door frame.
He grabbed the handle of the door, attempting to twist it. It wouldn’t budge.
He tried again, pulling as hard as he could. Nothing.
He peered into the the bar through one of the windows, but couldn’t see much. Maybe it was abandoned? Closed until evening?
But the sign on the door had a cheesy, flashing neon sign that screamed “Open!” And the website said it was open 24 hours, if he was remembering correctly.
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket, not that he needed to smoke one. He had only brought them in case he needed to fit in. He lit one, holding it to his lips and inhaling as little as possible, but just enough to turn the end an electrifying orange.
<
br /> He never liked cigarettes; nasty habit.
Luckily, a group of young guys who looked about his age, maybe a little older, were walking up to the door. One of them opened the door easily, with no struggle, and the others fell in line behind him.
Pilot quickly put out his cigarette, grinding it into the ground with his boot.
“Hey, wait up,” he called out, shuffling after them.
The last guy took one look at him and whistled. “Who are you here with?” He held the door open for him, and Pilot walked in.
“Thanks, man,” he said.
“Don’t thank me, come talk to me,” the guy said with a wink. “I’ll be over there.” He pointed to the group of guys who had just entered and found a booth to sit at.
Pilot smiled, trying to be polite. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, though he didn’t intend to follow through. He wasn’t particularly attracted to the guy, though he appreciated the compliment.
The club itself was dimly lit, aside from the neon edges that It looked like it truly held all nine circles of hell—strippers, seedy, leering men, powerful men and women in suits, several biker gangs, drug dealers, and stuff he couldn’t even identify.
This was not a place his socialite, privacy-concerned mother would have ever been. Even he felt overwhelmed, and he had seen some dark corners of Manhattan.
A figure wearing all black—skintight leather pants that hugged her body like tightly rolled cigarettes and a barely-there tank top with a black bra showing through—caught his eye, and he had to blink again to be sure it was really her.
What was Kennedy doing there?
His entire body went cold. He had come there to find the differences, to get reassurance that this wasn’t the place in his dreams, that his mother was a figment of his imagination… and then there she was.
She turned slowly toward him, as if she could feel him staring at her. But when her eyes met his, they widened.
She gestured for him to come nearer; he wondered if he should.
What was she doing here?
She made a face, likely because his feet were planted, his body frozen. She motioned larger, and finally something registered in his brain to move forward.
A knot had formed in his throat, and his heart thumped rapidly as he walked closer to her.
What was she doing here?
He had to know, even though he was scared to learn the truth.
She walked in the other direction, away from him, practically beckoning him to follow her. He watched her lithe movements, her swaying hips, her confident gait from behind. She glanced back at him with a penetrating stare, electrifying him.
She disappeared behind a set of curtains that were too similar to his dream for comfort. He followed after her, ducking behind the curtains as well.
“How did you get in here?” she asked him.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, a hardness to his tone. “Who are you, and how… why—” he didn’t finish that sentence. He wanted to ask her why she was in his dreams, but didn’t want to give her the wrong idea.
“Pilot, this isn’t a place for someone like you,” she said. “I don’t even know how you got in.”
“You mean because of my age?” he asked. “ You can’t be much older than me. Definitely not old enough to be here.”
“You don’t know what this place is, do you? However you got here, it was clearly by mistake.”
“What is this place, then?”
She folder her arms across her chest. “You shouldn’t even be able to see a place like this, much less get inside.”
“You need to start explaining,” he told her. “I know that something weird is happening, because you came out of nowhere on Friday, and I’ve been dreaming about this place for awhile. Last night I suddenly dreamt you were here. And then I show up today and you’re actually here. Want to explain that?”
She stared at him, as if she wasn’t sure what to make of him. “You should go, Pilot.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you answer my questions.”
“Fine.” She pulled out a glass and poured clear liquid into it. “Here. Sit down. We can talk.”
He took the glass from her, smelling it. “What is this?”
She gave him a half-smile. “Just try it.”
He lifted the glass to his lips, first sipping the liquid, then gulping it. “It tastes like nothing.” It didn’t even taste like water, and he couldn’t feel it sliding down his throat.
He sat up straight in his bed.
“What the f—”
“You’re awake,” his sister said. She picked up the damp, cold towel that had fallen from his forehead into his lap.
“What am I doing here?” Pilot said, throwing the covers off and jumping out of bed. Where were the curtains, Kennedy, Trinitas…?
Brie jumped out of his way. “Whoa.”
“I’m—” Pilot stumbled through his disoriented thoughts. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. The clock read 5:52pm, and the low sun’s light pouring through his bedroom windows agreed with it.
“What day is it?” he asked her.
“Monday,” she said, frowning. “Are you okay? Rykken texted me that you hadn’t shown up for practice, and when I got home you were asleep. I thought you were sick. I know you don’t miss water polo for anything.”
He sat down, sinking into his mattress. He didn’t remember getting from the bar all the way home… he didn’t remember any of it after drinking whatever Kennedy gave him.
“Pilot,” Brie said. She sat next to him. “Can you tell me what’s going on? You’re kind of freaking me out.”
He shook his head. “Nothing.” He felt angrier than hell, more than a little confused, and determined to figure out what Kennedy had done to him.
She put something in his drink… she tried to make him feel like the whole thing was a dream.
He stood up walking to the balcony off of his room. “Is my car here?”
“Of course,” Brie said standing up. “I saw it in the driveway when I came in.”
“So I drove home?” He looked out over their yard; nothing seemed suspiciously out of place, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been there, in his house… in his room.
This was a setup. But why?
“Yes.” Brie appeared at his side. “If you’re worried about water polo, your coach understands. You’re not in trouble—”
“It’s not that,” Pilot snapped.
“Okay,” Brie said. She exhaled. “Well, if you want to talk about it, I guess I’ll be in my room?”
He nodded, still lost in his thoughts. If Kennedy had drugged him, driven him home in his car, and put him in his bed, he only had one question—why? If she didn’t want to talk to him, she could have just said so. But what she’d done instead, trying to make him think that—what? That he had just dreamt the entire thing?
He was going to find out.
Chapter 18 - Brie
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cora asked. “Sirena won’t like us ambushing her.”
Clara scoffed. “That’s an understatement. More like she’s going to disappear for another seventeen years once she finds out you’re not going with her.”
Brie had told the twins everything, and they had mostly understood why she didn’t tell them earlier—though Clara had given her a harder time about it than Cora. Now, they were headed out to meet her, or at least Brie was. Clara and Cora weren’t going to reveal themselves until Brie had talked Sirena into staying for a bit, at least waiting until Thessa came back and they could make a real plan.
“She’s my family,” Brie said. “She’s not going to disappear. If she really believes my mother had a plan, she has to know that you guys were always a part of it.”
“Convincing her might be easier said than done, kiddo,” Clara said.
“What are you going to say?” Cora asked.
“I’m going to tell her that she can trust me, and that I tru
st you, and that will be enough.”
Clara pursed her lips. “What’s plan B again?”
“Stop, “Cora said, smiling at her sister. “Hopefully you can convince her, Brie. I’m guessing if anyone can, it’s you. After all, you’re the one who got her out of hiding in the first place.”
Brie took a cab to the private beach where she had first met Sirena, officially. She arrived several minutes early, but Sirena was already there waiting.
“Where’s your stuff?” Sirena asked.
Brie took a deep breath. “I’m not going right now. But I want to go. Just not yet.”
“Okay,” Sirena said. “But we need to go now. We can’t stay on this island, where everyone knows who you are and what you’re doing.”
“What about my brother?” Brie asked. “What about getting some training?”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” Sirena said. “This isn’t a negotiation. You’re either with me, or I’m going on my own.”
“Sirena, wait—” Brie started.
She saw Sirena transporting in front of her and she picked up speed, hoping that her body would know what to do. She had never transported aside from that first day of school, when she had done it unknowingly. She still hadn’t received any formal training on it. Luckily, Sirena remained in her vantage point, albeit several hundred feet in front of her, as they wound their way through neighborhoods and shopping districts.
“Brie!” One of the twins shouted at her in the distance—probably Cora, judging by the melodic tone that was her signature. She glanced back, but saw no one; still, she knew that the twins were chasing them.
She tried to run faster, but found herself slowing down instead. Was this Cora’s doing as well? She knew Cora could manipulate emotions—was she manipulating her right then?
Go faster! Her insides screamed as she pushed herself even harder than she had already. Her lungs ached for air and her legs were desperate to stop, the muscles in them burning. She had never been the athlete in her family—that was Pilot’s department, not hers—but now she wished she had done something physical as a child. Even Adele, the prissiest girl she knew, had played soccer and swam during the summers.
Instruments of the Angels (Hallows & Nephilim: Waters Dark and Deep #1) Page 12
